8 MM 2 (2005) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

One would be wrong.

Given that error, one might then assume that the film is a very, very similar film to 8 MM, virtually a remake with a different cast, ala Wild Things 2, or Single White Female 2.

Wrong again.

Well, if is is neither one of those things, then one must certainly assume that it shares themes, or some important elements with 8 MM.

Nope.

The two films have no common denominator, except in the same sense that Fantasia and Pulp Fiction may have some common denominators, given a sufficient willingness to exaggerate or to assign import to irrelevancies. (Let's see. They are both on film; they both include background music; and of course, they both feature violent anal rape. )

If there had not been a previous film named 8MM, that would not be such a bad title for this one, but the film called 8MM 2 has absolutely nothing in common with the theatrically-released Nic Cage film named 8MM. This film is not about snuff films or anything similar. In fact, it was to be titled The Velvet Side of Hell, but ended up being released to video under its current name, for no reason that I can see other than an attempt to cash in on the value of name recognition. A straight-to-vid called The Velvet Side of Hell would be completely anonymous on retail shelves, while one entitled 8 MM 2 might pick up some curiosity sales or rentals.

The story focuses on two Americans living in Budapest. She's the Ambassador's daughter, and comes from an "old money" family. He's the Ambassador's legal counsel, and grew up on food stamps. Despite the gap in their social status, they have become romantically entangled, and more than that - they plan to get married. The film's intrigue is driven by the fact that she has a wild set of sexual appetites, and manages to steer them into a threesome with another woman at a secluded inn in the Hungarian countryside. Unfortunately for them, it turns out that the innkeeper is running a blackmail scam, and makes video tapes to back up his demands.

In attempting to avoid paying the blackmail, the Americans decide to track down the woman from the threesome. It turns out that she works in the Budapest sex industry, so the Americans must get involved with various seedy underworld characters, and they eventually leave behind a trail of dead bodies. Since they are connected in various ways to many of the recently deceased, the police consider them murder suspects. Finally, the couple gets in far too deep and the blackmailers raise the stakes by kidnapping the man and demanding a ransom from the rich woman.

Although 8 MM 2 has nothing to do with 8 MM, it is similar to two of the films I mentioned above.

• It is similar to Wild Things 2 in that it centers around a complicated scam, a menage a trois, and various hidden elements. If you're really good at these sorts of multiple twist movies, you've probably already determined from my description that things may not really be what they appear.
• It is similar to Another 9 1/2 Weeks in that it involves steamy eroticism between two Americans in exotic European locales.
• It is similar to both of those films in quality, which is to say that it is a respectable movie for a straight-to-vid, but not worthy of being named after its predecessor.

If you are simply looking for an erotic thriller, and can ignore the deceptive title, you could do worse than this. The actors are better than the usual erotic thriller suspects. The plot isn't so bad -  I didn't really catch on to all of the hidden elements, although perhaps I should have because it seemed fairly obvious when I thought it over. The ending is standard genre stuff, but is handled pretty well. The street scenes of Budapest at Christmastime are beautiful. Most important, there is plenty of sex and nudity. Lori Heuring finally ends the teasing stage of her career and strips down to show her chest and her bum in some sex scenes with Jonathan Schaech, with and without the Hungarian woman. Schaech himself bares his bum. The exotic Zita Görög plays the Hungarian woman in the threesome, and at one point she stands completely naked in good light, showing everything from the front and rear. She also shows everything again in the sex scene. Many, many stark naked women walk around in the Budapest sex clubs, strip joints, and porno film sets.