Back home

Jennifer Eight

388 votes

Producing House

John Berlin, a big-city cop from LA moves to a small-town police force and immediately finds himself investigating a murder. Using theories rejected by his colleagues, Berlin meets a young blind woman named Helena, whom he is attracted to. Meanwhile, a serial killer is on the loose—and only John knows it.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 1992-11-06

Runtime: 124 mins

Director: Bruce Robinson

Spoken language: English

Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Original title: Jennifer Eight

Production Companies: Paramount Pictures

Production Countries: United States of America

Reviews

t

tmdb76622195
Good movie, great ending. Thurman and Garcia work well together, and the surprise ending is one even jaded old me did not expect. I recommend this to everyone who thinks the serial killer genre has been played out.
2023-06-09

G

Geronimo1967
Andy Garcia could never really be described as versatile, and he goes quite a way to prove it here in this rather unremarkable crime drama. He is "Berlin", a recently divorced LA cop who is just about burnt out. Luckily, his pal "Freddy" (Lance Henriksen) offers him a less stressful job in his rural force which he leaps at. Once there, though, he alights on a rather curious case that involved the murder of local blind girls. Despite considerable effort, the police could make little progress and the case had gone cold, but he risks putting noses out of joint as he tries to get to the bottom of things. His best ally soon turns out to be "Helena" (Uma Thurman) whose flatmate was the final - thus far - victim. The pair bond instantly but when an unexpected tragedy unfolds, "Berlin" finds himself the subject of an investigation and, bailed, the two and "Margie" (Kathy Baker) must discover the truth before... It's not a bad story, and the blind angle allows Bruce Robinson to develop a few more of the sensory perspectives to the usual serial killer drama - with Thurman quite engaging. The rest of the acting talent here is pretty weak, though, as is the writing - lots and lots of it. If it had lost maybe half an hour, the tightened narrative would probably have worked more efficiently - but at over two hours it is all just far too slow a burn, and what efforts are made to generate a sense of menace are undermined by a really bland score and some rather ordinary visuals. A television movie that passes the time, but more fodder than fun.
2022-09-08

y

yimora
The revie written by John Card is totally trash. This is not a "frustrating" film in any way and doesn't have a "rushed" ending neither. The ending lasts something like 20 minutes. This movie is worth more than just 6 points.
2020-08-28

J

John Chard
The blind leading the blind. Jennifer 8 is written and directed by Bruce Robinson. It stars Andy Garcia, Uma Thurman, John Malkovich, Lance Henriksen, Kathy Baker and Graham Beckel. Music is by Christopher Young and cinematography by Conrad Hall. The small town of Eureka and John Berlin (Garcia) is the new cop in the precinct. When a severed hand is found at the local dump it leads Berlin to believe a serial killer is at work. One who has a penchant for blind girls. The problems quickly mounted up for Jennifer 8, it flopped big in America and went straight to home format release in the UK. Problems back stage got so bad that Bruce Robinson quit Hollywood and never made another film for 19 years! In spite of these facts, it’s not the monstrosity it was originally painted as back on its “limited” release. It’s a frustrating film in many ways because it promises so much. There’s bags of moody atmospherics wrung out by Conrad Hall’s superb photography, where he filters most things via minimal lighting. Much of the play unfolds in ominous surroundings, where dialogue exchanges are either hushed or laced with harried fervour, and the writing is actually quite smart as it blends psycho thriller staples with strong characterisations that are in turn boosted by committed acting performances. Yet these things can’t compensate for the too long run time, a rushed ending and some awkward tonal shifts that often take you out of the required mood. The rushed ending is particularly galling, after asking the audience to stay with the pic for two hours, it’s not unreasonable to expect a good long and dramatic finale, sadly that’s not the case. Fans of neo-noir type visuals have some interest here, as does anyone who likes the type of serial killer movies that dominated the late 80s and early 90s before Fincher’s Seven raised the bar. 6/10
2014-05-18

Recommendations

The Contract
2.9

The Contract

2006-04-05

Attempting to recover from a recent family trauma by escaping into the woods for a peaceful hiking t

Games of Love and Chance
3.3

Games of Love and Chance

2003-11-25

A group of teenagers living in a housing project in the outskirts of Paris rehearse a scene from Mar

Down by Law
3.7

Down by Law

1986-09-20

A disc jockey, a pimp and an Italian tourist escape from jail in New Orleans.

Miss Congeniality
3.3

Miss Congeniality

2000-12-22

When the local FBI office receives a letter from a terrorist known only as 'The Citizen', it's quick

Curse of the Golden Flower
3.4

Curse of the Golden Flower

2006-12-14

During China's Tang dynasty the emperor has taken the princess of a neighboring province as his wife

Changing Lanes
3.1

Changing Lanes

2002-04-07

A rush-hour fender-bender on New York City's crowded FDR Drive, under most circumstances, wouldn't s

Live Free or Die Hard
3.3

Live Free or Die Hard

2007-06-20

John McClane is back and badder than ever, and this time he calls on the services of a young hacker

A Time to Kill
3.7

A Time to Kill

1996-07-24

A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daug

The Recruit
3.2

The Recruit

2003-01-31

A brilliant CIA trainee must prove his worth at the Farm, the agency's secret training grounds, wher

Sicario
3.7

Sicario

2015-09-17

An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against

Rope
4

Rope

1948-02-01

Two young men attempt to prove they committed the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party for the f

Ray
3.7

Ray

2004-10-29

Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by

The Miracle Worker
3.9

The Miracle Worker

1962-05-23

The true story of the frightening, lonely world of silence and darkness of 7-year-old Helen Keller w

The Miracle Worker
3.5

The Miracle Worker

2000-11-12

Devoted teacher Anne Sullivan leads deaf, blind and mute Helen Keller out of solitude and helps inte

Hollywood 90028
2.3

Hollywood 90028

1973-07-01

Mark, a cameraman who aspires to work on serious Hollywood films but can only find work making porno

Dirty Harry
3.7

Dirty Harry

1971-12-23

When a madman dubbed 'Scorpio' terrorizes San Francisco, hard-nosed cop, Harry Callahan – famous for

The China Syndrome
3.5

The China Syndrome

1979-03-16

While doing a series of reports on alternative energy sources, opportunistic reporter Kimberly Wells

Breathless
2.9

Breathless

1983-05-13

Jesse, a small-time criminal, high-tails it to Los Angeles to rendezvous with a French exchange stud

Arlington Road
3.5

Arlington Road

1999-03-19

Bedraggled college professor Michael Faraday has been vexed — and increasingly paranoid — since his

A Bay of Blood
3.3

A Bay of Blood

1971-09-08

An elderly heiress is killed by her husband who wants control of her fortunes. What ensues is an all