Horns

Horns stars Harry Potter, I am sorry I mean Daniel Radcliffe as Ig Perrish, who has be wrongly of accused of killing and raping his girlfriend. He goes on a bender on the night of a candle light vigil for her. He awakes with Horns coming from the top of his head and giving the power to know and tempt people to do their darkest wishes. The film is directed by Alexandre Aja, who has made The Hills Have Eyes (2006) and Piranha 3D. It is also based off the book of the same title written by Joe Hill.

I have read the book, but I will do my best to keep my opinion on just the film. Because we all know how bad I am at letting things that I have read first get in the way of actually viewing the film as just the film. I am looking at you almost every comic book movie. Well to start Aja is one of the directors that I think is a little under liked. I think if you are a horror junkie like me, you will like his style and tone of his films, but if not he is always a tough sale. Here he isn't in full gory, over the top horror mood like the The Hills Have Eyes. He hits more of a middle ground between that and Piranha 3D. He has some really dark moments, but really hits the really dark comedy that is all over the place in this film. I also really have to give him props for his imagery as well in the film. It's not a great looking film, but there are shots in the film that look great. Two really come to mind, one is of Radcliffe walking out of a barn and another is of Radcliffe just sitting in a car with a burning building behind him. It just looks very cool. There was a major problem with pace at the beginning of the film. It felt very fast. Like nothing really got a chance to breath, but then about at the half way point of the film it slowed down and gave us some real character moments. The thing the strongest part of the film is the story. It is very unique kind of. We have all seen a revenge movie before, but this one differently has its own style and look to it. Which I personally really dug, but I can see people having a hard time getting into. 

The acting of the film is good for the most part. There are a few people that just stick out like a sore thumb one of them being Heather Graham. I really think she was just there for the paycheck, not her best. The two stand outs really are Radcliffe as the lead and I would say Juno Temple playing Merrin Radcliffe's dead girlfriend. Those two on screen really looked good together and had great chemistry on screen and I wanted to see them happy. Radcliffe really impressed me sporting an American accent. The only part where his acting feels a little off really is in this Voice Over parts, but overall he is very good. He really has stopped being Harry Potter. I never really saw Radcliffe or Potter for that matter. Which is one of the best comments you can get from someone like me. He did a great job at the bar scene with Juno Temple. It is easily his biggest moment, but he really gives it his all and makes you feel very bad for the character.

Overall, if you are a fan of the book I think you like the film version. It does  some things different and cuts and moves things around, but it all works for the overall film.  Now if I was going to recommend this to people.  I would say if you like Aja you should see it. I think you will really enjoy this. It fits very well with all of his other films, being a fan of him myself. The casual viewer, however it would be a tough sale. You have to like dark humor or a dark story. If not you should stay away, but if you like the story elements and don't mind a dark story I think you would find something to enjoy.

RATING
2 out 4 Ticket Stubs