Suspect Zero (2004)
Review by Peter Syslo

SUSPECT ZERO (2004) is a fairly good film about an FBI agent’s hunt for a serial killer. It takes the basic formula of the forensic chase and it throws in a few twists and turns to keep it from being a run-of-the-mill SILENCE OF THE LAMBS or SEVEN clone. Most importantly, though, I think that the premise of the film is really what makes it unique. Sometimes, I think that if there is a strong story it can save a picture, regardless of bad effects, bad acting, bad dialogue, etc. For example, I enjoyed the original ALIEN VS. PREDATOR mainly because of the storyline (plus I love the alien and predator characters)– I thought that it was a really neat concept which mixed history, science fiction, and horror and that saved that film and elevated it a bit. The same goes here, for SUSPECT ZERO; the basis of the film is that there is a killer , who continually kills random victims but he never gets caught – he has no modus operandi and he leaves none of the “serial” types of clues. That concept is introduced about 30 minutes into the picture and I feel that it made this film better.

SUSPECT ZERO is directed by E. Elias Merhige and it is written by Zak Penn and Billy Ray. The film stars Aaron Eckhart, Carrie-Anne Moss, Ben Kingsley, Harry J. Lennix, and Kevin Chamberlin.

I will give just a quick summary of the plot, because there are a few surprises which I don’t want to spoil. The film begins with a few murders and Agent Mackelway (Eckhart) is called out to investigate the crime scenes. He is sort of a forensics agent who specializes in profiling bizarre murder cases. With the help of Agent Kulok (Moss), Agent Mackelway makes headway in the cases and he finds that everything is connected to a man named O’Ryan (Kingsley). O’Ryan is actually a former agent who was involved in “The Icarus Project”, which was an experimental training that utilized psychic projection for profiling and tracking killers. As all of these clues and leads are coming together, Agent Mackelway learns of the “academic theory” of Suspect Zero and he begins to believe that this type of killer may be real.

SUSPECT ZERO was entertaining and like I said, the premise really kept it alive. It was a pretty thought-provoking notion that there may be this “Suspect Zero”- type killer roaming around out there (although it does suck for any unsuspecting victim). Also, I thought that the whole “Icarus Project” was a neat angle to include in the story – it added a necessary twist and it added enough confusion to keep me from guessing who the true killer was. I have to say that about the film - it was definitely unpredictable.

But, even though the mystery aspect of the film was good, it wasn’t exactly “airtight”; I didn’t feel that things all matched up perfectly and maybe that is because there are so many complexities to the picture – some details are easy to overlook and some are a bit of a stretch. Aside from that, though, my main complaint of the movie is that it felt too short (actually, just like AVP); meaning, once the story really got rolling and it was suspenseful, it seemed to all end in about 20 minutes. I just wish that the “Suspect Zero” material was introduced earlier in the film (kind of like the way that I wish Megatron was revived earlier in last year’s THE TRANSFORMERS – or shall I call it AMERICAN PIE IV: THE TRANSFORMERS – don’t get me started on that!).

The acting in SUSPECT ZERO was pretty good, with Kingsley being the high-point as the eccentric O’Ryan. Eckhart and Moss were also good as the agents and I liked the fact that they both played it “low key” and there were no stereotypical things such as the cocky rookie agent, etc. Their characters apparently had some sort of past relationship, but thankfully, the film did not unnecessarily delve into that – sometimes stuff like that doesn’t add to the characters and it bogs down the momentum of the film.

Cutting to the chase: SUSPECT ZERO was basically good – I wasn’t floored by it, but I did like it. The premise was great and that was the best part of the movie. The cinematography, acting, sets, etc. were all good and they added to the realism and the slightly creepy “serial killer” atmosphere. It just needed to introduce the core of the film a little earlier and maybe a little better pacing and build-up could’ve helped, as well. If you like high concept, forensic horror such as SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, SEVEN, THE CELL, or “paranormally”- based stories such as “Lost” then you may be into SUSPECT ZERO – it is worth watching. I give it a 6 out of 10.