Horsemen (film)

Did You Know?

• Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 17% based on six reviews.
• Jordan Mintzer of Variety called it a predictable film that uses four cinematic cliches: overstylized torture, whiplash editing, compulsive script reversals and crude neon lighting.
• The average rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 3.8/10.

Plot

Detective Aidan Breslin, a widower emotionally distant from his sons Alex and Sean, uses his dental forensics expertise at a crime scene where human teeth and the message "come and see" are found. Matching the teeth to a missing man, he investigates the murder of Mrs. Spitz, found hanging from a hook contraption; she drowned in her own blood from a precise stabbing, and her fetus was removed. Breslin speculates four attackers recorded the murder and comforts the Spitzes' adopted daughter, Kristen.

Subsequent murders follow a similar pattern, leading Breslin to a tattoo parlor that built four devices. Another murder occurs with no hooks and a message on three walls. Sean's insights point Breslin to the Bible, revealing the killings mirror the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Kristen contacts Breslin and produces the missing fetus, confessing.

During interrogation, Breslin sees a darker side of Kristen akin to the horseman War. At her house, snuff videos and photos of Mr. Spitz with Kristen are found; Breslin arrests Mr. Spitz. Kristen claims years of sexual abuse and that she murdered Mrs. Spitz as punishment. Evidence in a victim's stomach leads to a booby-trapped apartment; a suspect escapes as magnesium ribbons destroy evidence.

Production

In October 2002, Radar Pictures acquired David Callaham's script Horsemen as part of a joint venture with Platinum Dunes for a 2003 start. Rogue Pictures joined in March 2004. By October 2006, Jonas Åkerlund was set to direct with Dennis Quaid and Zhang Ziyi starring, and Mandate Pictures providing financing. An eight-week shoot began in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in February 2007, with Patrick Fugit, Lou Taylor Pucci, Clifton Collins Jr., Barry Shabaka Henley, Neal McDonough, and Peter Stormare added to the cast.