I imagine there are many ways to distance yourself from Harry Potter – dating a muggle, pretending you’re an historic figure, sleeping with a horse … but posing as American? I didn’t see that one coming. That’s quite a coup – I mean, nobody thinks “Harry Potter” when they hear a Yank, do they? Of course, if you truly want to distance yourself from your iconic role, you might also avoid taking parts where spontaneous horns magically sprout from your forehead. Just sayin’.
Harry Potter is on the spot when his girlfriend Merrin (Juno Temple) is raped, murdered and left for dead in forest that looks to be about one town over from Forks. Ig, yes “Ig,” short for “Ignatius,” anyway, Ig (Potter, I mean Daniel Radcliffe) says he didn’t do it and we believe him because all the evidence to date shows that she was his personal golden snitch. Oh, and everybody else in the town was in love with Merrin, too. I’m almost not kidding.
After a “she’s dead and everybody in the town thinks I did it” bender, Ig shows up late to a vigil and pees all over The Virgin Mary. The next morning, he sprouts Horns. While this phenomena causes Ig a great deal of emotional discomfort, the people he talks to aren’t so fussed – they’re too busy asking him if they should indulge in their deadly sin fantasies. And, sure, Potter’s a little pissed off, like when he comes to from the anesthesia and finds not only are his horns still attached, the doctor is performing a different kind of procedure on the nurse.
He’s also getting tired of folks telling him the truth … until he realizes exactly how much power it brings him. This is about the time when he realizes that snakes are drawn to him and he can give them instructions. Look, Daniel, if you really want to distance yourself from Harry Potter, you also might want to avoid screenplays where you talk to snakes. Just sayin’.
Strangely graphic in several ways, Horns is a curious mix of wicked indulgence and Christian parable; is Ig a fallen angel? Do we all naturally lie to God and speak the truth to Satan (ironically, the “Father of Lies”)? Does The Devil “make us” do anything? Horns seems to imply we want very badly to sin, we’re just looking for an excuse. Here’s an interpretation of man as a truly evil and selfish being, held only in 
check by mild spinelessness.
Needless to say, this is my kind of movie.
Unfortunately, there was also a mystery to be solved here, so the film had to go there rather than have Daniel play God, er, play Satan all day. The mystery isn’t bad, and it takes us to a place where we don’t necessarily have to explore the deeper theology involved. It’s not quite a cop-out, but I was hoping for a slightly different direction.
FrogBlog Notes: In a curious decision, Ig and Merrin’s love is punctuated by the David Bowie ballad “Heroes,” the same song -you might remember- that punctuated Hermione’s independent youth in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. That’s weird, right? And when does Ron get a symbolic rendition in his own vehicle?
Affianced Potter with life full
Finds, in one swoop, it’s all null
Grows some appendages
That induce aspirendages
Don’t confess to horns, he’ll get bull
Rated R, 120 Minutes
D: Alexandre Aja
W: Keith Bunin
Genre: The Devil made me do something I wanted to do already …
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Fans of supernatural/Christian mythology crossovers
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: The pure
