Daniel Radcliffe‘s one 2013 movie didn’t get much attention when it was first released. Horns was a fantasy comedy horror movie, which gave the Harry Potter star paranormal abilities (and two horns!). Juno Temple played his girlfriend, who gets murdered, and pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter played the younger version of this character.
Interestingly, the movie has a connection to the King of Horror, Stephen King. The source material for this movie came from writer Joe Hill, who is the son of King and his wife, Tabitha. Hill, whose real name is Joseph King, built a reputation for himself with his line of works.
Besides Horns, he has written novels like Heart-Shaped Box (2007), NOS4A2 (2013), The Fireman (2016), and King Sorrow (2025). Multiple works of Hill have been adapted to the screen, just like his father’s stories. While Horns remains an underappreciated film, Hill’s novel was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel in 2010.
Hill announced a film version of his novel in 2012, sharing that Alexandre Aja will be directing the movie made by Mandalay Pictures and Red Granite Pictures. He announced Radcliffe and Temple as the leads, which got many of his fans excited because of the former’s previous experience in fantastical movies. Aja shared at the time (via Variety):
After reading Joe Hill’s cult book, I couldn’t resist temptation to dive into the devilish underworld and reinvent a universal myth.
According to Box Office Mojo, the movie made $3,875,442 at the box office after its 31-day run. The movie’s critical reception wasn’t great either, as indicated by its Rotten Tomatoes score of 41%. The audience score of the movie was just 49%.
What Went Wrong With Daniel Radcliffe’s Horns?
Joe Hill’s Horns served as an excellent source material for the movie. The movie featured a 26-year-old protagonist, Ignatius “Ig” Perrish, who was falsely accused of murdering his girlfriend, Merrin Williams. He is shunned from his community, and after a one-night stand with a friend, he wakes up with a pair of horns.
The horns gave him powers to force people to confess their darkest secrets and desires and even make them act upon them. He uses his newfound ability to figure out what happened to his girlfriend.
He finds that his and Merrin’s childhood had a lot of bearing on what happened to her. During these childhood flashbacks, we see Merrin being played by none other than a young Sabrina Carpenter.
The movie was a let-down when it came to execution. As the website consensus of RT noted, the movie was “a bit of a tonal jumble.” It was a very long movie at 120 minutes, which some critics noted as a major issue. The symbolism in the film wasn’t too effective for some critics, who shared that they come across as silly often in the movie.
What Worked for the Film Adaptation of Joe Hill’s Horns?
Daniel Radcliffe as Ig in Horns | Credits: Dimension Films
However, some argued that Daniel Radcliffe’s Horns had a lot of potential. Interestingly, the concept of the devil who could force people to confess their deepest desires worked exceptionally well for the TV series, Lucifer. The movie had everything that could satisfy a horror-fantasy enthusiast.
Radcliffe was a solid choice for the protagonist. He replaced Shia LaBeouf, who was originally set to play the role. It was one of Radcliffe’s strong performances post-Harry Potter. It also kick-started Radcliffe’s string of weird projects, many of which have garnered cult fans.
The movie was also one of the better works of Alexandre Aja, who previously helmed projects like High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes, Mirrors, The 9th Life of Louis Drax, and Piranha 3D.
What do you think of Daniel Radcliffe’s Horns? Let us know in the comments below!
Horns is now available for streaming on The Roku Channel and MovieSphere+.
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