Customer Reviews

Horsemen

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

Dennis Quaid stars as a widowed detective facing an investigation the likes of which he has never seen: Four murders modeled after the themes of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Ziyi Zhang (Memoirs of a Geisha) also stars.

The first thing that comes to mind when hearing about a crime thriller about a detective investigation religious-themed murders will be the comparison to the modern classic 'Se7en' (David Fincher, 1995). And, yes, it's quite obvious that 'The Horsemen' had quite a bit of inspiration from that film, and the film was styled after its predecessor in more ways than the story. But, I must ask. . . is anyone surprised? Keep in mind that this film was produced by Platinum Dunes, Michael Bay's remake machine that has given us the remakes of such classic horrors as 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' and 'Friday the 13th.' Maybe Bay wanted to remake 'Se7en' a mere fourteen years after its release, but couldn't get the rights. . . so, they went for a film styled after it.

Regardless, the film itself (separated from 'Se7en' and other similar films) isn't terrible. While it CERTAINLY doesn't live up to the 7.5/10 IMDb currently rates it at (a number clearly inflated by crew and studio employees), it still works as an interesting crime thriller. The story is good, Quaid is his usual dependable self, and the direction captures some darkly attractive scenery. Also, the last 20 or so minutes give quite a few thrills and almost had me on the edge of my seat. However, on the negative side, the script is quite lacking and maintains too steady of a course, feeling more like a collection of scenes than a coherent film; Ziyi Zhang puts forth one of the most annoying performances I've seen in a long time; and the extremely rushed and thoughtless final moments leave a very bitter taste in the audience's collective mind.

Similar to the Al Pacino vehicle '88 Minutes' (2008), 'The Horsemen' simply came along too late for its audience (not to mention had a below-average script) to be as enjoyable as it could've been.

Final Verdict: 6/10.

-AP3-

In the commentary the DoP (Broms) and the director admit they "were struggling" with everything in this movie - and man did it show. This struggle included obvious re-shoots (ever wonder what Clifton Collins looks like with a wig?) and plot points being convoluted into confusion, forgotten or just plain eliminated (have to watch the deleted scenes), bad editing, an inability of one of the actors not speaking English well and the list goes on.

The plot has been summed up repeatedly here, but in the end, I was so bummed with how everything happened in the entire film, I actually watched it a second time to listen to the commentary to find out what went wrong. I have listened to many a discussion by the leaders of various films, so without slandering any one person, they summarized this whole thing up with the word they themselves kept using - painful.

This film is being supported heavily by these "youth" that participate in this suspension phenomenon happening all over the world, so expect to see lots of glowing reviews. And should you have some morbid interest in this self mutilation you can hear the director discuss all kinds of details about how to succeed at this. Did not work for me, but the only interest in seeing this waste of film would be to hear some of the songs and watching Quaid have one of his worst outings - ever. The camera work was unique at times, the storytelling was mismanaged (explained by how the crew kept comparing things to how they made music videos) and the performances were below average. Skipper.

The Horsemen (Jonas Åkerlund, 2009)

I saw an ad online for this movie a couple of days ago, as it had just come out on DVD, and I marveled that I'd never heard of this before. How could I have missed a mystery/horror flick starring two very big names (Dennis Quaid and Ziyi Zhang) and directed by a respected guy like Åkerlund? I've never been a big Åkerlund fan, but I know he's gotten a lot of critical respect for Spun, a drug comedy/action flick he made a few years back. And yet this, produced by Michael Bay no less, as far as I can tell went to a few festivals, played for a couple of weeks in five American cities, and then got dumped straight to DVD. What? And the premise was pretty darned cool, a kind of Seven ripoff based on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse rather than the seven deadly sins. I'm all for Seven ripoffs if they're quality, so I knew I had to go rent a copy and check it out. And now I understand completely why it achieved instant obscurity. The Horsemen is, of the 25-30 I've seen so far, the worst movie of 2009.

Quaid plays Aidan Breslin, a detective with a background in orthodontics who gets assigned to a case after a cache of extracted, bloody teeth is found in the woods. The first body is found soon after, the wife of a prominent businessman (Peter Stormare) who has a number of adopted children. One of those, Kirsten (Zhang), has just turned eighteen and seems attracted to the recently-widowed Breslin. He, however, has his own problems dealing with both the death of his wife and the resentment of his older son (Southland Tales' Lou Taylor Pucci). Breslin is convinced that the murderers (for there must be four) have taken the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as their motif, and the case becomes a race against time--can they find the killers before they find themselves with more victims? Things get weird when one of the murders chooses to step into the light--and it's the last person Breslin would have suspected...

