How entertaining? ★★★★★
Thought provoking? ★★☆☆☆ 17 December 2013
This article is a review of HORNS.
Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival 2013. (For more information, click here.)
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“Awake, arise, or be forever fallen,” opening quote taken from Milton’s PARADISE LOST
“The devil never gets to be the hero,” Ignatius (Daniel Radcliffe) to brother Terry (Joe Anderson)
A supernatural murder mystery whodunnit, romantic thriller, with Daniel Radcliffe sporting devil protrusions from his head; what’s not to be intrigued by? From the director of nuttily exciting SWITCHBLADE ROMANCE (a.k.a. HAUTE TENSION), the antiquatedly named Ignatius Perrish (Radcliffe) is romancing childhood sweetheart Merrin Williams (Juno Temple) on a blanket in the woods. Dizzying camerawork is accompanied by David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ on a record player. Cut from the idyll to Ig waking up hungover, stubble covered and sprouting cranial outgrowths. Camped outside his home is the town’s media, as he is prime suspect in the rape and murder of Merrin. HORNS chops up the narrative timeline as we journey to discover who perpetrated the heinous crime.
“The devil never gets to be the hero,” Ignatius (Daniel Radcliffe) to brother Terry (Joe Anderson)
A supernatural murder mystery whodunnit, romantic thriller, with Daniel Radcliffe sporting devil protrusions from his head; what’s not to be intrigued by? From the director of nuttily exciting SWITCHBLADE ROMANCE (a.k.a. HAUTE TENSION), the antiquatedly named Ignatius Perrish (Radcliffe) is romancing childhood sweetheart Merrin Williams (Juno Temple) on a blanket in the woods. Dizzying camerawork is accompanied by David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’ on a record player. Cut from the idyll to Ig waking up hungover, stubble covered and sprouting cranial outgrowths. Camped outside his home is the town’s media, as he is prime suspect in the rape and murder of Merrin. HORNS chops up the narrative timeline as we journey to discover who perpetrated the heinous crime.
“You don’t think I’m capable of murder!? Just put me in a room with the guy who really killed her!” Ig exclaims. Protesting his innocence, god appears to have shown his guilt; new head ornaments point the finger. Of course Ig freaks out, though can’t remove them. Privy to the horns are only him and us; they emit a power that makes everyone else continually forget they exist. At a surgery he regains consciousness to find the doctor and nurse banging each other as a bone saw painfully sticks out of one. They are integral to his person. A concomitant power is the capability to force truths from those Ig encounters. Black humour pulsates in his wake, as the inner workings of the seemingly normal reveal suppressed, ahem, demons. Wielding this skill to discover his love’s murderer causes the tone to gradually shift from the uncomfortably funny to the emotional. Deft mixing of genre and timbre should be applauded.
Pathos builds through dicing the structure. Merrin, Ig and their friends fooling around and bonding as kids compound our empathy for Ig’s heartbreak and desperation to acquit himself while discovering the culprit, as well as unsettles our sympathy at the chance he is the perpetrator. Merrin publicly sundered their relationship the last night she was witnessed alive. Allies are in short supply. Paying legal bills while believing him guilty is all the support family provide. Only best pal Lee Tourneau (Max Minghella) has Ig’s back. The paranormal muddies refreshingly possible outcomes.
Like THE EXORCIST, HORNS can be argued to demonstrate the power of god in an unusual and compelling way. Moving, funny, stylish, a rare beast.