Horsemen (2009)

Essentially Horsemen is if you took the thriller masterpiece Se7en, replaced the Deadly Sins with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and didn't hire good enough actors or crew to pull it off convincingly. The final result feels like a cheap horror B-movie that's trying to be an intense psychological thriller.The plot is pretty much as standard as you can get in a thriller. Someone has been murdered, his gruesome remains are found by some hapless bystander, an investigator, naturally suffering from deep, tragic and angsty backstory, is called in to assist as he is the only one with the knowhow, yada, yada. Clues are discovered, red herrings interrogated, people sit in a brightly lit police room behind a metal desk, you know the drill.The ending is also a problem. For the most part the film is not actually so bad. It's predictable and clichéd, but decent after a fashion. But then comes the ending. First of all, it contains a huge, logic-defying plot hole, and secondly, it doesn't have the guts to go all the way like Se7en. But no, we have to have a satisfying resolution. No nightmares or deep existential pondering for our viewers, no sir.Then again, most of the story is not so bad and the film actually has some really good imagery. Its derivative of Se7en, yes, but not in a bad way. Still, all in all I'd give this one a pass unless you're really into thriller horror films. It just isn't that good, and is actually pretty boring most of the time.

Despite many negative reviews, the plot attracted me to this movie.Se7en and Silence of the lambs are two of my favourite movies and this was supposedly a cross between the two.For forty five minutes I was wondering why this movie had so many negative reviews. It's well made, costing around 20 million dollars and fairly well acted. The cast is also reasonably impressive.So, what's wrong with it? Well, this movie contains spoilers and if you must see it, stop reading right now.Basically, it turns from a hunt for a serial killer(s) into high school crap. There is no serial killer (if you discount the female character..and she isn't what you would call a serial killer anyway). No four horsemen of the apocalypse.There is nothing worse than a movie being taken over by family issues.You know, kids (young adults in this case) moaning cos daddy has to go to work. Even worse, the dad in this movie is a single parent and must work to provide for his kids. I wanna scream ''How the hell do you think you have this roof over your head? The clothes on your back? The car in the drive? The TV in your room? Your college education?'' This movie gets dragged into this pit of boredom. There is no serial killer. Just a bunch of suicidal brats (on the whole) who want to end it all because daddy doesn't give them enough attention. The funniest plot hole (and there are many) is that the 'lead horseman' complains his dad doesn't spend any time with him because of his important case. Yes, the important case YOU provided him with!One of the most ridiculous movies of all time.This could've been good. Why start a movie with cryptic messages on walls with a dead body? Why the 'the messages are facing at north, east, south and west?' These are clues to the killer's identity? Nope...they are nothing. Just nothing.What a waste of time!

"Horsemen,"is your basic tough guy, detective chases serial killer story. Dennis Quaid plays the emotionally distant father and detective, Aidan Breslin, who is on the trail of a serial killer who seems to use the Four Horsemen of the apocalypse as inspiration for a series of grizzly murders. As the story progresses one of the victims has an Asian adopted daughter, Kristin (Ziyi Zhang) who to her own delight, gleefully exposes herself as part of the team of murderers who are not done yet. This case may come close to home with Aidan and his family.OK, Dennis Quaid has played this character several times before, and is hit or miss. He seems to be one of those actors that is good as this type of character but it always depends on the script, director, or the actors around him. In this movie he does a credible job, he keeps the story moving but the real star of this one was Chinese actress Ziyi Zhang.Ziyi Zhang was perfectly cast as the villain. She, by all outward appearances fits the mold of the quiet, submissive, demure, stereotypically Asian woman. She sizzles on the screen as the sadistic cruel, cunning femme fatale that she turns into as the movie progresses. As my summary stated, "I know an 7 is high," but for her performance alone it was definitely worth watching and remembering. Asian audiences already know her for her Hong Kong movie resume and here we have seen her in a few films (Memoirs of a Geisha, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The cute villain in Rush Hour 2) but this performance was convincing, evil, and much better than I could have imagined. I think the last movie I saw where someone flips a character like this was at the very end of "Audition."For the movie it has a decent twist in the end but it is way too telegraphed. The murders in movies like "Se7en" were a little better and the storyline isn't very original. The Dennis Quaid, straight upstanding stone faced detective thing was actually pretty good in comparison and relation to Ziyi Zhang's shockingly honest, evil, bad girl. So, Yes I do have a bit of a crush on her and I do like the bad girls, but all that aside I think she definitely isn't getting the credit she is due on this one.You may not like this film as a whole with its unoriginal storyline, but there is at least one character to make it a worthy watch.Like my reviews, Hate em? Comments, complaints, or want an opinion on a DVD? Just e-mail me at: [email protected]

This frightening and suspenseful thriller concerns about an unsettling and bitter cop emotionally affected for the death of his devoted wife by cancer , being trapped into a dark and tenebrous environment . It's a stirring and moving story full of twists and turns ; however being pretty claustrophobic . This exciting picture contains thrills, chills, plot twists, action-filled and lots of gore and guts . The movie centers on a Detective named Aidan Breslin (Dennis Quaid) , an expert on forensic Odontology , as his chief (Chelcie Ross) assigns him to investigate a weird chain of murders that bear a rare marks on trees and surrounding. The ominous killings have a rare phrases as ¨ We are nothing ¨ from Exodus 1,5 and ¨Come and see¨ , as he finds out it proceeds from Book of Revelation of the apostle Saint Joan . Meanwhile , Aidan holds a problematic relationship to his oldest son named Alex ( Lou Taylor Pucci) . Investigating a series of murders of strange violence, he discovers a horrifying link between himself , his dark secrets and the suspects that seem to be based on the Biblical prophecies dealing with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death ; resulting to be the leader a horseman riding a white horse. Breslin is helped by a tough inspector ( Henry Collins Jr) and a forensic expert ( Barry Shabaka).In the picture there are psychological issues , plot twists, emotion, mystery , spooky sets and a little bit of gore. The movie turns out to be a crossover between the religious intrigue from ¨Crimson rivers : Angel of Apocalypse ¨ , the suspension tortures from ¨The cell¨, investigations means of ¨CSI¨, and ¨Seven¨ thriller. From the beginning of the film until the end the suspense and intrigue is unstopped . The creepy images of wide range from the genuinely eerie to the bizarre along with scary and amazing frames . It's predictable but also its predictability is redeemed for some extraordinary surprises and in part by the charismatic acting from the main protagonists . Acceptable performance by Dennis Quaid as unlucky Inspector who distances from his two sons and good support cast formed by Ziyi Zhang, Patrick Fugit , Peter Stormare , Eric Balfour and Paul Dooley , among others . Thrilling musical score fitting to action and tension by Jan Kaczmarek who formerly won an Academy Award for ¨Finding Neverland ¨. The flick is middlingly directed by Jonas Akerlund , a Videoclip-maker in his first and only picture. The movie obtained a bit of success but failed at the box office. Rating : 5,5 . The motion picture will appeal to religious thriller buffs and dark atmosphere enthusiasts.