Untraceable (2008)

Entertainment Weekly
"Lane skillfully sells the tech-heavy script..." 02/01/2008 p.55

Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he result is polished and professional enough to keep you both gripped and entertained." 04/01/2008 p.62

ReelViews 6 of 10
Untraceable engenders a reaction that is one part fascination, one part disappointment, and two parts frustration. The film, which has the ingredients for a thoughtful, tense thriller throws away a compelling first half so it can descend into silliness and cliches. For a movie that works overtime to establish credibility during its first half-hour, Untraceable leaves no predictable, formulaic stone unturned in its rush to a jaw-droppingly stupid conclusion. It's almost as if the filmmakers who made the first two acts were replaced by Uwe Boll collaborators for the final 40 minutes...The film's nearly fetishistic obsession with inventive deaths recalls Saw, although there are substantial differences. Untraceable seeks to be categorized as a thriller while Saw prefers the horror genre, but there are similarities in the ways the movies view death as part of a game between cops and a twisted mastermind...The fact that the movie seeks to implicate the audience in the crimes by proxy is an interesting approach and it makes watching Untraceable uncomfortable. With a better screenplay, this could have been an unsettling motion picture - the kind that causes viewers to leave the theater shaken. Instead, however, because of poor choices by the filmmakers, the moral questions are shunted into the background... - James Berardinelli
 
Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
"Untraceable" is a horrifying thriller, smart and tightly told, and merciless. It begins with this premise: A psychopath devises ways to kill people online, in live streaming video. The more hits he gets, the further the process continues, until finally his captive is dead. "You're setting a new record!" he tells one agonized victim, as we see the total growing on a hit counter...One detail the movie gets just right. As the current victim dies and the hit count climbs, we see a scrolling chat room onscreen. The comments are cretinous, stupid, ugly, divorced from all civilized standards. How people with the mentality of the authors of such messages are intelligent enough to get online in the first place is a puzzle. But they do. All you have to do is visit the wrong chat room or bulletin board and see them at their dirty work...Is there a reason to see this movie? Was there a reason to see "Saw," or "Se7en"? The purpose and function of the violent movie thriller remains a subject of debate. Yes, I watched, fascinated. No, it wasn't art. Its message is visceral. Some people will think: This is wrong. Others will think: This is cool. It is the same in countless areas of society..."Untraceable" is made with intelligence and skill. It dramatizes the sorts of things that the anonymity of the Internet makes possible, or even encourages. - Roger Ebert