Fantastic Fest 2014: HORNS – The Review

A film not yet released after having previously premiered over a year ago isn’t necessarily a good sign of things to come. Such is the case with HORNS. The adaptation of the popular horror novel by Joe Hill has sat on the shelf since first premiering at The Toronto International Film Festival in early September of 2013. This might not be the nail in the coffin for a film, especially since so many great films have sat for years collecting dust – just read about the behind the scenes story of THE CABIN IN THE WOODS. Still, the little voice in my head told me to proceed cautiously for fear of getting burned.

Ig Perrish (Daniel Radcliffe) is going through hell. He is dealing with the personal heartbreak of losing the love of his life (Juno Temple) and attempting to defend his name from a town that seems dead-set on finding him guilty. There’s no rest for the wicked. Especially not when your own family thinks your guilty. But what makes him look even worse in the eye of his enemies is that Ig wakes up one day with horns protruding from his head.

HORNS is an extremely dark and twisted fairy tale that benefits from some striking photography and beautiful art direction. It’s a visual and musical wonderland filled with mossy woods and small town charm. The fairy tale aspect is pushed even into Tim Burton territory at times mainly in part to a whimsical score by Robin Coudert that’s reminiscent of Danny Elfman’s work. A few college rock songs are thrown in as well and are utilized in some of the best scenes in the film, like one featuring Pixies or the recurring David Bowie track “Heroes.” It’s moments like these where you feel French director Alexandre Aja pushing himself to adapt the novel and finding success by giving the source material an energy that leaps off the page. Elsewhere he doesn’t have such luck.

I think it’s fair to say that certain images and situations are written specifically just to be read. HORNS doesn’t feel lost in translation as much as it feels a need to cram every idea, character, and visual from the book into the film. Keith Bunin’s script leaves no page unturned. An even flow is never achieved mainly because it feels so cumbersome due to so much going on and some heavy-handed themes. HORNS serves only to convey what’s in the book instead of Aja crafting a film that speaks to his own unique and often violent style.

Daniel Radcliffe does his best to convey the internal struggles of “the monster within.” It’s just with such a large ensemble cast, the focus is often adrift in disjointed scenes of side characters (Can someone please explain to me the reasoning behind Heather Graham’s extended cameo?) just so that the audience has potential suspects of who the murderer is. That being said, you can almost hear the organ cue or the crash of thunder in the background every time the killer not so subtly appears on-screen.

I wasn’t offended with HORNS as much as I was disappointed. I typically like Aja’s work (mostly) and enjoyed moments of the gallows humor and twisted fantasy elements in HORNS. There’s an abundance of material crammed into this naughty morality play and a director with a more objective eye should have noticed that. It’s not to say that HORNS is without a soul, it’s just that maybe Aja should not have obeyed everything the little devil on his shoulder was saying.

Overall rating: 3 out of 5