Before Joker, Joaquin Phoenix Investigated Snuff Films With Nicolas Cage

20 years before playing The Joker in Todd Phillips’ acclaimed DC origin film, Joaquin Phoenix hunted snuff filmmakers with Nicolas Cage in 8MM. Lots of eventually acclaimed actors cut their teeth in Hollywood via horror films, and while 8MM straddles the line between horror and thriller, its subject matter is certainly horrific. Directed by Joel Schumacher – yes, the same one that made Batman & Robin – 8MM casts Cage in the lead role of Tom Welles, a private investigator who thinks he’s about seen it all.

Welles’ resolve to that end is challenged after being hired by a wealthy widow to investigate what appears to be a snuff film, found in her recently deceased husband’s belongings. While never definitively proven to be a real thing, the idea of snuff films – murders recorded on video – has persisted for decades, and it’s not hard to understand why the prospect both fascinates and unsettles many. Gory murders in a fictional film are one thing, recording real ones for pleasure is a different beast entirely.

Welles’ quest to uncover the truth behind the alleged snuff film in 8MM leads him to some shady places, and that’s where he meets Max California (Joaquin Phoenix), a clerk at an adult video store. Max’s knowledge and connections are able to assist Welles in his search, and before long, it’s clear that he’s really a decent person at heart, terrified by the prospect of a real snuff film just as much as the veteran investigator. This is of course in sharp contrast to Arthur Fleck in Joker, a Phoenix character who ends up so twisted that he might well be fine making his own snuff movies.

Joker’s Joaquin Phoenix Dies Horribly in 8MM

Sadly for Joaquin Phoenix’s Max California, the character doesn’t survive 8MM. While Welles and Max do eventually discover that the snuff film they’re investigating is in fact real, Max ends up taken hostage by the filmmakers, who use him as a bargaining chip to make Welles bring them the only surviving copy of the film. Being murderers, they naturally double cross Welles, burning the film, and killing Max by slicing his throat. This comes after Max was already brutally beaten. In this case, unlike Joker, Phoenix doesn’t respond to the beating by getting revenge.

Joker’s Joaquin Phoenix Hasn’t Done Horror Since 8MM

Unless one counts Joker itself, which is one of the darkest comic book films to date and features multiple gruesome kills, Phoenix has sadly never really returned to the world of horror. The closest he’s come is starring in the M. Night Shyamalan films Signs and The Village, released in 2002 and 2004, respectively. Still, neither of those get nearly as close to straight-up horror as 8MM does. Phoenix has been mostly happy to star in prestige dramas, such as Walk the Line, Her, and Inherent Vice. Hopefully one day Joaquin Phoenix will bring his talents back to the genre.

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