There was a great deal of potential here, but every time it reared its ugly head, it was soundly beaten down either by the pedestrian direction, the woeful miscasting (Ziyi Zhang's performance has been talked to death, no reason for me to do more than mention it here), or the script, which managed to get the big plot twists right, but lacks everything else. Breslin's actions are in many ways affected by the death of his wife, but other than being pulled out for a row with the kid and mentioned in order to set it up, we don't get any real sense of the thing. For that matter, we don't get much of that about anyone; we get told about the affectations of certain characters, but we never get a sense of those as actual pieces of their personalities. They're nothing but plot points.

Much worse than it would have been had it not contained the possibility of a good movie. Avoid like the plague. (half)

I had never heard of this movie when my wife bought it for movie night. What a senseless downer of a film. I actually generally like Dennis Quaid quite a bit, but nothing and no one could have saved this twisted story.

Don't waste your movie time on this one unless you just like to see what kind of wierd torture a director could come up with... and for the message that parents who don't spend enough time with their kids (because they work or are having emotional issues of their own) will turn them into serial killers.

Huh?

When I first saw the trailer for this film on the internet it seemed promising. Then I heard that it was going straight to DVD. This can't be good! The film is obviously heavily influenced by Seven, and to a lesser degree, Manhunter. Dennis Quaid is good as usual, but most of the other cast seems like they're just phoning in their performances. (Hey wasn't that the guy from Fargo in a brief cameo?) I was surprised to see that this film was produced by Michael Bay since it didn't have the usual flair or sense of budget that his other producing projects have had. (Namely the Texas chainsaw massacre and Friday the 13th) The film was decent until the last ten minutes. There were too many inconsistencies and a very fast resolution which revealed nothing. Perhaps when they have this film in the bargain bin at Walmart in the near future I might pick it up and give it another view. For now I'll just be glad that it was only 85 minutes long. If you want a classic Dennis Quaid movie, just watch Great Balls of Fire or Enemy Mine.

I have a definite fondness for psychological thrillers; they have the terrific potential to engage its audience, to serve up suspense and send the audience into one mind-boggling ride. In the tradition of "Seven" and "Resurrection", "HORSEMEN" is another suspense thriller that captures themes of religious and Biblical significance that mixes in some mild elements from "Saw" and "Antibodies". Directed by Jonas Akerlund and co-produced by Michael Bay, the film is a composition of a very grim narrative that gets its strength from probable misery.

Aidan Breslin (Dennis Quaid) is a cop reeling from the death of his wife some years ago; trying to keep everything together with his two sons, Sean and Alex (Liam James and Lou Taylor Pucci respectively). Life isn't already easy for a single dad who happens to be assigned to a new serial killer case that targets the city with the promise of Biblical apocalypse. When a demented killer gives herself up, (played by Ziyi Zhang) a young woman named Kristin who is supposedly a victim of sexual abuse. She apparently holds the codes to further acts of murder that somehow involves the fetish action of suspension. Aidan relentlessly works to make sense of the clues, as Kristin is not the only psychopath on the loose, but three others who have the ambition to name themselves after the four horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The film has tremendous potential and the direction definitely knows that it does have an ambitious theme. Akerlund does manage to engage me in the film's first 40 minutes as it generates an eerie atmosphere, some freaky images and a feeling of dread that captures a strong sensation of despair that something bad is going to happen and that it is only going to get worse. The script combines certain CSI-like aesthetics and good cinematography that manipulates the senses to expect something truly shocking and unnerving. The film's promise is there, and quite frankly it left me anticipating what would come next. After all, a prophetic killer holds such a large promise that it may at least be twisted as "Resurrection".

Well, after we become privy to a dead fetus, the film goes downhill. The film just loses its momentum, it started to lack any feeling of suspense and doesn't even give a decent scare. The plot becomes a bit convoluted as the film's central plot slowly begins to unveil. The Biblical theme begins to get lost in its narrative, that the ambition becomes a muddled and quite frankly too predictable. Instead we begin to see a father-son relationship take center stage, and whatever creepiness it may have attained become muddied by too much teenage angst. Alright, I can forgive a bit of a subtle subplot here and there, as long as it helps its theme come full circle, which becomes the main issue with the script--it stops short.

The writing does seem to be in the right spot, but writer David Callaham takes the biblical tone to acts of sadism, that creeps around to pack some gross-out spots to attain some shock value. The killings are intense, the self-mutilation scenes can be a bit gory (thank goodness there's no CGI) but it does nothing to advance its biblical tone. Unlike "Seven" the way the gore and blood are set up doesn't fit its religious overtone that it becomes very insignificant. After awhile, it all becomes like a cheap way to surprise its audience; the writing felt a little confused, and it loses focus on everything else. The film also tries to generate a similar "Clarice and Lecter" feel to the Aidan and Kristin relationship but it never becomes compelling. "Horsemen" reaches a cinematic digression that it never recovers from, as the script becomes more and more unfocused.

