The Horseman

The Horseman by Jonas Akerlund

Synopsis

An older man and his dog are out hunting, when they discover a serving tray on a stand in the middle of a frozen lake. He notices the words "Come and See" painted on several trees as he lifts the lid.

Detective Aidan Breslin is a widower who has become emotionally distanced from his two sons, Alex and Sean, following the death of his wife three years ago. Due to his former dental forensics expertise, Aidan receives a call regarding the contents of the tray, where it is revealed that it contained human teeth. After analyzing the teeth, Breslin is able to match them to a man who had been reported missing.

Aidan is once again called to investigate the bizarre murder of a woman named Mrs. Spitz, who was discovered hanging in her bedroom, eerily displayed and strung up on a series of hooks connected to a rig; the words "Come and See" displayed prominently on the walls. According to her autopsy report, she drowned in her own blood due to a precise stabbing. They also discover that Mrs. Spitz had been pregnant and the foetus was removed. Aidan speculates that there were four attackers and that they had used a camera to record the murder. After leaving the crime-scene, Breslin comforts one of the Spitz's three daughters, their adopted Asian daughter Kristen, reassuring her that he will do his best to solve the crime.

The next murder shares the same M.O. with the Spitz murder; the similar hook contraption leads Breslin to a local tattoo parlor. There, he is informed that the owner constructed four devices in total. Yet another murder occurs, but this time no hook rig was involved and the message only appears on three of the room's walls. While Aidan reviews the evidence at his home, Sean stumbles on one of the photographs. Sean's insights point Breslin to the Bible, where he discovers that these killings are patterned after the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, with each room corresponding to a Horsemen; the "Come and See" message pertains to the lifting of the veil and the coming of the Apocalypse.

When Kristen contacts Aidan unexpectedly, he goes to meet with her, and during their conversation Kristen produces the missing fetus, confessing to the murder. During her interrogation, Aidan discovers the darker side of Kristen's personality, one similar to the Horseman War.

Meanwhile, Cory, a homosexual, has a confrontation with his homophobic brother Taylor. As Taylor drunkenly stumbles out to his car, Cory is accosted by another man in the parking lot. In response, Cory stabs the man, who survives the attack and later provides the police with Cory's description. The precision of the stab wound leads Aidan to assume that it was done by a Horseman. Elsewhere, Taylor awakens to find himself hooked onto a rig with his eyes fixed open. Cory appears wielding a bone saw, then proceeds to try to cut out his own heart, killing himself in the process. Later, Breslin goes over to Kristen's house where he and his partner Stingray discover the video recording from the murders as well as some polaroids of Kristen posing sexually with Mr. Spitz. When Breslin confronts Kristen in jail, she claims to have been sexually abused for years and the murder of Mrs. Spitz served as punishment for her abuse. Following the interview, Breslin has Mr. Spitz arrested.

Breslin, convinced that there may be another victim, asks Kristen if she represented the Horseman War and that the unrigged victim (which was Cory) was Famine. She confirms this, but refuses to relinquish any information about Death, their leader. Breslin comes to the conclusion that due to the nature of the first murder, he was meant to be assigned to the case all along, and becomes concerned that his family will be targeted next. Breslin asks Stingray to go on ahead and check his house.

At the Breslin home, Stingray is attacked and knocked out. Aiden arrives later and enters Alex's room for the first time in three years. To his horror, everything in the room is white or painted white: the color of the Horseman Death or Righteousness (the leader). A clue points him to the Metropolitan Theatre, where Aidan first met his wife. When he arrives, he is knocked unconscious; when he comes to, he finds himself handcuffed to a seat as Alex dangles over the stage on the final hook rig. Alex starts bleeding to death, as he gives Breslin a speech regarding the Horsemen's emotional detachment from their families. As Alex succumbs to his injuries, Breslin rips his handcuffs off the seating and fires his gun to detach the rigging from the ceiling. Alex awakens as his father holds him.

At the Breslin home, Sean wakes up from a bad dream as Breslin comforts him. When he asks where Alex is, Breslin reassures him that Alex will be okay, his fate ultimately unknown.

(Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsemen_(2009_film) )

Blues 的评语：

嗯。。。。这部戏老实说还好罢了，因为我觉得它的剧情不是很紧凑，让人没有那种紧张感。我觉得章子怡玩她的头发的那个部分好像有点不适合她的年龄吧！感觉好像她的行为与她的作为差很远，不过在说话发面我觉得演还不错。有一幕她正在与Dennis Quaid（饰Breslin）聊天，然后她抱着他，貌似在哭泣，然后说Sorry。正当Quaid问她为什么要说对不起时，而这时，她却突然拿出了foetus。这个部分我觉得还不赖。不过，我觉得如果不是她自首，警方也很难抓到元凶的。令我比较影响深刻的部分是有Cory和Taylor-两个是同性恋，但同时又是亲兄弟的那一幕。当Taylor醒来，发现自己被钓着，本来一直骂Cory的他怕个半死，一直喊Cory要他来救他，而当Cory出现时，他才发现Cory“好像”就是那个把他钓起来的人。而这时，Cory拿着一个bone saw出现的时候，Taylor以为他要杀了他，因为Taylor之前说不想再这么下去了，所以他以为因此Cory很生气而要杀了他。这时，镜头转到了Taylor的下体，我还以为Cory要把他的下体给锯下来，但后来经我的姐姐一提醒，我才发现原来是Taylor怕到漏尿了。。-_-。。。后来，Cory把那把bone saw锯向他自己，试图要把自己的心脏锯出来，而Taylor一直喊。那时我就在想，又不是锯向他，他喊来凑热闹啊？但后来想想，应该是因为害怕吧！还有一幕是显示牙齿那一幕，那一幕也不错。比较假的部分是解剖尸体的那个部分，我觉得这一幕还得向另一部戏（抱歉，我忘了那部戏的名字）多多学习。

我想我会给它三粒半的星级吧！可以拿到Medal 4。