Horns (2014) (3/5,regular)

Alexandre Aja's latest film is a mix of drama, fantastic and horror genre. The fact of mixing these all together into one feature requires a clear vision. Sometimes Aja assures us that he knows where he is taking us, sometimes we feel he doesn't.

It tells the story of Iggy (Daniel Radcliffe) who is suspected by everyone in his town that he killed kis beautiful girlfriend (Juno Temple). Claiming himself innocent, he is ripped by sorrow and loneliness. However his anger against the people that make him feel all alone triggers something evil. He wakes up one morning with horns. These affect his surrounding: people start to tell him their darkest secrets. Iggy takes this curse as an opportunity to know the truth: who killed his girlfriend?

Alexandre Aja has experience in horror movies ( Haute tension, Piranhas 3D) and he knows how to manoeuvre the camera in order to create tension. However he decided to put other 'inputs' into the story: drama through the lead character (with good acting by Radcliffe), a big pack of black humour and a small taint of romance. The result? Sometimes it is cliché and that messes up the whole horror genre Aja knows how to build. It also puts forward weaknesses in the script: too much twists and

Two highlights therefore: the grotesque with people showing their true colours and the soundtrack. We were amazed how well picked the songs were. Every song has a meaning and a purpose for the scene. We can thus say that the film gives us some good moments of laugh and tension and others with the feeling of deja vu".

 
Trailer: