horns: daniel radcliffe can still talk to snakes

Ig Perrish (Daniel Radcliffe) met the love of his life, Merrin Williams (Juno Temple), when they were just children, and the two fell in love and shared everything together. Their romance seemed idyllic, until one night when Merrin is found dead, the victim of a brutal rape and murder. Ig finds himself the prime suspect, his town, friends, and even most of his family shunning him. The heartbroken Ig maintains his innocence, to deaf ears. And then, as the opening line of the novel by Joe Hill states, after he "spent the night drunk and doing terrible things," Ig wakes up to discover that two small horns have sprouted through his forehead. The horns are growing, and he doesn't seem to be able to remove them. They also seem to have a peculiar effect on other people — they bring out one's deepest and darkest desires.

Horns, directed by Alexandre Aja (Piranha 3D , Mirrors, The Hills Have Eyes) is at times quite great to look at. But exactly who is the movie for? It is not strictly horror. It has a quasi-religious subtext, although it doesn't go too far (or far enough) in that direction. It begins as a young/adult romance, but also includes a brutal rape/murder. It's not exactly a murder mystery, although the last third of the film mostly goes down that path. There are some clever biblical-themed in-jokes — check out the license plates on different character's cars, the diner Ig frequents is called "Eve's" — but the movie dances around a bit with its good/evil themes, too.

You can read the rest of my review on Cinema Sentries ...

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