The acting is decent for the most part. Quaid had his moments, and I do know that the man can act. Well, I guess he did nicely in his portrayal as a cop-father who is trying to keep things together. Ziyi Zhang may be a little miscast but she made do with what she had. Zhang is one very charismatic lady and it was quite refreshing to see her broaden her horizons in acting. She is sexy, seductive, and maybe even a bit creepy in her portrayal as the adopted daughter who gets sexually abused. (Sorry, the sex scenes are only hinted at, but there is Polaroid shot of a possible sighting of a nude Ziyi Zhang)

I suppose "Horsemen" had the ambition to try to depart the usual serial killer mechanics but unfortunately, it misses its mark. Experienced movie fans will undoubtedly see the twist coming from a mile away. I do not want to spoil the film, but suffice it to say, the film blends elements from "Seven" and "Resurrection" with some "Silence of the Lambs" together with some "Antibodies"-like twist and turns. It feels like parts of other successful psychological thrillers that make up its whole; with the message of an angry generation making up its focal point. The climax is just too underwhelming and quite ridiculous. While the heart may be in the right place, the film's execution is just a whole lot of uneven misfires.

Rent it [2 Stars]

After a number of re-shoots and spending a good amount of time on the shelf, Horsemen finally sees the light of day as it gets released straight to DVD. Dennis Quaid stars as a forensic specialist who is assigned to a case involving a string of murders in which the victims are suspended from hooks, and the words "Come and see" are found at the scene. It isn't long before he figures out that the murders are linked to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and what develops is a sloppily put together, pure rip-off of Seven. Directed by famed music video helmer Jonas Åkerlund, Horsemen provides plenty of doom and gloom atmosphere to go along with a stale performance from Quaid, with the biggest disappointment being the performance of Ziyi Zhang, who comes off as being more annoying than anything else. Clifton Collins Jr (in a terrible wig), Patrick Fugit, Lou Taylor Pucci, and Eric Balfour are also along for the ride as well; which just never seems to really kick into high gear. The twist ending is easily seen coming as well if you pay careful attention; all of which amounts to Horsemen being a boatload of wasted potential. Still, you'll see worse thrillers out there, but you'll certainly see better ones as well.

Short Attention Span Summary (SASS):

1. Starts well, with the theme of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
2. If only I could say the same of the middle and ending.

Dennis Quaid plays a detective who totally neglects his two sons after the death of his wife. He doesn't seem to be doing much better in solving a series of violent murders, with apparent links to the Four Horsemen - War, Famine, Pestilence and Death.

The majority of the characters are miscast - Quaid just looks tired and out of his league, while Ziyi Zhang uncharacteristically fails to be anything short of annoying.

By the middle of the movie it's fairly obvious what's going to happen, but then at the end it just stops, leaving you hanging with a puzzled expression on your face, and a strong feeling of loss for your last 90 minutes.

This is a movie that should have been put out of its misery with a coup de grace in the cutting room.



Amanda Richards, May 31, 2009

We usually like the movies Dennis Quad appears in.
He is one of those actors who does not immediately come to mind for most people, yet he has had a very busy career with many good movies.

Horsemen is NOT one of them.

This film feels like an editing chop job where the weakness and predictability of the story is trying to be disguised by the bizarre and macabre.

Also the Asian girl who constantly teases and plays with Dennis Quad is supposed to be creepy and haunting. Instead she is simply annoying and irritating.
Everytime she was on the screen toying with Dennis Quad and refusing to answer questions, I was thinking to myself - Call Jack Bauer from 24 and let him spend a few hours with her. She will tell you what you need to know.

I don't know much about the background of this movie but something tells me they ran into problems making it or had their budget cut short and had to jam it together at the last minute.

Whatever happened, the potential of the movie was lost.

Over the top visual violence was used to make up for weak story and unfortunately you could see the "twist" coming only 30 minutes into the film.

Basically a train wreck of a film.

Watch an episode or two of Criminal Minds on TV and enjoy a better 90-110 minutes.

I'm torn on this movie. In a lot of ways I want to say I really enjoyed it but in a lot more I feel it was just a simple movie about teenage rebellion, internet weirdos, and people using religious scripture to justify their actions. Some characters, Stingray as one example, were not really well played by the actors/actresses which sometimes seemed to take away from the movie but other times seemed not a big deal. Dennis Quaid does well playing a widower who seems to have chosen to bury himself in his work upon the loss of his wife. The resulting single-father status and responsibility of two growing boys and weight of the loss of his wife seems too much for him to take. His attention to work helps him discover the truth (wow, who would think that would happen in a movie [sarcasm and so predictable]) but not really in time and his character never really seems to develop (although he tells his son things are going to be different). I think I would recommend seeing this movie, but I wouldn't bother buying the movie for a DVD collection or anything.