Amaldiçoado

I was excited for this flick. I thought it looked like it could be a fun, crazy supernatural whodunnit kind of story. So, I went in with some fairly high hopes. Did the film live up to them? Well...not exactly.

It's well acted (Radcliffe gives a solid performance when he's actually focusing on acting and not on his accent) and incredibly well shot. I could not get over how gorgeous some of the cinematography is. However, there are a few things that bog it down considerably for me. The voice-over narration feels very forced in there and I thought that some of the exposition dialogue really killed lots of the more dramatic moments. It also suffers from very uneven pacing and the story flows is too jumbled at times.

Overall, I recommend it. It's a fine flick that you won't regret watching at least once, but it ultimately didn't do much for me.

Horns is the latest film from Alexandre Aja, the French director responsible for such films as High Tension and the Maniac remake. He also made a very memorable remake of The Hills Have Eyes, which demonstrates that this guy really knows his stuff. Unfortunately along with the good he has also served up some mediocre stuff as well. Although Horns isn't a bad film, it is still well below what this guy is capable of. My problem with Horns lies in the characters! Their interactions with each other never really felt authentic and really took me out of the emotion that the film needed for it to carry. Therefore, as a result of lack of sympathy, the moments where the main character and his love come on screen, i was constantly looking at how much time was left in the movie. Having said this, the movie doesn't come without positives. I thought it was very funny in places and there is a moment of gore, but fans of Alexandre Aja, expecting a blood bath, will be disappointed. Lack of gore wouldn't have been a problem if the story worked on an emotional level, but sadly it didn't. Overall, Horns is very creative, but it lacked the interest it needed to succeed!

I'm a sucker for originality and for movies that try do something different. I get sick and tired of seeing the same thing over and over again and wish more filmmakers would take a chance instead doing the same old things. "Horns" is probably one of the most original movies I have ever seen and I loved that about it. It combines so many different movie genres into one fun, crazy, heart felt story that unfortunately is not going to be for everyone.

Right off the bat I could tell I was going to enjoy this. It starts off as what looks to be your run of the mill thriller flick then quickly spirals into some incredibly out there. Once the Horns are introduced things just take a shift into the bizarre, and I loved that. There are some truly hilarious and insane scenes. The film does a nice job of being cleverly light and rather dark at the same time.

The acting was excellent. Daniel Ratcliffe does a great job of being American, it was weird to hear him without the accent at first but he does such a good job that I eventually completely forgot that he was even British. The rest of the supporting cast did a great job, all the characters were extremely interesting and well written so that may have had something to do with it.

Overall I really enjoyed this. It definitely isn't for everybody and has a pretty long run time of 2 hours so I could see people getting bored with it if it isn't exactly there thing. But if you want to see something that you haven't seen before, something that tries to be original but not too overly artsy, something with heart then I suggest giving this a try.

8/10

I loved 'Horns', It isn't yet another recycled movie to keep you entertained while you eat your popcorn, what it is is completely different from anything you've seen before. The film has no specific genre, it's a jumble of ideas. And I like that.

The acting is fantastic all round, At the start it was strange hearing Daniel Radcliffe speaking in an American accent but he does it brilliantly and his performance all the way through is just brilliant. There isn't a single character in the film who isn't 100% believable and vital to the story.

Visually, the film is also terrific. I could watch the whole thing on mute and still enjoy it hugely.

As many people have said before this definitely is not a film for everyone. It's a 'Love it' or 'Hate it' film and I can understand why many people are gathering at the 'Hate it' end of the spectrum, although, in my opinion, those people are wrong. I'd love it if more filmmakers took risks like this instead of playing it safe by recycling previous tired-out ideas.

I strongly recommend you give this film a go.

In a small town, Ig Perrish (Daniel Radcliffe) is accused by the inhabitants of killing his sweetheart Merrin Williams (Juno Temple). Even his parents believe that he is guilty and only his childhood friend and lawyer Lee Tourneau (Max Minghella) believes Ig is telling the truth. Out of blue, Ig sees horns sprouting on his forehead, but soon he finds that the horns are a blessing since people confess their sins and inner dark desires to him. Ig uses the horns to discover who the killer of his beloved girlfriend is.

"Horns" is a weird and mesmerizing movie that entwines several genres. The plot is unique and anything can happen in this original story. The conclusion could be better but does not totally disappoint. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Amaldiçoado" ("Cursed")

Note: On 06 July 2023, I saw this film again.