After playing the beloved title character in theHarry Potterfranchise, Daniel Radcliffe took on some cool and different roles, like Ignatius “Ig” Perrish in the 2013 horror movieHorns. Although the movie wasn’t a huge hit with critics, it does tell an interesting story about what happens when a young man realizes that, as the title suggests, he has horns on his head, and he has no idea why.
Horror movie fans and Daniel Radcliffe fans alike will enjoyHorns, which tells a dark story about a young man in a horrifying situation that he doesn’t know how to get out of. What happens duringHornsand why is it such a good adaptation of the novel by Joe Hill? And is the ending satisfying?
RELATED:The Ring Director’s Other Ambitious Horror Movie Is Severely Underrated
What Is Horns About?
Hornsbegins with Ignatius “Ig” Perrish learning that his girlfriend Merrin Williams (Juno Temple) has been killed in a brutal way and that everyone believes that he did it. After he spends time with his family, he gets up in the morning and realizes that he has horns. But while he’s terrified, shocked, and confused, Ig realizes that people tell him things that they would never dare share with anyone else because of the horns.
Ig is aDaniel Radcliffe character different from Harry Potterand for that reason alone,Hornsis a cool movie to check out. But the movie also asks deep questions about appearances, morality, love, and death.Hornsfollows Ig’s journey of trying to find out who killed Merrin. He learns many clues along the way and more bits and pieces of Merrin’s life are revealed.
In thisunderappreciated Daniel Radcliffe movie, the beloved actor’s character feels terrible about what happened to his girlfriend and is a sympathetic character. ButHornsdoes have an incredibly dark tone that often suggests that something sinister is happening inside of his mind. This keeps things interesting the whole way through.
What Is Horns Based On?
The 2013 horror movieHornsis based on the 2010 novel of the same name by Joe Hill, one of Stephen King’s two sons. The author has published four novels:Heart-Shaped Boxin 2007,Hornsin 2010,NOS4A2in 2013, andThe Firemanin 2016. While there are somepoor movies based on Stephen King’s books,Hornsis a great adaptation. Since the book explores Ig’s thoughts and emotions more, it’s the perfect companion. Fans of the book should definitely read the novel and vice versa.
TheHornsnovel has many similarities to the movie. In both versions of the story, Ig finds out who killed his girlfriend Merrin and learns more about how powerful he becomes when the horns are part of his body. Hill decided to organize theHornsbook into five parts, and they each go into more detail than the film adaptation, which is what tends to happen. While Joe Hill and Stephen King co-wrote the short storyIn The Tall Grassand the Netflix movie is lackluster, theHornsmovie follows the book closely enough to please fans.
How Does Horns End?
Hornsends with Ig wearing a cross that belonged to Merrin and then realizing that his horns have gone away. Ig finds out that Merrin wanted to marry him, but because she had cancer, she felt that it would be wrong to continue in such a serious relationship. She lied to him about having another partner. Ig finds out that his good friend Lee Tourneau (Max Minghella) is the one who killed Merrin. Lee attacks Ig’s brother Terry (Joe Anderson) and murders his friend Eric Hannity (Michael Adamthwaite).
Whilesome horror movie endings satisfy,Hornsis incredibly sad and dark. And while audiences might want to see Ig doing well with hope for the future despite the tragedy that he has endured, that doesn’t feel realistic for this type of story. The last scene inHornsis a confrontation between Ig and Lee. Because they were such close friends, this moment is shocking and upsetting.Hornsis a good example of ahorror movie with an unconventional main characteras it’s hard to say that any other fictional horror character has been in the same situation as Ig.
At the end ofHorns, Ig wants to stop Lee and realizes that removing the cross necklace is the only way to do so. When he takes it off, he becomes a demon that has wings. Ig dies, but not before murdering Lee by making him swallow a snake and hurting him with a horn. This is definitely a violent and gruesome scene, but one that makes sense within the context of the movie. While it would have been nice to see Ig survive since he has been through so much, the ending ofHornsproves that Ig has been taken over by something greater than himself. The end ofHornsmakes it ahorror movie about demonic possessionand it’s definitely memorable.
