HORNS REVIEW

In the aftermath of his girlfriend's mysterious death, a young man awakens to find strange horns sprouting from his temples.

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Juno Temple, and Max Minghella

Director: Alexandre Aja

Written by: Keith Bunin (screenplay), and Joe Hill (novel)

  All right, let me start by saying I really had little interest in seeing “Horns.” I mean, after reading the synopsis why would I. "A young man awakens to find strange horns sprouting from his temples"... so! It's not like a cop awakens alone in a hospital only to find zombies have taken over his world, or anything like that. The only thing slightly interesting in the synopsis is the mysterious death of his girlfriend, but that barely seems like a reason to see this movie.

  In spite of all of that, I gave it a chance, and it did surprise me in some ways. Yes, the horns thing is weird, but they find a way to make good use of it. Along with the horns comes Ig’s (Daniel Radcliff) ability to get people to tell him what they really desire, and get them to do those things and more. This creates several hilarious scenes including getting news reporters to beat each other up, and some funny moments in a doctor's office.

  Ig uses the horns, and his newfound abilities to help find out who killed his girlfriend (Merrin). Most of the town already thinks he's the killer, and he gets treated as just that. There are even some people who take pleasure in trying to ruin his life. Well more fun happens when he finally embraces the evil in him the horns create, and he gets revenge on some of this people. 

  As for the mystery death, I wish that part of the movie surprised me as much as the first half of the movie. It turns out that it isn't so difficult to figure out who the killer is because there's really a lack of suspects. The movie uses a bunch of flashbacks to Ig's childhood, where the audience sees how he met Merrin, and some of the friends and family in his present day life. It becomes obvious, unless the killer is someone out of the blue, that only a couple of people could be the killer (in other words you should figure it out). 

  The other thing that comes into play here is the love story that kind of hides in the background until the end of the movie. I can't say I ever got into that part of the movie, so the ending didn't excite me. There’s some action, and an unexpected change in Ig, which at least kept my attention. Too bad that came along with some bad special effects. 

  While not initially seeing any reason to watch "Horns," I gave it a chance, and it surprised me for at least the first half of the movie or so. Actually, the part I thought I would be interested in let me down, while the part that turned me off was actually entertaining. A young man waking up with horns in his head didn't interest me, but it actually helps present some of the best moments in the movie. I had hopes for the mystery part of the movie, but the killer became evident too early leaving the only mystery being how it was done. In the end, I give this movie 2.5 pools of blood.

  HorrO