Horsemen

Tell me that the movie is like Se7en and I am interested. Tell me that Ziyi Zhang (Memoirs of a Geisha, House of Flying Daggers, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 2046) is in it, and I am interested. Tell me that Dennis Quaid, the actor starring in one of my favorite films, The Big Easy, is starring this one, and I am definitely interested.

A combination like that should mean that I am in for a treat of some kind.

Barry Shabaka Henley is always a welcome addition, and he was no disappointment here.

However, the rest of the film was a big disappointment. It was devoid of any real emotion, and the struggle with the kids just distracted from the quest for the killers. It never came close to Se7en.

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.

This film was something I had high expectations for during the initial half an hour, it had all the requirements of a good movie-good setting-good actors-good originality somehow... At the end of the film (it has a surprise ending) I found myself annoyed with it, like in lieu of creating what I think would be a believable ending, they hired another director to complete it or something, and that person just took the shortest route to achieve exit speed, leaving the film finished but not finished right. I found the ending ridiculous in fact, as in junk, unworthy of the build up of the rest of the film. Maybe just avoid it, go to the bathroom for a few hours or maybe rearrange a bunch of old clothes. That probably would be time better spent.

What is happening to Dennis Quaid? Seriously now, he is playing the role of the distant father more and more and he plays in worse and worse movies. I like the guy! Cast him in something decent!

As for the movie, it kind of sucked. I mean, the mythos behind the killings was shabby, the police-work ridiculous and, worst of all, I could not relate to ANY of the characters except Dennis Quaid's one... part of the time. And the casting just reveals too much.

Bottom line: if you take Seven, you make it a lot less gruesome, you add cardboard policemen and even cardboard villains, you dumb it down considerably, then you get The Horsemen. Gave it a 6 only for Zhang's efforts on speaking English.

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")