Review: Horns ★★★★☆

Based on the Joe Hill novel of the same name, Horns is a paranormal rock and roll thriller that despite its devilish name, brings out the best in Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe and director, Alexandre Aja.

With demonic horns protruding from his skull, Ig (Radcliffe) wakes up the morning after the night before to find that his girlfriend, Merrin (Juno Temple) has murdered, and everyone in his quaint Pacific Northwestern town believes he did it. While Ig hunts down Merrin’s killer he finds that the supernatural abilities that come with his horns may be as much a blessing as they are a curse. This premise alone is exciting, but the plot itself is even better; gripping in its dark scenes and compelling in its more tender moments. Indeed, the brilliance of Hill (and screenwriter Keith Bunin)’s narrative is mirrored only by the alluring camerawork of Aja and exquisite cinematography of Fredrick Elmes.

Particularly admirable throughout the film is its splash of sex, drugs, and rock and roll overtone that looks like it’s pulled straight from a Jack Daniels advert. The theme ties neatly in with the plot’s religious imagery and satire but also, more obviously inspires it’s well constructed soundtrack consisting of tracks from Pixies, Bowie and Manson. The gritty music merges particularly nicely with Ig’s frustration and against the film’s Twilight-esque, decrepit, foresty, North American town. Horns can however suffer by becoming something of a tonal roller-coaster by slightly resembling genres such as black comedy, horror and supernatural thriller without fully committing.  but by also being thoroughly romantic and dramatic, like Ig’s horns, the film’s genre concoction can also be seen as  a blessing in disguise making it unique. For instance, the constant tonal shift is very successful in inducing audience unease and ultimately providing a more rounded image of the characters by expressing both their goodness and their sins.

Fundamentally, Daniel Radcliffe is incredible. Though his American accent is something to be desired, his acting has come on leaps and bounds since he cast aside the invisibility cloak. Though he was unconvincing as a father figure in 2012’s The Woman in Black, here Daniel Radcliffe is Ig. Utterly encapsulating the vulnerability of the protagonist’s character, Radcliffe displays an emotional dexterity incomparable with any of the films he has done before. This is not to say that the Harry Potter actor has performed poorly in his previous work, but to emphasis that in extreme agony or complete bliss, Radcliffe is totally in absolute emotional command and has exhibited an acting proficiency in Horns that has never been seen from him previously. Radcliffe’s leading lady, Juno Temple, also beautifully captures everyone’s girl next door and the colouring in her scenes is appropriately elegant, leading the audience to fall in love with her and grieve with Ig. Temple’s air of mystery that she entwines with her grace and at times day-dreamyness attitude only makes the audience more interested in Merrin, but sadly by flawlessly portraying Ig’s perfect girl, loosing her is throughout the film increasingly unbearable.

Though only very occasionally tonally jarring, this hellish twisted fairy tale is a fantastic start to cinema’s 2014 winter season and in my opinion, one of the best films of the year. Horns is refreshingly unconventional as it teases the supernatural, romance, comedy and horror genres while unforgivingly plastering its rock, roll and religious tones in your face. The great thing about this movie is that it could have been made in such a way that it felt brutally wrong and somewhat like a B-Movie, but thanks to it’s stunning visuals, compelling narrative and exemplary actors Horns is a film that is as angry, dark, smirking and sexy as it is compassionate and tear-threateningly heartfelt.