Horseman DVD: Review By Bryan Yentz

Outside of horror and science fiction, if there's one category of film that I absolutely love, it's that of revenge. So imagine my giddiness when I stumbled upon this out-of-nowhere Australian flick called, The Horseman. Hell, with just a simple title like that, one should note the biblical undertones as that encompasses not one--but all four of the apocalyptic riders known as Death, Famine, War, and Pestilence. And what's even better? The fact that our antihero is the catalyst for all of these pieces of Armageddon--not literally of course, but when a figure is deemed something so damning, you know that there's most likely going to be quite the litter of bodies in his wake.

The Horseman is an incredibly simple tale of hard-hitting revenge told in a somewhat fragmented style. After the sudden demise of his daughter, a distraught father (played perfectly by Peter Marshall) discovers that his beloved child's death wasn't so clean. Not only had she reluctantly partaken in a multi-man porno, but her corpse was also found filled with drugs and the obvious signs of rape and suffocation afterwards. His humanity lost with her murder, Christian (fitting name, eh?) sets out on an incredibly brutal rampage as he seeks out the distributors, the "actors", and the filmmakers themselves responsible for the pornographic material which resulted in his daughter's murder.

On his path of questionable justice, however, he comes upon a young woman (Caroline Marohasy) who acts as an anchor for his ever-fleeting humanity. Despite his gradual self destruction, he finds solace and hope with this newfound friend who in many ways, seems to remind him of his own daughter. It's with this dynamic that the film plays in real-time all the while jumping back to moments of bloodshed during his discussions with her. Outside of their relationship and the brief flashbacks he suffers of his lost child, the film is really about one thing: vengeance. Cold. Ruthless. Vengeance.

And boy does it nail that.

Since the story is as linear as they come, The Horseman fills most of its time with bloody bouts of unflinching brutality. I'm talking sledgehammers to kneecaps, fishing hooks below the belt, crowbars cracking jaws, fisticuffs, and lots, LOTS more. Each encounter Christian undergoes is more vicious than the next as each takes their toll on him both mentally and physically. This is a character that fully describes the aspect of what a "revenger" truly is: a person so obsessed with gaining personal retribution that they'll go to whatever moral-corroding lengths to see it through--right down to their own destruction. Peter Marshall not only takes this role to the brink; he becomes it-he rips it to tiny, bleeding shreds. Even though he's creating a mammoth proportion of violence, you can't help but sympathize with his plight--he's become a monster to vanquish monsters. Thankfully though, everyone that he dispatches deserves what they get-the film makes no mistake about that.

Other reviews have reamed The Horseman for being too close to "torture-porn" or "exploitation". Personally, coming from Australia--the obvious home of "Ozploitation"--it should come as no surprise that this movie is violent. Very violent. However, never watching did I feel that the film be depicting its content in an exploitive way. It showed it all for what it was: grimy, honest, painful, and cruel. Never at any point does the father ever feel "good" about what he's doing. He never gets off on it nor smiles or chuckles when an adversary is defeated. He understands what he's doing is wrong (as with one scene between he and a victim, not to mention all of the scenes with the young woman, Alice). While I believe that writer/director Steven Kastrissios definitely wanted the viewer to root for Christian, the moral aspect of his mission is grounded in reality. Violence--even when right--is an ugly thing, thus, it's depicted that way. Similar to another favorite of mine, Shane Meadow's "Dead Man's Shoes", this means of direction depicts things for what they are and doesn't glorify any of it, resulting in a far more draining experience for both the onscreen characters and the audience watching them.

With the film being practically all violence, however, it does become slightly repetitive as Christian just makes his way up the snuff food chain. Even still, one can't really argue with a film that gets all of the revengin' done so right, I mean, that's really what people are watching flicks like this for, aren't they? Outside of this, some cheap "Splat!" noises could have been done without, and I wish that Kastrissios would have gone through with showing the concluding hit to various fights instead of copping out with a close-up of a villain's face as he goes, "Gahhh!"

Minimalist to the utmost degree, The Horseman is a simple film which definitely delivers on its promise of revenge. It may be light on story and brains, but with such a strong performance by Marshall, a great accompanying score by Ryan Potter, and the fact that so much evil gets its just desserts, it remains a hair-ripping, gut-punching experience that should satiate even the most die-hard of revenge vets.

We've got a commentary track from the director and cast as well as a short film by the director with optional commentary as well. Not bad. Not too bad...

Low budget, but not in a bad way. You won't find any CG crap here, just honest, brutal violence combined with some nicely placed shots and an overall saturation drained of color. It's presented in a widescreen format.

Outside of some annoyingly cheap "Splat!" sounds, the audio is great and even has a perfectly moody score by Ryan Potter alongside it. It's presented in an English language format with English subtitles.

A damn cool pic showcasing the film's lead character, Christian, as he walks away from a smoldering building. The heavy use of black mixing with the grays, oranges and yellows of the fire perfectly describe what this film is about. Hell, made me pick it up and wonder at its awesomeness.

It may not have the brains of say... Oldboy or The Salton Sea, but it definitely has the emotion and brutal entertainment factor of watching a waning good overcome evil. If not a buy, then a very solid rental of a revenge flick.