Review of Untraceable (2008) by Chads. — 25 Jan 2008

What does "Untraceable", this seemingly disposable thriller have in common with "Sunset Boulevard"? Like the Billy Wilder masterpiece, "Untraceable" is unafraid to unleash an excorciating critique on the modus operandi of "The Dream Factory"(what Hollywood was dubbed during the Studio Era).

It's not 1950 anymore(the dream is over); we'll never see a transition in filmic mode on the scale of silent films giving way to talkies, but 2004's "Saw" was a landmark movie of sorts.

That James Wan(not so wan at the box-office)-helmed shocker had the dubious distinction of ushering in the sub-genre(for both, horror & suspense/thrillers) we now call "torture porn"; defined as prolonged scenes in which people under heavy duress are made to suffer before they expire in some grisly manner that makes ordinary homicide seem passe.

"Untraceable", in my mind, is a critique of this sick trend in contemporary film. Eli Roth's "Hostel" is like the "Citizen Kane" of torture porn("I Know Who Killed Me" is its "Hudson Hawk")In the Charles Brackett & Wilder screenplay, we see how talkies put silent era-film stars out of work.

Likewise, torture porn makes every horror or suspense/thriller icon from Frankenstein to Jason to Hannibal Lecter seem like the Easter bunny. A thriller such as "Lady Beware", a forgettable 1987 film starring Diane Lane(who plays Jennifer in "Untraceable") looks like child's play by today's standards of staging premeditated murder.

In the final scene of "Untraceable"(this is not a spoiler), Jennifer makes like Nora Desmond(Gloria Swanson) and is ready for her close-up(into a video camera). "Untraceable" fades to black.

Hopefully, this is torture porn's swansong.