Horsemen

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.

Dennis Quaid is excellent as worn-out, recently widowed detective Aidan Breslin. In fact, no-on in the cast puts in less than a terrific performance, especially Ziyi Zhang as Kristin and Breslin's two overlooked children who occasionally threaten to derail the plot (or do they?).

This is a dark, emotionally raw horror chiller, beautifully directed by Jonas Åkerlund. It seems to be building to something apocalyptic, or at least, something more impressive than the overtly saccharine ending we get.

It's a shame the story ends in so anti-climactic a fashion, the journey up to that point is an inventive and interesting one that inspires lots of suspicions about various characters and their motives. A lot of this comes to nothing. My score is 6 out of 10.

In a cold Washington, the widower Detective Aidan Breslin (Dennis Quaid) is assigned to investigate a case based on his forensic expertise in teeth. Sooner he finds a series of dreadful murders with the victims in suspension rigs based on the Biblical Revelation 6 – Come and See – and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Famine, Pestilence, Death and War with the involvement of abused teenagers. Meanwhile Aidan never has time to spend with his two sons that are still grieving the loss of their mother.

"Horsemen" has a promising beginning in the style of "Se7en". However, the unpleasant and predictable story is quite pointless and has a disappointing and lame conclusion. Dennis Quaid is too old to have young sons and Ziyi Zhang is too old to perform the role of a young woman; therefore, both are miscast. Further, with so many maladjusted teenagers in the world, the insane idea of this movie might be quite dangerous for disturbed youths. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Os Cavaleiros do Apocalipse" ("The Horsemen of the Apocalypse")

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

I don't know about you, but when I sit down to watch a horror film, I don't expect to be blown away. My expectation is only to be engaged, kept in suspense, and hopefully scared out of my mind (this last one being of the rarest variety).

This movie lived up to my expectations in all the important ways. My curiosity was jump started in the first scene, and the somber, introspective mood of the story line, spiked with horrific scenarios and sickening plot twists, was exactly what I hoped.

The final twist was too easily guessed, of course, but it didn't take away from the finale - a powerfully emotional scene portrayed very convincingly by Dennis Quaid, who brought his usual energy and charisma to the role.

If you're looking for a quality horror flick or suspense thriller, this one is well worth your while!