Review of The Horseman (2008) by Matthew O — 02 Apr 2010
A tender drama unfolds between a grieving father and a troubled teenage girl as they drive northbound along the quiet outback roads of Australia. What she doesn't know is that between stops, he is leaving behind a bloody trail of bodies in a revenge motivated killing spree.
Actor Peter Marshall as the grief sickened father gives a tender and good performance, some of the tenderest moments, come between the father and a young female hitchiker, which he picks up on his journey to track down the killers of his daughter, these scenes take the film out of its generic, gruesome revenge flick status.
Despite these nice enough moments the lasting impression is the torture porn style scenes, a style which started back with the horror film 'Hostel'. These style of films are popular and been done before and leaves a bad taste.
The overall layout of the violent torture scenes and the moments between the father and the hitchhiker are used as a break from each other. The problem lies with the fact that there is nothing in the middle to weight both elements together, you have violence then father and hitchiker moments, to an extent you either get one or the other, which ultimately leads not a not very enjoyable experience as a whole.
This review of The Horseman (2008) was written by Matthew O on 02 Apr 2010.
The Horseman has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
