Review by Stephanie Scaife
Alexandre Aja’s take on the Joe Hill novel Horns is a difficult sell and I imagine the reason it’s been floating around for so long is that it is a marketing department’s worst nightmare. The only way to describe it is as a realist magical murder mystery black comedy, and even that doesn’t really cover everything in this complex, genre-hopping movie. Sometimes there is a fine line between disaster and success, especially where a film attempts to do something different. Unfortunately Horns never quite veers into being entirely successful, even though there are many elements that I enjoyed.
Daniel Radcliffe stars as Ig, the primary suspect in the murder investigation of his girlfriend Merrin (Juno Temple) who one day starts to grow horns and develop supernatural powers, including the ability to get a person to confess to their darkest secrets. This sets him on a mission to solve the mystery of who the real killer is, as well as to discover that even his closest friends and family believe him to be guilty.
Radcliffe is desperately trying to prove himself as an actor by purposefully choosing unconventional roles (Kill Your Darlings) but whether or not he is actually a good actor remains to be seen, and although I find him incredibly likeable and admire what he is trying to do, I never fully buy into him as Ig, just as I never fully bought into him as Ginsberg; all I see is Daniel Radcliffe. This isn’t a criticism per se, I just feel like even though we’re getting good work from him, it’ll be a few more years until we’re seeing truly great work.
Horns is grotesque and funny, but it’s also too strange and dark and will unlikely play to Radcliffe’s fans nor admirers of Aja’s previous work (Switchblade Romance, The Hills Have Eyes). What we have here is a very adult genre hybrid that fits into a sort of Nordic noir-lite fantasy subgenre – but without being particularly scary or mysterious (I hadn’t read the book, but didn’t find it difficult to figure out who the killer was). Horns also tries very hard to be subversive without ever feeling truly original, and is often let down by tonal shifts that occasionally veer into silliness.
The flashbacks are perhaps the strongest element of Horns; they play out like a sort of 90’s Stand By Me where the kids listen to The Pixies, wear Nirvana shirts and bond whilst they dare each other to do stupid shit. This works well to set up the relationships between the characters, giving you something solid to invest in, and although a little whimsical it’s utterly endearing. The romance that blossoms between Ig and Merrin is always well played, heightened by the youthful sanguinity of a first love that makes it understated and believable.
The supporting cast is mostly very good, especially Heather Graham (who appears not to have aged in the last 20 years) who stars as a sinister waitress with some seriously dubious motivations that I had trouble fully buying in to. Max Minghella and Joe Anderson star as Ig’s lawyer/best friend and brother respectively, and Juno Temple is great as Merrin, proving her ability to elevate just about everything she stars in.
Horns is an easy film to admire but its flaws stop it from being truly great. I wanted to love it so much, but I just couldn’t. This is a fairly solid three star movie that looks great and has some wonderful moments, but when taken as a sum of all its parts Horns is disappointing and unfulfilling. Although Aja has never quite reached the dizzying heights of Switchblade Romance (Haute Tension) as a director, he has shown great skill as a filmmaker and his eye for the brutal and the unusual ensures that even when he misses the mark what he does is always at the very least interesting.
Horns is released in UK cinemas on 29 October 2014 and is currently available on VOD in the states.