Untraceable

This thriller finds an unseen kidnapper murdering his victims live on the Web, rigging elaborate, progressive torture devices that accelerate and intensify with each “hit” to his carefully camouflaged site. When FBI analyst Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane) gets too close to the killer, he retaliates by hacking into her computers at work and home—a prelude to capturing the agent and giving her some first-hand experience with his methods. Director Gregory Hoblit, a veteran of the TV series NYPD Blue, makes the fairly outlandish premise seem plausible by giving it matter-of-fact treatment, but he doesn’t hesitate to splash around a little gore where he feels it’ll be most effective.

Shelf Talk: Lane generally skews to an older audience, but Untraceable’s flirtations with torture porn could make it appealing to younger renters with a taste for spicier fare. It would probably be a mistake to market Mr. Hoblit’s opus as a horror film, but advertising and promotion that highlight the gore content could draw additional eyes.