Horns (Cinema Screening)

(Spoilers)

Halloween always sees many films released in keeping with the holiday and 2014 was no different. With Ouija, The Babadook and Horns all released last week I had to opt for one to kick off the weekend! To be honest I chose Horns because I though it looked the least likely to scare me, spot the horror wuss.

Daniel Radcliffe really seems to be trying to shake off his Harry Potter days with these darker films, although I suppose when you think about it Harry Potter got pretty dark on occasions. So maybe he is just doing more of the same? Well it seems Radcliffe can’t win either way but what he does have going for him is his performance in this film. Radcliffe plays the main character here, Ig. He does it very well and maintains a convincing accent throughout the movie, he is able to demonstrate a wide variety of emotions which this role really did demand, he was a fantastic lead for this film and brought a real presence to the whole film, he demands the attention of the viewers. Unfortunately whilst the film sports some very unique and interesting ideas the film doesn’t match up to the performance of its lead. Any horror junkies out there looking for their demonic fix in this film, im afraid will be disappointed. Literally all the moments which could have been potentially scary were featured in the trailer and there wasn’t anything left to surprise the viewers. So if you are looking to be scared this Halloween Horns is not the film for you, however there is an overwhelming sense of creepiness throughout.

Now let’s talk about those Horns. Firstly I thought they looked pretty great, they were designed well and Radcliffe acted well with them. The idea was good, it was interesting that with these Horns came paranormal abilities for Ig. It was intriguing to watch characters in the film announce their inner desires to Ig and there was something very dark about this that gave you plenty of food for thought. However this is where my enjoyment of this element ended, as after this the whole scenario just became clouded in questions for me. Where did the Horns come from? Who gave them to Ig? Why did he get them? Why did the cross necklace seemingly cure him of them? The questions literally kept coming, I have so many more and I’m sure that if you watched the film you would have a lot too. This is why even though I enjoyed the film I can’t rate it as high as I maybe would have if this element had been thought out better. The film itself was already a really solid murder mystery and even without the horns element could have been a strong film. However I am in no doubt that the horns certainly added something to the movie, but for me the idea wasn’t thought out well enough for it to really enhance the film. It certainly interested me and raised some points to think about although the questions regarding the credibility of them outnumbered any points of interest.

So whilst Horns was an interesting idea, the fantasy element wasn’t clear cut enough to really contribute anything solid to the plot. The murder mystery was interesting as always to follow, even if it was a little predictable and at times the addition of the horns made for good viewing. However overall the storyline couldn’t live up to the tremendous performance from Daniel Radcliffe.

BIGGEST FLAW – Too many unanswered questions

BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT – Daniel Radcliffe’s performance

Rating – 7.5/10