Jennifer 8 [Jennifer Eight] ** (1992, Andy Garcia, Uma Thurman, Lance Henriksen, John Malkovich) – Classic Movie Review 6,614

Andy Garcia stars in the 1992 mystery crime thriller film Jennifer 8 as John Berlin, a burnt-out police detective who finds himself on the trail of a mysterious serial killer of blind young women.

Andy Garcia stars in the 1992 mystery crime drama film Jennifer 8 as John Berlin, a burnt-out LA police sergeant relocated to a small-town police force in rural northern California, where he finds himself on the trail of a mysterious serial killer of blind young women.

Berlin reopens the case of an unidentified murdered girl, nicknamed Jennifer, the seventh victim, and then finds in a garbage bag at the local dump the severed hand of a girl, who is therefore Jennifer 8.

John Berlin then meets and becomes romantically involved with young blind music teacher Helena Robertson (Uma Thurman), determining that her roommate Amber was the eighth victim and that Helena may be the serial killer’s next victim.

The British writer-director Bruce Robinson (Withnail & I) gets his first American assignment for what its star Andy Garcia calls ‘a thinking man’s thriller’.

Jennifer 8 [Jennifer Eight] may be a thinking man’s thriller but it is only half a terrific thriller – the film’s first half – with some powerful set pieces like the finding of a body on the city dump. But, after the first half of the film, the yarn careers wildly off the rails and the film becomes a contrived and decidedly frustrating experience.

However, it helps a lot that there are rousing tough-guy performances from Garcia, Lance Henriksen as his cop partner Freddy Ross, and John Malkovich in a creepy cameo as the police investigator St Anne. And it also helps a lot that Conrad L Hall’s cinematography is so very atmospheric and striking.

It was released in the US on 6 November 1992. But, after a screening for British film critics for a cinema release, it mysteriously went straight to video in the UK.

The running time is 126 minutes (US) and 106 minutes (UK).

Also in the cast are Kathy Baker, Kevin Conway, Perry Lang, Lenny Von Dohlen, Bob Gunton, Graham Beckel, Michael O’Neill, Bryan Larkin, Debbon Ayer and Paul Bates.

Jennifer Eight is directed by Bruce Robinson, runs 126 minutes, is made and released by Paramount Pictures, is written by Bruce Robinson, is shot by Conrad L Hall, is produced by Gary Lucchesi and David Wimbury, and is scored by Christopher Young, with Production Design by Richard Macdonald.

It was released on 6 November 1992.

Jennifer Eight is rated R for violence and terror, and for strong language and brief nudity.

Filming took place in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, including Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam; Richmond for the rural London Heritage Farm and for the Marine Garage in Steveston; and, Maple Ridge for the dump and for John Berlin’s farmhouse.

Made for $20 million, the film grossed only $11.4 million at the North American box office.

Bruce Robinson complained of studio interference and casting: “There were four different studio heads who all wanted different things. I didn’t write it for a handsome young lead, I wrote it for a shagged-out old cop like Gene Hackman or Al Pacino.’

Conrad L Hall (June 21, 1926 – January 4, 2003) won three Academy Awards and three BAFTA Awards. His posthumous Oscar for Road to Perdition (2002) was accepted by his cinematographer son Conrad W Hall.

The cast are Andy García as John Berlin, Uma Thurman as Helena, Lance Henriksen as Freddy Ross, Kathy Baker as Margie Ross, Kevin Conway as Chief Citrine, Graham Beckel as John Taylor, Lenny Von Dohlen as Blattis, Bob Gunton as Goodridge, Paul Bates as Venables, Perry Lang as Travis, Bryan Larkin as Bobby Ross, Nicholas Love as Bisley, Michael O‘Neil as Serato, and John Malkovich as St Anne.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6,614

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