Snuff Trap + 8MM --
It’s compare & contrast time. Two films that clearly belong together. One is a big Hollywood release, the other is a rip off of it by Bruno Mattei. It is under a French pseudonym in this facebook video, but it is the Italian film Snuff Killer, retitled Snuff Trap. Most of you have probably already seen 8MM.
Ok so why watch both films? 8MM was first & it has all the bells & whistles. Big Hollywood budget, top actors, So what does Bruno Mattei offer us in Snuff Trap? Lots of dialogue lifted piecemeal from the Nicholaus Cage film. A dirtier (and at times cheaper) looking film. It is far more graphic in terms of onscreen violence. However, when it does diverge from 8MM things get interesting.
I have seen it at least 5 times, the dialogue is memorable & highly quotable 'you dance with the devil, the devil doesn't change, it changes you'.
However, it is less compelling for the simple reason that the hero's motivation for delving into the world of smut & snuff is not personal. He is simply doing his job as a private investigator& it leads him down a path that puts his entire family (wife & child) in jeopardy. Granted, as you watch the film you will see him become more & more invested in seeing the perpetrators pay for their crimes, but in the process he forgets what really matters, protecting his family. There are several points when he could have walked away or informed the authorities (I know, I know, that's always the case in horror films...) just as easily as continuing on the road to vengeance.
So what does Bruno Mattei offer us in Snuff Trap? Lots of dialogue lifted piecemeal from the Nicholaus Cage film. A dirtier (and at times cheaper) looking film. It is far more graphic in terms of onscreen violence. However, when it does diverge from 8MM things get interesting.
The filmmaker has given a heavy nod to another film on the subject of snuff: Hardcore. Hardcore features a religious father from a small town whose daughter is abducted into the underground world of porn & snuff. He goes on a personal journey to find her & is forever (& not for the better) changed by the degradation around him.
This personal element is brought into the plot of Snuff Trap as the mother of a missing daughter goes into the porn/snuff world. It is extremely harrowing because as a woman this world does not welcome her, doors are closed in her face, she is abused & used on her path to saving her child. The ending is a nail biter, the viewer doesn’t know if she will be the next ‘star’ for the pornographers.
Have some patience as this copy of Snuff Trap (which is hard to find) is atrociously dubbed. Oh well.
There are links there if you click they will appear idk how to fix it, check out the white box above. Thanks guys.
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