Untraceable - Film Review

An appraisal of the 2008 thriller starring Diane Lane & Billy Burke.

Mar 7, 2008 Paul Jude Seaton

Untraceable has its roots in two specific genres : horror and thriller. How the film fails to combine these genres may explain its comparitive box-office failure.

Tracing the Untraceable

Untraceable is a film that is heavily influenced by the Hallowe'en horror favourite, Saw. The dimly-lit tone of the film and the reliance on gory set-pieces is well established within the horror genre. What Untraceable also aspires to be is an intelligent thriller, with the plot FBI hot on the trail of a cyber-killer. The murderer has opened a website (subtly entitled www.killwithme.com) which is streaming live pictures of a kitten being killed. Despite of the horrific nature of the site, more and more subscribers log onto the page. The killer, an unseen figure to his online audience, moves onto humans for his next victim and promises that the more people who go to the website, the quicker his prey will meet their demise. The website receives more and more hits, and the killer's fiendish plan is underway.

Chasing with the Feds

Luckily for the victims and the public, the FBI is investigating the mysteriously 'untraceable' website. All they know is that (handily) it originates from a local source, meaning they can sweep the nearby area for any possible suspects. Unfortunately, each time they seem close to discovering more about the motive and background of the killer, another victim appears on the website, and they must hurriedly attempt, in vain, to save their life. Diane Lane excels in the role of FBI cyber-agent and single mother Jennifer Marsh, who strives to protect her family whilst tracking the sadistic person behind the killings. Billy Burke, perhaps most recognised as the evil Gary Matheson in TV's 24, performs ably in the under-used role of the detective assigned to the killings by the Portland police department. Colin Hanks also features as Lane's FBI side-kick, although his character has a transparency in the latter stages that undoes a lot of Hanks' good work in the early part of the film.

Style over Substance

Perhaps where Untraceable falls slightly short is in the attempted mixing of two genres. By relying on gory set-pieces, the film struggles to engage the audience a little when it comes to the twin plot of tracing the killer. But despite its bad points, the movie has several original ideas, and uses the concept of killing people via the attention the website receives very well. The explanation of the killer's motives deals with all the various strands of the plot in a tidy, if over-edited, manner. Also, the cast keep the audience intrigued throughout, and there are plenty of shocks to bring you to the edge of your seat. As a horror film, there are more shocking and visceral works on release, and as a thriller the film has weaknesses. But in combining the two genres, Untraceable has enough originality to overcome the shortfalls it has and this makes the movie an enjoyable cyber-romp. Log on and join the audience with only limited reservations.

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