Jennifer Eight

"Is anyone there?"

1992 2h 4m EN

😐

6.1

MID

🥫

36%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.3

IMDB

★6.1TMDB · 427🥫36%Rotten Tomatoes●48Metacritic★6.3IMDB · 19,309

CrimeDramaMysteryThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“Is anyone there?”

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Cast

Andy Garcia
Sgt. John Berlin
Lance Henriksen
Sgt. Freddy Ross
Uma Thurman
Helena Robertson
Graham Beckel
John Taylor
Kathy Baker
Margie Ross
Kevin Conway
Chief Citrine
John Malkovich
Agent St. Anne
Perry Lang
Travis

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Bruce Robinson
Writers: Bruce Robinson
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 57% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

34 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Bruce Robinson, shot by Conrad Hall. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Christopher Young. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Conrad Buff IV shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Andy Garcia and Lance Henriksen and Uma Thurman carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Is anyone there?".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0104549 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Bruce Robinson directs. Conrad Hall behind the camera. Christopher Young scores. Conrad Buff IV cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 57% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
234 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Bruce Robinson, shot by Conrad Hall. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Christopher Young. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Conrad Buff IV shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Andy Garcia and Lance Henriksen and Uma Thurman carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Is anyone there?".
8IMDB entry: tt0104549 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 15 themes, including "blindness and impaired vision", "fight", "victim", "witness".

The technical file

Cinematography: Conrad Hall
Original score: Christopher Young
Editing: Conrad Buff IV
Production design: Richard Macdonald
Costume design: Judy L. Ruskin
Makeup / hair: Rick Sharp
Stunt coordinator: Buddy Joe Hooker
Runtime: 124 min · 2h 4m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $20,000,000
Box office: $11,390,479
Return: 57% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Jennifer Eight (1992)
Rotten Tomatoes: 36% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 48/100
IMDB rating: 6.3/10 · 19,309 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

5 wins total

Also by

Bruce Robinson

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-05-18
★ 6/10
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
yimora2020-08-28
★ 9/10
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.
CinemaSerf2022-09-08
★ 6/10
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.