Horsemen (2009)

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

Director:

Jonas Åkerlund

Writer:

Dave Callaham (as David Callaham)

Stars:

Dennis Quaid, Ziyi Zhang, Lou Taylor Pucci

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Aidan Breslin is a bitter detective emotionally distanced from his two young sons following the untimely death of his devoted wife. While investigating a series of murders of rare violence, he discovers a terrifying link between a chain of murders and the Biblical prophecies concerning the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: War, Famine, Pestilence, and Conquest.

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Plot Keywords:

bible quote | death | murder | forensic dentist | homosexual | 

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Taglines:

Come and see

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Lionsgate [United States] Metropolitan Films [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 February 2009 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Horseman

Filming Locations:

Bell Hotel, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,405,815

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mandate Pictures, Platinum Dunes, Radar Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Part of Dennis Quaid's contract was that he was allowed to go back to Los Angeles every weekend. He chose not to exercise that option as he enjoyed himself so much on the shoot, even bringing his wife and his band up to Winnipeg on occasion.

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Goofs

(at around 1 min) The main character runs into the bathroom, fills the sink with water, and puts his head in it. With the underwater camera you see he gets his hair wet but when he pulls his head out of the water his hair is dry.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Det. Aidan J. Breslin: Hi there.

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Connections

References A Clockwork Orange (1971)

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Soundtracks

Maiden, Mother & Crone
Performed by The Sword
Written by John D. Cronise and Kyle Shutt
Published by Blood of Kings Music/Stop Moping Music (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Kemado Records, Inc.

User Reviews

Staple horror and thoroughly generic

By-the-numbers gore flick isn't especially bad, but sterile acting and disjointed direction hinder it entirely.

Dennis Quaid (gloriously miscast) is Aidan Breslin, a detective specialising in some teeth identification discipline. He's called to a case whereby teeth alone have been left, and the more the case heats up, he discovers the Horsemen of the Apocalypse are being emulated and murdering victims in 'homage' to them.

The premise is certainly half decent, with a biblical reference always adding spice to horror, such is the visceral underbelly such association can produce. The problem is the production and casting, not to mention plot development.

Horsemen suffers a disjointed structure, with extremely poor characterisation and seam-filled editing causing a stop-start judder to permeate throughout. This isn't helped by the fact that every role is miscast, from the 'doing it for the money' Quaid as troubled Breslin, Ziyi Zhang as troubled Kristen, and Lou Taylor Pucci as troubled Alex.

Every character appears to have personal demons apart from Stingray and Tuck, who both look like actors in the wrong movie.

These foibles aside the horror effects are rather inconsistent - the first body looks plainly like a dummy, and no amount of garish red lighting hides that fact - thereafter they do pick up a bit, but it's a bad start.

And the characterisation, as mentioned, is really poor - the viewer isn't moved to care about anyone, and certain character introductions are clunky and badly handled. The feeble and ineffective acting certainly doesn't aid this.

In summary if you want horror by the numbers with a hint of whodunnit, there are worse than Horsemen. But there are much much better too.