Horsemen (2009)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Jonas Åkerlund

Writer (WGA):

Dave Callaham (written by)

Release Date:

6 February 2009 (Italy)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Four victims. Four painful secrets.

Plot:

A recently widowed detective still grieving over his wife's death discovers a shocking connection between himself and the suspects in a serial killing spree linked to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse | Murder | Police Detective | Electric Saw

Cast

Dennis Quaid	...	Aidan Breslin
Ziyi Zhang	...	Kristin
Lou Taylor Pucci	...	Alex Breslin
Clifton Collins Jr.	...	Stingray
Barry Shabaka Henley	...	Tuck
Patrick Fugit	...	Corey
Eric Balfour	...	Taylor
Paul Dooley	...	Father Whiteleather
Thomas Mitchell	...	Thug
Liam James	...	Sean Breslin
Chelcie Ross	...	Police Chief Krupa
Manfred Maretzki	...	Bob
Arne MacPherson	...	Navratil
David Dastmalchian	...	Terrence
Peter Stormare	...	David Spitz

Also Known As:

Horsemen of the Apocalypse (UK) (video title)

MPAA:

Rated R for grisly and disturbing content, some sexual images and language.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R | Hong Kong:III | Singapore:M18 (cut) | Singapore:NC-16 (edited version) | UK:18 | Australia:MA | France:-16 | South Korea:18 | Japan:R15+ | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB)

Filming Locations:

Bell Hotel, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Company:

Mandate Pictures

Trivia:

Neal McDonough was originally cast as Krupa and shot all of his scenes. After almost a year there were reshoots in Chicago which involved all McDonough's scenes; he was not available so Chelcie Ross replaced him.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the beginning of the movie, when the Detective visits the second dead body of the girl, you can see the detective going to talk to the daughters, but in the next shot when their father comes in, the detective is standing next to the policeman again, and then returns to his original position in the next frame.

Movie Connections:

References Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves (2005) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Maiden, Mother & Crone

Doesn't hold a candle to the movies it copied

The Horsemen touts itself as another serial killer cat and mouse and admirably attempts to mix in several sub-genres including torture, exotic piercing, plot twists, and even a silence of the lambs (more Primal Fear in execution) style prison exchange. What transpires is unfortunately a lot of set pieces that don't add a lot to the whole. Dennis Quaid has always been fun to watch and has had several noteworthy performances (my fav will always be Savior). Here he struggles to play a hardened detective reminiscent of Al Pacino in Insomnia, his lines are forced, he is simply a poor casting choice for this role. He never reaches believability as the detective, and the dramatic subterfuge of a single dad with 2 kids is laid on so thick, he never sloshes out of the muck long enough to fill either role. The plot is OK, fairly standard shake on a playful serial killer vs cop movie, but the dialog is simply horrible. The lines are terribly cliché' and the actors, while capable, are just waiting for there time to speak, never fully absorbed into the movie. This will likely go to video soon where it may attract an easy to please crowd but ultimately does not hold a candle to any of the movies it copied.

Maddis