Horns: Movie Review

Director Alexandre Aja has gone from brutal horror (High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes remake) to comedic horror (Piranha 3D) to more of a dark-comedy-mystery horror with his latest film “Horns”, based on the novel by Joe Hill.

Ig Perrish (Daniel Radcliffe) has been in love with his girlfriend Merrin Williams (Juno Temple) since childhood. When Merrin is found dead in the woods, Ig becomes the prime suspect in her murder. Everyone in the small Seattle town believes that he is guilty, even his family. The only one who believes he is innocent is his best friend and attorney Lee (Max Minghella).

“Horns” starts to make a turn for the bizarre when horns grow out of Ig’s forehead. Now when Ig talks to people, they can’t help but tell him exactly what they are thinking. Everyone is compelled to tell Ig the truth. He of course uses this new ability to try and figure out who killed the love of his life.

“Horns” is pretty twisted and although it’s not great, I found it quite entertaining. To me this is Radcliffe’s best performance to date and it seems like he is having quite a bit of fun here. My favorite scene seen in the film’s trailer is Ig offering to give an exclusive story to the reporter left standing after he challenges them to fight each other for his story.

“Horns” has a strong supporting cast that includes David Morse as Merrin’s grieving father, Joe Anderson as Ig’s older brother, James Remar and Kathleen Quinlan as Ig’s parents. I wish Morse had more screen time but he does a good job with what he has. If you are a fan of dark-comedy/horror, then “Horns” is definitely worth giving a look.

By: Marc Ferman