The prospect of horror veteran Alexandre Aja (of High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes remake, and Piranha 3D fame) tackling an adaptation of the breakout novel by second-generation genre favorite Joe Hill with fast-rising risk-taker Daniel Radcliffe sinking his teeth into another unexpected role sounded like a match made in heaven, but Horns proved to be less than the sum of its many parts.
The biggest question going into and coming out of the dark supernatural tale was both the film’s biggest blessing, and hardest-hitting curse: What was it actually supposed to be? Was it a twisted romance, a dark fantasy, a blood-soaked horror, a jet-black comedy, or a revenge thriller predicated on the procedural elements that come with tracking down a murderer? The answer to all of the above was yes at the same time, and Horns understandably failed to juggle so many plates at once.
Radcliffe is excellent as Ig Perrish, though, and there’s plenty to love about the visuals and effects. However, Rotten Tomatoes scores of only 42 and 49 percent from critics and the general public wasn’t exactly a stellar return, even if there’s always a chance it could go on to find minor cult classic status in years to come.
Either way, Horns has shaken off the shackles of failing to be all things to all people simultaneously, to gore a spot on the Starz worldwide watch-list, as revealed by FlixPatrol. There’s no harm in ambition, but tonally-jumbled exercise in overindulgence would have been significantly better served were it to be stripped back a little, as opposed to trying to cram as many subgenres as possible into a lengthy 120 minutes.
