It's fucking Friday so I thought what better way to start the weekend than with a review of nasty Austrailian revenge flick The Horseman. Before I get started I thought I'd show the sypnosis that's on IMDB. "A tender drama unfolds between a grieving father and a troubled teenage girl as they drive northbound along the quiet outback roads of Australia..." There is more to it than that and when I read that I was like fuck did they watch the same film? It does mention that she doesn't know he's stopping off to kill people along the way but to be honest that is a fucking understatement.

Peter Marshall is Christian who at the beginning of the film we see beating the shit out of a guy with a crowbar. A few questions later, a little torture and a human BBQ and the story begins to piece together. Christians' daughter was found dead having choked to death on her own vomit after being pumped full of drugs and semen. He receives a video through the post called Young City Sluts 2 which features his daughter being systematically raped by a group of men. Now as would be a common reaction as a parent he's none to fucking happy about this and begins his roadtrip to hunt down and punish those responsible. Now I've seen a number of revenge flicks over the years with the original Last House On The Left being a favourite and to me it's always an interesting debate even when just a film. Of course the self rightous amongst you would say you can't take the law into your own hands but as a parent I can only say this.... if somebody hurt my son I would stop at nothing to see them punished for what they've done and I don't think I'd let the courts deal with it. In fact it would involve a selection of power tools and a few friends. Anyway I digress ever so slightly.

As Christian makes his way through the rather sad bunch of fuckers who were responsible for his daughters untimely death he picks up a young hitcher Alice (Caroline Marohasy) who is running from her own problems and they form an uneasy relationship. What I really liked about The Horseman was that the main protaginist Christian is obviously overcome with grief at the loss of his child and despite the fact he's murdering left, right and centre you can't help but sympathise with his character. You're never sure if he's doing it purely out of revenge or if he's trying to appease for the guilt of the broken relationship that had followed the close bond which they once shared. Despite it's scenes of extreme violence The Horseman never felt like it was for the sake of it. This is a seriously pissed off man and he's hellbent on making these fuckers suffer. In parts it's brutal and uncompromising yet it maintains a feel of loss and regret.

This is the first film from director Steven Kastrissos who also wrote and produced and he handles it well. As the film builds to it's climax and Christian is faced with the opportunity to make amends for not being there when his daughter needed him you almost cheer him on to finish these fuckers off. The Horseman is not for the faint hearted and there are scenes that even made me flinch, in particular a bit involving a cock and a football pump. I had to at that point check my own bits to make sure they were still intact. This is one of those films that most definately will not appeal to all but if you like your films to be a bit more challanging then I recommend hunting down a copy. The only question is how fucking far would you go to protect those you love?

A Claw Hammer To The Face out of 5