Untraceable

Entertaining thriller about a crazed young computer geek who becomes the deranged moderator of his own "Kill With Me" live internet feed where he displays new victims being slowly tortured to death. The more hits he gets at his site, the faster the people featured on his webcam die. This is disturbing in making us realize what depths we've sunk to in our society, and what morbid curiosities can do. I especially liked that the 40-something Diane Lane is the star as the police woman who tries to apprehend the killer, instead of relying on the usual Jessica Alba or Sarah Michelle Gellar "honeys" of late.

*** out of ****

Writers Robert Fyvolent, Mark Brinker and Allison Burnett, along with director Gregory Hoblit ("Fracture"), have come up with a humdinger of a premise for their dark thriller "Untraceable." It seems that a techno-savvy serial killer has set up a website where people can go to watch him torture and murder his victims in real time. The kicker is that the degree and speed of the torture are in direct proportion to the number of viewers logged onto the site, thus making the general public morally complicit in the crimes. The always superb Diane Lane really classes up the joint playing a cyber-cop who is not only hot on the trail of the killer, but might actually be one of his intended targets as well.

The idea for "Untraceable" is probably better than the movie itself, yet, despite its weaknesses, this is a reasonably engrossing and gripping thriller, provided one can stomach the sleaziness of the material and the too-clever-by-half "ironic" ending (the movie is at least more believable in its approach than the similarly-themed "The Condemned"). "Untraceable" certainly has some depressing things to say about our natural human propensity for sadism and voyeurism, and it raises the terrifying prospect that we will now be able to use modern technology as a means of satisfying our bloodlust with total impunity. The movie might have had a sharper moral and ethical edge to it had it featured some common-folk characters debating within and amongst themselves whether or not to log onto the site, knowing that, by doing so, they would be contributing to the death of a fellow human being. But because the writers fail to incorporate such scenes into the screenplay, the premise never gets much beyond the "intriguing idea" stage. Still, the concept is compelling enough on its own to keep "Untraceable" a few steps ahead of the psycho-thriller pack.

As I have stated before, I love scary movies even though I get frightened by everything. Untraceable caught my eye the first time I saw a trailer for it. The plot is very fast paced, and you will find yourself playing detective while watching. The best part of this movie is that it doesn't go for cheap scares, such as something jumping out or ominous music at key points in the film. If you can handle a little bit of gore, you should be fine. The ending won't blow you away, but you shouldn't be disappointed either. This is a solid film that isn't too scary, but it's no Muppet movie. Colin Hanks is solid as usual. The killer didn't quite meet my expectations on the creepy scale, but he is serviceable.

The movie had a few things going in its favor. For one, it used reasonable technology and background, so the story wasn't far-fetched. Secondly, and most importantly in my eyes, it did NOT go for shock value. It didn't try to use gore to elicit a reaction from the crowd. Not to say that some scenes weren't rough on the eyes, but it was far from a Saw or Hostel. Thirdly, it honestly kept me on the edge of my seat for a good portion of the movie. And lastly, the ending does not drag itself out. It ends at the logical point.

That having been said, this movie will not change your life. It's a little bit of a commentary on society, but moreso, it's just an entertaining movie to watch.

Well, I can say one thing about this movie is that is was very original. Most of the pessimistic losers out there who are fans of 'Gorror' movies will cry, and complain that it was a rip-off of the Saw series. Yeah, yeah... whatever. In reality... THIS could ACTUALLY happen. And the saddest part, is that people would log onto the site to watch THAT happen.

This movie was a little slow... It is not an action movie, does not have any nudity, no car chases, no monsters, no sex, no love triangle, no street fighting.. so the average movie-goer will find it lame, slow, and boring. I like slower movies, lets you think as you watch. Diane Lane was good, but not super. She has had better, no... much better roles. Joseph Cross plays a really creepy bad guy, with sick twisted emotions.

The movie was not great, but is surely was not a bad film. I believe if you are a real fan of Murder mystery, police detective films, with some thriller thrown in, you would, or may like this flick. With ONLY 1 Hr. and 40 Mins. if someone complains about length, they need to get checked for A.D.D. or they need to stick to teen-age comedies like Strange Wilderness, or Meet the Spartans.

Check this movie out with an open mind, don't let the pessimists cloud your idea of this film. It is an innovative film, with a good cast, and the shots of Portland, Oregon are not bad at all. I will actually give this film a 6 1/2 out of 10.