MUTE WITNESS (1995)
Directed by Anthony Waller
Starring Marina Sudina and Fay Ripley
Well-done thriller predates "8mm" as an examination of that mythological movie genre known as the "snuff film."
A team of American filmmakers go to Russia to make a horror movie. The makeup artist, a mute woman played well by Sudina, stumbles upon the film set one night and sees some Russian crewmembers shooting a snuff film.
It's an incredibly eerie, disturbing scene to say the least—possibly one of the most gruesome ever filmed. What follows is your usual Hitchcockian thriller with snuff filmmakers and the Russian Mafia chasing her around, trying to killer her, while she struggles to make a sound. Alec Guinness has a guest appearance.
It borrows quite a bit from "Wait Until Dark," but is actually ten times better than that movie.
Director Waller would go on to make "An American Werewolf in Paris."
