Writer: Ezekiel Lee Zhiang Yang

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Watch this if you liked: "Silence Of The Lambs", "Omen", "White Noise", "Seven"

Dennis Quaid movies have become very tiring. The man is actually ace; through the years, he has gotten the stressed out protagonist roles down to a tee, whether he's going to get some grocery or he's going to catch a crook. However, while he made "Vantage Point" decent, not even old Quaid could save the disjointed, biblical mumbo-jumbo that is "Horsemen".

Production values are strong. Drawing grisly themes we associate most with "Silence Of The Lambs" and "Seven", we follow a single dad cop working on a strange case about people being murdered under bizarre circumstances. When the clues come trickling in, that's when the overdone 'psycho killer' pretensions start to flow. This fails because it introduces nothing we haven't seen before, except maybe very graphic scenes of bodily mutilation.

Perhaps anyone reading a "Horsemen" review is looking to find out what Zhang Zi Yi does in this movie. Well, she plays the adopted daughter of a white American couple who knows more about the homicides than the police would like to believe. While her English is more passable these days, her role is largely an illogical one and nobody would think it outrageous if it were suggested she was written into the story within five minutes because they had a spare actor. Her theatrical arrogance and Oriental psyche also appear woefully out of place when she recites long lines in English, making it seem that she's over-acting. You would've loved the same thing in "Hero" or "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", the producers of which are also responsible for this flailing attempt at a mystery-thriller.

When enough skin is punctured and the story decides to come to a climax, we are led in on a most inappropriate ending only a primary school moral textbook could possibly endorse. "Horsemen" is jarring and unnecessary; and referencing Revelations has never been more embarrassing, except maybe in "White Noise 2".

Cinema Online, 29 April 2009