Horns Daniel Radcliffe, Juno Temple, Max Minghella. Directed by Alexandre Aja. Rated R. Opens Friday; also available on VOD.
Joe Hill, son of Stephen King, has followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a horror novelist, and with Horns, he continues on that path by seeing one of his books made into a mediocre movie. Daniel Radcliffe stars as Ig Perrish, who’s become a pariah after being accused of the murder of his girlfriend Merrin (Juno Temple). One day Ig wakes up with a literal manifestation of public opinion about him: two devilish horns growing out of his head. He uses the strange (and often inconsistent) powers granted by the horns to track down Merrin’s real killer, in a muddled mix of murder mystery, metaphysical horror and dark comedy.
Some of those elements work better than others (there are a few nastily funny moments), but the mystery is anticlimactic and bogged down by lengthy flashbacks, and the CGI-heavy finale is too ridiculous to fit with the generally melancholy tone. As with King, the best course of action is probably to read the book instead.
