t ickens
Everyone involved with HORNS seems to hate the movie with a passion and bring a determination to deliver the sloppiest, laziest, can't-give-a-damnedest work possible. If you put it next to the book -- which is quite an amazing book -- it's a galling disappointment. But equally, if you put that text aside and evaluate the movie on its own merits, it's lifeless and limp and held together with strident musical cues and voiceover inserts that seem to have been recorded in a hotel room while Harry Potter was nursing a hangover. Imagine if suckfests like SPAWN hadn't had fun bits, that's HORNS.
shannen-l-c
'Horns' is an utterly unique movie experience that had me (and my entire family!) hooked from beginning to end. It blends various genres that you wouldn't expect to work, but the result is an intriguing and engaging movie that evokes the whole human spectrum of emotion. Daniel Radcliffe's performance as the lead, Ig, is amazing and having spent my entire life unable to separate him from Harry Potter, this is the performance that broke him away from Harry Potter forever in my mind. Ig's character is intriguing and the question that was in my mind throughout was whether he was good or bad, the protagonist or the antagonist. The implication at the beginning is that he's grown the horns due to the evil he's committed, but as you follow him throughout the movie and see his humanity, you find yourself questioning that more and more. The idea behind the horns is somewhat unclear and ambiguous (which was one of the main issues I had with the movie), but they result in some rather dark yet humorous encounters that I thoroughly enjoyed watching. The religious connotations attached to the horns were also somewhat unambiguous and there were certain scenes towards the end that felt a little ridiculous and 'out there' even for this movie. However, I'm able to let that go on the basis that I enjoyed the movie as a whole. The plot itself evolves throughout the movie as it weaves in and out the various themes and genres, but by the end its focus is very much on the mystery and romance. Although it's definitely a flawed movie that could've been vastly improved by clearer explanations for the horns, the experience overall is enjoyable and unique. The themes of horror, thriller, mystery, romance, fantasy, religion and crime all come together in a very new way to create a movie that is very much a stand alone in the horror genre.
shisekushi
I think the high-votes that this movie got was due to the fact that it was an adaptation of Joe Hill's (Stephen King's son) novel of the same title. The book didn't performed well and it translated into the movie just the same. It doesn't invoke any sympathy on my side and I don't even feel like rooting for the characters except for Glenna (played by Kelli Garner, which was good in this movie although she had little scenes). Max Minghella as Lee Tourneau was a bad choice, his acting was substandard in this movie that I can't even take the whole concept of him being there seriously.Unless you have close to 2 hours to waste, then go ahead watch this movie.
Alan Smithee Esq.
I know I'm in the minority but I can honestly say I've never read a Harry Potter book or watched any of the movies. I say this because those are what I associate Daniel Radcliffe with and so I can't really speak to his acting in those. But he is magnificent in this film which is a dark comedy as well as it's a supernatural thriller. Another great film from director Alexandre Aja.
AD
