The Horseman (2009)

Who payed the critics

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Good concept, poorly executed.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

This is a story of one man's revenge against the people he holds responsible for the death of his daughter. It's a grim and grimy revenge tale full of bloody violence. It won't appeal to everyone and my wife ceased watching after 5 minutes but if you like these kinds of movie then you are likely to enjoy this. The acting is pretty good and I thought Peter Marsh did a good job at gaining sympathy as the grief stricken dad doling out his own particular brand of justice. Brad McMurray is also worth a mention as one of the most imposing villains you could wish to see.I wouldn't say this film had many surprises or a particular message but I find watching lowlife scum being deservedly dispatched pretty satisfying in its own right. The Horseman is a fast paced film and doesn't spend much time setting the scene before plunging straight into the action. I enjoyed this film and thought it was a very good example of a quality revenge movie especially bearing in mind it's relatively low budget. Recommended.

In rural Australia a pest control operative identifies his daughter's body, and finds that she was drugged and abused while making porno movies. He sets out to find and punish all those responsible.This is a simple revenge story, well made, with a towering central performance from Peter Marshall.It is also extremely violent (although, perhaps, not particularly graphic - the camera tends to cut away before the moment of impact), highly improbable, and unremittingly sleazy and depressing. I understood what the filmmakers were up to, but I didn't find the end result something to be enjoyed.

Peter Marshall plays a pest control technician and revenge driven father who tortures and kills men who are responsible for the death of his daughter.The girl died just after shooting a threesome in an underground gonzo porn film."The Horseman" by Steve Kasrtissios is one hell of a brutal revenge thriller.The scenes of violence are extremely harsh and unflinching.The film is loaded with nasty fights and sadistic torture.The people are beaten with crowbar,claw hammer,sledgehammer,throats are slashed,genitals mutilated and nipples severed.The finale is incredibly violent.The central performance by Peter Marshall is exceptional.His wounded character oozes grief and retribution.9 crowbars out of 10.

The Horseman is set in Australia where a man named Christian (Peter Marshall) has recently lost his daughter Jesse (Hannah Levien), she was found dead having choked on her own vomit. The police inform Christian that Jesse had large amounts of heroin & sperm in her body, shortly after her death a videotape arrives in the post for Christian which show's Jesse taking part in a porn film where several men have sex with her. Senseing a connection Christian sets out to discover the truth & punish the men responsible for drugging his daughter & then raping her for a porn film, from the editor to the cameraman to the producer to the actor's Christian does whatever it takes to find out who they are & track them down to take his brutal & violent revenge. Along the way he picks up a young girl named Alice (Caroline Marohasy) who reminds him of Jesse...This Australian production was edited, written, produced & directed by Steven Kastrissios this brutal thriller is a story of revenge & grief that tries to be shocking & bleak & to be fair is somewhat successful. The script has been cut right down to the bone with little in the way of exposition as the story moves along from one brutal set-piece to another. There's still time for a bit of humanity with various flashback as Christian remember the good times between himself & his daughter, the character of Alice also brings a little human emotion to the story. However the area where The Horseman shines is in it's gritty depiction of brutal violence as Christian takes his revenge on those who he believes were responsible for his daughter's death while making a porn film. Often quite shocking & sometimes disturbing this is not for the squeamish or faint of heart, although not that graphic the violence hits homes as Christian uses the contents of his tool box to devastating effect. While the violence is usually brief & brutal there is one moment at the end where Christian has to unlock his handcuffs with a key on the floor before he is killed which tries to stretch the suspense & tension & threat out a little bit like a more standard film might have but that's the only occasion where the violence isn't short, to the point & brutal with no long speeches or pauses. At just over an hour & a half The Horseman moves along at a decent pace although it's intentions are straight forward & it doesn't really deviate from it's main story of revenge although you could say it's a little shallow & one dimensional. The character's vary, Christian is quite well fleshed out as the grieving father but the men who made the porn film are all stereotyped as evil, women hating murderers & scumbags which the film tends to level at anyone involved in the pron industry which is clearly untrue.While the violence is brutal & hits home there's not that much actual gore, sure there's some blood splatter & a bit where someone's nipple is pulled off with pliers but the majority of the nasty torture is implied with quick cuts, sound effects & a shaking camera rather than graphic gore effects. The fights are are of the back street brawl variety as men head-butt, punch, kick & beat each other up with whatever they can grab. There's no extravagant martial arts or overblown fight scenes here & that in itself adds a certain gritty realism. Together with the brutal minimalist violence the twitchy camera evokes a documentary like feel along with the muted colour scheme.Filmed in Brisbane in Queensland in Australia the film has decent production values although it still has a somewhat low budget look. The acting is very good, Peter Marshall puts in a fine performance as a grieving father out for revenge.The Horseman is a brutal tale of revenge from Australia that I can't say I loved but at the same time can't say I hated, it does what it sets out to do effectively enough but I doubt I would want to see it again anytime soon. Worth watching for sure but not worth going out of your way to watch.