Getting Horny

Movies need not necessarily be "one thing," and many defy easy categorization as, say, a comedy, a drama, a horror, a mystery, or a supernatural thriller. Horns is a movie that tries to be all those things, but the result is a film with a reach that exceeds its grasp.

Young Ignatius (Ig)Parrish is living a nightmare. His girlfriend has been brutally murdered, and everyone in his small town thinks he's responsible. As he struggles to live with being perceived as a monster, he suddenly begins to actually become one -- demonic horns sprout from his forehead. But the curse starts to look like a blessing when Ig learns of the strange powers that come with the horns. People feel compelled to tell him their darkest secrets, and to act on the impulses he encourages them to indulge. With these new abilities, Ig sets out to uncover the real murderer.

Daniel Radcliffe stars as Ig, and continues to be just as compelling a protagonist in adulthood as he was growing up as Harry Potter. The script asks a lot of him, but he ably expresses Ig's heartbreak, thirst for vengeance, bewilderment, and eventually, glee in embracing the dark side. There are also a number of solid supporting actors surrounding him. Juno Temple plays his girlfriend Merrin in flashbacks, ably defining for the audience just what was lost when the relationship was cut short. David Morse is strong as Merrin's grief-stricken father, while James Remar and Kathleen Quinlan are solid in a few brief scenes as Ig's parents -- scenes in which the film most effectively combines its distinct elements.

But the film really does go all over the place, to its detriment. As Ig begins to discover his powers, it's an entertainingly dark comedy. But before really settling down in that mode, it becomes a cautionary drama about the emotional cost of unvarnished truth. Then, instead of fully exploring that, it veers off into an unfortunately predictable detective story (complete with narration). And it all leads to a bizarre climax in which the tale's supernatural elements -- which worked well enough as an unexplained backdrop to the story -- suddenly take center stage in a massive tonal shift that is nonsensical and unsatisfying.

I'm all for genre-bending, nonconforming movies, but Horns feel like it pulls an unearned bait-and-switch. And the odd black comedy it begins as is far more compelling than the unfortunate jumble it becomes. The only constants throughout are the strong performances and the overly on-the-nose metaphor about becoming the villain others see in you. I give Horns a C+.