The release of Wolf Creek back in 2005 gave Ozzie horror flicks the initial kick-start they needed to be recognised as genuinely terrifying. Now, four years later, there is another sickening set of events waiting in Australia, with the Horseman.
Taking the revenge-horror genre to levels never before seen, The Horseman explores one father’s desperate need for the truth when he finds his daughter has been assaulted, drugged and killed for the sake of a movie. He only has one thing on his mind, REVENGE, and no one will be getting in his way.
It is interesting the way in which the narrative combines back history with the father, Christian (Peter Marshall) first finding out about the death of his daughter and his need for revenge with the present day, a hitchhiking teenage girl called Alice (Caroline Marohasy) and their run in with the leader of the pack that killed his daughter. This keeps the action and violence at high levels from the start, while introducing a little bit more back-story the further the film develops to help a viewer understand the situation Christian is in.
The Horseman includes some of the more disturbing Australian horror scenes you will ever see. As Christian fights for revenge in the name of his daughter, there are some very vicious attacks and torture methods used as he attacks the men responsible for his daughters death. He assaults one man so badly his nose is practically none existent, sets one on fire, beats another with a crowbar and uses various other torture implements until death greets the horrendous men that took the life of a young girl. If you are at all squeamish and tend to turn your head at the sight of blood then you may be looking away for quite some time.
It is quite believable that a man can be turned into a very vicious person when hearing such devastating news. What is unbelievable however is that a female teenage hitchhiker could instantly trust a man she meets on the road, so far so that she shares a room (not bed) in a motel with him without any hesitation. Other than this aspect The Horseman is the perfect flick if torture, violence and revenge are on your mind.