8mm is a 1999 crime thriller film directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. A German–American production, the film stars Nicolas Cage as a private investigator who delves into the world of snuff films. Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare, and Anthony Heald appear in supporting roles. The film received negative reviews, but was a box office success. It was followed by a sequel, 8mm 2, in 2005, although the storylines of the two films are not related. Plot Private investigator Tom Welles is contacted by Daniel Longdale, attorney for wealthy widow Mrs. Christian, whose husband has recently died. While clearing out her late husband's safe, she and Longdale find an 8mm movie which appears to depict a real murder of a girl, but Mrs. Christian wants to know for certain. Welles is instructed by Longdale and Mrs. Christian not to reproduce the snuff film in any way, and to not tell anyone else about the investigation. After looking through missing persons files, Welles discovers the girl is Mary Ann Mathews and visits her mother, Janet, in North Carolina. She allows Welles to search her house, and he finds Mary Ann's diary, in which she says she went to Hollywood to become a film star. He asks Mrs. Mathews if she wants to know the truth, even if it is unbearable. She says that she wants to know what happened to her daughter. In Hollywood, with the help of adult video store employee Max California, Welles delves into the world of underground (and sometimes illegal) fetish pornography. He attempts to find out if snuff films are real, or if there is anyone in this underworld who was connected to this film. Contact with sleazy talent scout Eddie Poole leads them to director Dino Velvet, whose violent pornographic films star a masked man known as "Machine" who rapes and tortures women. To gain more evidence, Welles pretends to be a client interested in commissioning a hardcore BDSM film to be directed by Velvet and starring Machine. Velvet agrees and arranges a meeting in New York City. The meeting turns out to be an ambush. Longdale and Poole appear and hold Welles at gunpoint. It is now clear that the film was real; Mr. Christian contacted Longdale to procure a snuff film, and being unable to find one, he commissioned Velvet and Poole to make one. Velvet and Machine