Fantastic Fest ’14 Review: HORNS

Alexandre Aja and Joe Hill, together at last.  Not that they seem destined to work together, but both have a strong appreciation for dark horror, the absurd, madness, and high concepts.  Having not read Hill’s novel of Horns before, the premise for the film sounded a tad familiar to me: man gains ability to force the truth out of anyone while trying not to turn into a monster.  I wouldn’t exactly describe Garth Ennis’ Preacher comic series (perhaps my favorite) as such, but it’s damn close.  Having seen the trailers though, it’s decidedly quite a different affair than what I expected.  The bigger surprise is that the trailers are a bit of a bait/switch toward what the movie really is: a dark comedy with some serious undertones.  It’s also most definitely not a horror movie, rather a mystery/thriller with fantasy elements.

Daniel Radcliffe is Ig, an average guy with a lovely lady by his side, but one day she turns up dead and he’s the main suspect.  There’s no trying to deny it, either, because until proven otherwise Ig is a guilty man in the public eye.  One morning he wakes up with two bumps on his forehead which then sprout into little horns.  Slowly he learns that with these horns comes an ability to drag the truth out of people, and then he notices his influence on them is also more than a bit persuasive.  With these new abilities in tow he sets out to find the real killer and clear his name.

Harry Potter is all grown up, guys.  Sure, there was his full nudity on stage with Equus, and that foray into horror with The Woman in Black, and that raunchy comedy last month.  None of them really show Radcliffe in a role as grown up and dark as Ig, though.  His performance dedication and a real understanding of the character is what sells Horns as a film, and that’s directly from Aja’s mouth.  There are tonal shifts ranging from serious drama to the strangest satire in an instant, which is something that Aja’s Mirrors did unintentionally a few years back.  What Keifer Sutherland couldn’t save there is precisely what Radcliffe manages to do here.  He plays Ig with a dark, somber menace as he turns from man into devil.  His joy discovering the strength of his power is one of the best sequences in the film simply because Radcliffe is so convincingly giddy.

The meatier supporting cast is disappointing.  Juno Temple is so charming but is understandably underutilized, and Max Minghella’s best friend/lawyer is flat and underdeveloped for the importance he has on the story.  However Kelli Garner and Alex Zahara as two of Ig’s “test subjects” for his power both pull out incredibly memorable performances with their small amount of screen time.   Aja’s hands are all over this film, with little touches here and there which nod to his past works and his sense of humor.  Little touches like Ig driving a classic Gremiln, nods to Twin Peaks and Stand By  Me are neat little surprises.  While the film isn’t heavy on gore, one moment will have fans laughing and gasping in the same breath, which Aja obviously loves for us to do given the entirety of Piranha 3D.  

The thing that didn’t mesh well for me was the pace of the film, which felt rushed at times and at others was entirely too slow.  To keep the film moving along and keeping us interested during a mystery is paramount.  The film is really short, and if something is adapted from a book I never think the length is ever exactly too long, per say.  There were flashbacks to Ig’s childhood that I didn’t really understand the importance of or general relevance.  There are things like this that feel like adaptation issues where deciding what to keep in and what needs to go play a big factor in the success of the film as a whole rather than just keeping a scene because it was good in the book.

Overall I had fun with Horns.  Radcliffe’s performance is worth the admission price alone, further distancing himself from Potter without feeling like an obvious “I’m a grown up now!” vibe.  The flick isn’t for everyone, so take my rating with subjection.  See what I did there?  I tried to give you an order as if I had horns.  Now go have a doughnut.