TITLE: 'Horns'
YEAR: 2013
DIRECTOR: Alexandre Aja
SCREEWRITER: Keith Bunin (based on the novel by Joe Hill)
IN BRIEF:
An offbeat dark comedy not dissimilar to Jennifer's Body (2009) and could serve as an extension for pubescent graduates of the Twilight films (the setting is pretty similar) but now with gorier, sexier (well, there is a bit of sex and nudity in it) and swearier. Harry Potter fans might feel old now that a child actor is required to portray Radcliffe's character in a flashback sequence and the film might just be oxygen to the flames of the more conservative Christians who think the "boy wizard" is of the Devil.
Radcliffe's character is accused of a crime he insists he has not committed but one day wakes up with horns sprouting from his forehead and soon people around him are revealing their inner most thoughts and are easily led by his supernatural power of suggestion (a "Fuck yeah!" moment is a fight accompanied by Marilyn Manson's cover of Depeche Mode's 'Personal Jesus'). As his character progresses in his quest to find out the truth behind the crime, we see flashback sequences that show circumstances that help build up to said crime.
There is an interesting theme about "becoming" the Devil and there is notable use of the colour red in the mise-en-scene. Besides the depiction of two closeted gay characters that some may find politically problematic, things kind-of fall apart when a bit of Hell and quite a bit CGI breaks loose in a final showdown. Not perfect, but perhaps serviceable as a DVD horror night rental and one to revisit for further dissection.
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