Just when you thought that you have acknowledged every aspect and category of the porno genre comes a film that will make you feel like a novice, an infant to this sick world were even death can give you a stiffy, such films I have learnt recently are called "snuff." The definition is a porno death movie (I know, it sickens me), and that sets the plot to this disturbing thriller from renowned fuck up director Joel Schumacher, I use such an offending term only because it is true, this film in particular is not bad, it is rather good but the director deprived it from so much material that it is sad. A lot of film goers will find the concept and material used in this film offending and not appealing, well I cannot disagree with you it is only for the audience with the stomach to see images that linger across your eyes and touch nerves, such as porno bondage. Don't get thoughts into your head and think that I am a perverted sicko who conceives pleasure from these movies (The pornos), on the contrary, it freaks me out, but it let's you know that there are actually some people that exist who love this.  The screenplay redeems the film, it is written by Andrew Kevin Walker, writer of the masterpiece "Seven" ( which I hold to be superior then "Silence Of The Lambs"), he can twist the guts out of you not by grotesque images, well he can do that too, but his dexterity is to shock you with words, I cannot reveal how but you must see for yourself. A character that is devoted to his work, willing to risk his life in what he believes, is already as intriguing as Episode 1, it shows integrity and loyalty, he is someone you can respect and sympathize with, even though he is fictional. This film introduces characters, villains, that rise such inflammatory feelings inside it is worth giving it credit just for that, but there is a catch, this aroused feeling only comes up in the second half. It had a sketchy start and the mood was not too much in tone, if the director just was normal he can strive for perfection and not let such a film with enormous capability not to be used to it's fullest extent, this movies credit should not be the director's, I have a theory I will explain in the end of this review.

Tom Welles (Nicholas Cage) is a private detective who is when we first meet him, a weak man who does not look like he has ever been immune to violence, he does not have it in him, he has a puppy dog look in his eyes which looks like he was abused as a child. A family man who loves his little baby girl with all his heart and those feeling are reciprocal towards his wife Amy (Catherine Keener), he is good hearted and spirited, tries to keep a low profile and wants what every man wants, a good future for his child. So he is thrilled when he receives a call from an extremely wealthy old women Mrs. Christian, her husband has recently passed away and she has found something rather grotesque in his personal safe. It is an 8MM film that shows a snuff porno, the victim is a young women, Tom is asked to watch the film and tell her his thoughts since such material is so rare even mythical, to distinguish weather it is fake or real. We see him watch this film, he is in pain and cannot believe his eyes, he even begins to tear. Mrs. Christian is going to remunerate Tom with any sum of money he needs so this job is worth it, so he thinks. What follows is an investigation that is glum and somber, but well written, Cage is not given a chance to act yet, he is held down. It gets to be slow and just for a few moments you get the feeling that this is boring.

Clues lead Tom to Los Angeles were he is taken into the abyss of porn, the lowest of the low, in one of the sex shops he meets an aid, Max California Joaquin Pheonix), Max is the comic relief man who knows his way around the streets and is affiliated with all underground porno industries. When Tom takes him outside few a few questions they form a bond and merge into a team, Tom then begins to cruise the underground realm of some snuff. When the two are on their way Max warns Tom and tells him "they're things that you see that you can't un-see man they get into your head and they stay there," he is correct about that. The second they ask one of the sellers in the underground porn shop for snuff, the seller takes out a gun and Cage untamed right in front of our eyes by putting both hands up and trying to calm this man down, from that scene the film takes off and becomes great, with a tour de force performance by Cage. He turns brutal in a good way as he gets more involved in the case, he becomes obsessed in a quest for the truth.

We meet such heinous villains that this film can turn from a thriller into being horror, such men as porn director Dino Velvet (Peter Stormare, from "Fargo), and his helper Eddie Poole (James Gandolfini, from "The Sopranos"). There are plenty of tense scenes that send chills up your spine, and scenes of suspense that make you jump, but what should really be pointed out here is Cage's performance, which leads me to my theory. Nicholas Cage is simply one of the best actors out there he has starred in such films as "Birdy", "Leaving Las Vegas", "The Rock", "Face Off", and is always just so damn good, but in the beginning of this film i just felt the director held him back (just like he did the film) from his regular routine, but as time passed Cage created a Coup and started to act natural again, his acting the second half of the film is masterful.

Well, I must agree with Jerriko on this shameless director, he is a bane to our society, Stalin in another life.