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Since starring as everybody’s favorite boy wizard in the Harry Potter films, Daniel Radcliffe has taken some drastic steps to move on from the family-friendly franchise. In Horns, he takes his magical past to a deeper, darker level, taking on the role of a suspected murderer who sports a set of devil horns.
Based on the novel by Joe Hill, Horns stars Radcliffe as Ig Perrish, a young outsider whose life revolved around his girlfriend, Merrin (Juno Temple), until she was brutally murdered. Everyone believes that Ig is guilty—even his parents—but Ig is determined to prove his own innocence by finding the real killer.
One morning, Ig awakes to find that horns have sprouted from his head—and he soon discovers that his new headgear compels people around him to confess (and sometimes act on) their darkest, most disturbing secrets. So he sets out to use his new powers to find Merrin’s killer.
The idea behind Horns is definitely an original one. Though the film gets off to a shaky start with some awkward, unnatural dialogue, it gradually builds into an intriguing story—an edgy whodunit with an eerie supernatural twist. And though the introduction of Ig’s horns is entirely random and unexplained, it’s easy to get beyond the randomness of it all because it’s unusual. It’s just so bizarre that you’ll be eager to see where the story goes.
It’s a shame, then, that the storytelling is uneven. On one hand, it’s dark and dramatic and mysterious. Radcliffe takes his role seriously, throwing himself into his performance to the point that he tends to overplay the melodrama. On the other hand, the film is also sprinkled with misguided attempts at dark humor as the people around Ig make confessions that range from disturbing to just plain absurd. And, in the midst of it all, there’s a jumble of symbolism that never really makes much sense.
For the most part, Horns is a flawed but interesting film—or at least, that is, until the final act, when everything completely falls apart. Perhaps someone decided that the earlier parts of the film weren’t horrifying enough—that it had some serious catching up to do. So, after the killer is revealed, various players are brought together in one big, ridiculously violent showdown that’s sure to leave audiences wondering what, exactly, just happened.
In the end, then, Horns is yet another example of a good idea gone wrong. Somewhere in here, there’s a smart, fascinating supernatural mystery. But the uneven storytelling and awkward performances make it little more than an intriguing head-scratcher.
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