A few years back, I wrote that the future of horror films rests on the shoulders of three filmmakers James Wan, Ti West and Eli Roth. While all three of these celebrity directors are still very much still the names expected to scare and thrill us for years to come, there is one other name that simply cannot be ignored Alexandre Aja. Aja first came to our attention with High Tension (2003), a brilliant and bloody horror film that alienated audiences due to its surprise ending. The twist aside, High Tension was an intense and wonderful ride and Aja was able to leverage the interest in the French language horror film into a gig behind the camera for The Hills Have Eyes remake in 2006. Aja's next horror film, Mirrors starring Keifer Sutherland was a bit of a letdown, but he came back strong with 2010's Piranha and then stayed away from the directing chair and pounded out the screenplay for the still underrated Maniac (2013) which is one of those hidden gems that no everyone has caught onto just yet. Aja's latest is Horns, a horror, thriller, fantasy that was adapted from the Joe Hill book of the same name. In Horns, Daniel Radcliffe (The Woman in Black) plays Ig Perrish, a young man in a small town who is madly in love with the woman of his dreams named Merrin (Juno Temple). Merrin and Ig met as young kids and their love seemed unflinching. But when Merrin is murdered, Ig becomes accused in the court of public opinion and the townspeople show disfavor to Ig in all directions harassing and condemning him for an act that he has yet to be convicted. Ig professes his innocence. He was drunk the night of Merrin's death and cannot recall the events of the evening. But he is convinced that his love for Merrin would never allow his instincts to result in a brutal slaying. The next morning, Ig awakens with mysterious horns growing from his temples. Considering the town already considers him the devil, the horns would be an incredible inconvenience except for their seeming power they have over people which reveal their inner most and darkest secrets when the horns are in their presence. This too comes at an inconvenience. Ig learns that his mother wants him to leave and that his father thinks him guilty. But Ig is also able to use the horn's power to get answers from people around town in his own attempt to piece together the events of Merrin's last evening. As the hours pass, the horns atop Ig's heads become more pronounced and the Satan symbolism continues with inclusions of snakes, pitchforks and even a burned body before the movie hits its climax. For director Alexandre Aja best known for his horror and over the top violence, Horns is definitely a departure. But that doesn't mean that Aja can't infuse what he does best into the very involving love story. There are a few scenes of violence and nudity throughout Horns that will ensure the younger Harry Potter Fan Club will be refused entrance at the local movie theatre (Horns will be rated R). Daniel Radcliffe was daring casting, but he has proved in The Woman in Black and now with Horns that he is going to be able to leave the boy wizard behind and we didn't think for one second that the man who beat Voldomort was the same person we were watching on screen. Surprising many of us who screened the film at the Toronto International Film Festival, Horns was an exceptional film that we keep our fingers crossed that the multiple dabbles in different genres will not deter or confuse the audience that this film richly deserves. Not only is it one of the best we have seen at the Festival this year, but it is also one of more original films we have seen in a while and fully expect Horns to end up in our Top 15 films of the year once the books are closed.
Review of Horns
