Horns

Zach Goodier

Daniel Radcliff departs his iconic role as Harry Potter to portray a much darker character in a less child-friendly story. In this movie, Radcliff portrays Ig Perrish, a young man who was madly in love with his childhood friend, Merrin, until she was found dead in the forest, and the entire town places the blame at the feet of Ig. Despite his attempts to argue his innocence, everyone is convinced he is guilty. However, he wakes up after a night of heavy drinking to find he has horns beginning to grow out of his head. Is this a curse inflicted on him because he is actually guilty, or is there more to this than meets the eye.

His power is really the big hook in this movie, and it really works for me.

Well, there is more, much more. Ig’s horns allow him to influence those around him that carry sinful hearts. For instance, when he first notices the horns, he rushes to the doctor to see what they are, and in the lobby a mother is ignoring her obnoxious screaming child. After the mother sees the horns, she soon begins to freely discuss her hatred of her daughter, and that she wants to just get up and leave her daughter forever. Behavior like this plagues Ig, who discovers that his mother and father also carry dark feelings towards him. However, Ig realizes that there is a strength in this power, since anyone who carries darkness in their heart cannot hide it around the horns. He soon uses this power to get to the heart of Merrin’s murder.

I wonder what the prognosis will be.

The story continues to build in suspense, as Ig finds more and more secrets about those around him. However, there is some comedy, as Ig turns the rabid media hounds on each other as the horns reveal their desire to use Merrin’s murder to feed their careers. He also finds out that several of the twists the case took, such as a witness claiming Ig forced Merrin into a car the night she died, were people looking for fame.

The characters of Ig, Merrin, and some of the supporting cast all really keep you interested all the way through. Motives of both friends and foes are called into question, and the horns are an interesting plot device that allows the viewer to see into the hearts of other characters in an honest way that is normally impossible. Some of it is funny, but some of it really shines a light on the hearts of everyday people, from priests to parents to cops, you see that everyone has secrets to hide, and that the only ones who can’t see Ig’s horns are those who don’t carry the weight of sin in the hearts, and so they aren’t affected by them.

Moments like this are strangely satisfying, as Ig's horns force people to be honest about the dark desires they normally don't reveal.

The story takes some interesting turns, and while the biggest twist wasn’t all too surprising, there are a lot of neat little turns along the way where Ig finds out dark truths about the people he thought he was close it. The is a sort of message beneath it all, that even the people we’re close to are sometimes strangers to us when we find out what they’re hiding.

In this movie, it's good to be bad, and I like that.

Overall, this was a very good movie. It is an R-rating, so don’t show it to the kids thinking this is a Harry Potter-type of flick. The only issue I had was some of the special effects later on felt a little over-the-top and outright tacky at times, where I thought they should have just left the horns as a less overdone feature. Also, there was some frustration with how Merrin’s killer kept escaping justice until the very end, where he would consistently find ways of weaseling out of things, taking advantage of the unrealistic gullibility/stupidity of everyone around him. Still, the story itself if solid, and watching the horns do their magic is an exciting plot device that keeps both Ig and the viewer on their toes, as hidden motives and dark secrets are revealed.

Good:

-The horns’ power is an excellent driving force in the narrative, and an excellent plot device that keeps the story moving and the audience entertained.

-Ig, Merrin, and other characters feel realistic and interesting.

-Lots of good twists and turns surrounding Ig and the people he was close to.

Bad:

-Some of the special effects at the end felt a little silly.

-Villain’s repeated escapes felt frustrating due to repeated stupidity on the part of several characters.

Scully Rating: 8.5 out of 10