Horsemen (2009)

A recently widowed police detective (Dennis Quaid) is assigned to a grisly case of serial killings by a group who refer to themselves as the Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse. They torture and mutilate their victims before killing them and promise as the Bible predicts that all Hell will follow after the fourth death. This was the first feature film of the Swedish director Jonas Akerlund best known for his stylish commercials and Madonna music videos. The film is actually quite striking visually but the script is bottom of the barrel. We've come a long way from the artistry of a SILENCE OF THE LAMBS to this drek. It's so inept and poorly written that we're always one jump ahead of Quaid's detective. We're actually supposed to believe that a father hasn't been in his son's room in years? The hideously soppy ending would be laughable but it's so badly composed that we're groaning instead of laughing. I doubt it would even please the "gross out" horror crowd. With the exception of Zhang Ziyi (quite a fall from her days as Zhang Yimou's leading lady) as the second victim's psychotic daughter, the acting is terrible with Patrick Fugit and Eric Balfour whose performances as brothers are particularly awful. With Peter Stormare and Paul Dooley. Avoid.