The Horseman is an Australian thriller released in 2008. I had planned to watch The Horseman for several months, but forgot that I had queue it up. After reading another review of the film, I figured it was finally time to watch.
Christian (Peter Marshall) has an incredible capacity for violence. When we first meet the character, he is bludgeoning another man with a tire iron. After some heavy skull cracking, Christian finishes his mission by dousing his victim (and his residence) with gasoline before torching the joint. Uncertain who to root for, we begin to learn more about the source of Christian's rage.
Christian had a daughter, Jesse (Hannah Levien), who he has just finished cremating. Her body was found lifeless, with DNA indicating four sexual partners within a short time frame of her death. Her body also shows traces of Heroin and other drugs. When Christian receives a pornographic tape in the mail, he starts to put events together. His daughter, obviously drugged, engages in sexual encounters with three men on the tape. Armed with the name of the production company, Christian sets out on a crusade of vengeance.
Christian's plans are slightly set off track when he takes on a young hitch-hiker, Alice (Caroline Marohasy). Christian bonds with the young lady, who seems to have struggled with some of the same demons that are plaguing him. Alice offers Christian the redemption that he appears to have been seeking. But just when it seems that Christian may have found some personal peace, fate has something else in store for him.
The Horseman was written and directed by Steven Kastrissios. Kastrissios takes an average revenge concept and spices it up with a strong opening sequence and good story-telling. However, there were times when the scenes kind of felt rehashed. Especially when the lead gets jumped from behind the third of fourth time. I did like Kastrissios' interesting applications of violence to help keep the story edgy. There are different levels of gore in the various scenes, with the bloodiness escalating as the film progresses. Kastrissios took an overworked theme and made it succeed with engaging characters, good dialogue and strong story-telling. The over-used elements hurt the film, but not enough for a non-recommendation.
Peter Marshall is an interesting lead character. He has a blue-collar look and delivery that gave his character credibility. Maybe its just an Aussie thing. While I thoroughly enjoyed his performance, I struggled with his thick accent. I had to say "what?" several times and even found myself rewinding to figure out the dialogue. The actual dialogue was great, but it was difficult to understand at times. Marohasy was a good selection to play the female lead. She was likable and different. She lacked the Hollywood flash, relying on a good performance and chemistry to win the audience over. The other characters in this film are very flat and generally don't live long enough to deliver a notable performance.
The Horseman earned an R rating from the MPAA with graphic unapologetic violence. The violence included some intriguing scenes of torture and nudity that were cringe inducing. The violence was gratuitous, but was a central theme of the film. Sexual content is also a theme in this film, but involves very little nudity and no actual sex. However, the scenes are described within the dialogue, and may not be appropriate for younger viewers. The major themes and violence in this film are enough to add a legitimate advisory to this film. I would suggest at least a mid-teen audience for this film. Run time is one hour, 36 minutes.
The Horseman takes an overused concept and manages to give it some fresh air. Although there were some hackneyed elements to the film, the story-telling was well constructed. I enjoyed the dialogue, characters and performances, as well. I struggled with the accent at times and found some of the scenes to be predictable, but overall, I enjoyed watching. It was an interesting film about vengeance and redemption that didn't turn sappy and involved some graphic visual content. 6.5/10.
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