Max Minghella and Daniel Radcliffe in Horns (Radius/TWC)

Horns, directed by indie horror sensation Alexandre Aja, is a muddled affair. Tonally, it mixes black comedy, farce, coming-of-age drama, and straight up horror. If there ever was a film that was a mess, it’s this one. But as messes go, it’s pretty entertaining.

It opens with a flashback as Iggy (Daniel Radcliffe) shares a sweet moment of young love with his childhood sweetheart, Merrin (Juno Temple), and with a bit of flashy camerawork, we end up in the present to discover that Merrin has been savagely murdered and Iggy is the prime suspect. This being a typical sleepy small town, everyone knows everybody and all of those everybodys think he’s guilty. So, it’s understandable that Iggy would spend his time blind drunk and perpetually angry. In a drunken rage, he turns his back on God by pissing on some votive candles (subtle, this film ain’t).

The next morning, he wakes up with, well, horns. And these horns have a strange effect on people. They confess their deepest desires and ask permission to act them out. This leads to a set of initially hilarious, and then exponentially less so, group of encounters and circumstances with various townsfolk. It is clear that broad comedy is not Aja’s strong suit.

Iggy eventually realizes he can use these newfound powers to root out the murderer. When this happens, Horns becomes darker and more interesting as it moves towards a procedural and the humor turns black as Iggy’s thoughts to revenge. This is more Aja’s comfort zone. Well, creative gore is…and don’t worry. You’ll get that.

Interspersed are flashbacks of the main characters as children. It informs the motivations and relationships but feels like a completely different movie. It’s also easily more cohesive and entertaining. If there is to be a remake of Stand by Me, Aja would be a good pick.

The film also suffers from a device that occurs in a lot of revenge flicks. Merrin, the murdered girl Iggy pines over, is pretty much there for that reason and that reason alone. There is no depth to her. She’s a motivator and not much more. And though it takes Radcliffe an hour and a half or so to find out who killed her, it won’t take you that long at all. The culprit might as well have a neon sign over his head blinking “He did it.”

Overall, the film tries to cram too many genres together, and the attempt at broad humor doesn’t come off. It’s kind of like those cars you see on the highway but that you are unsure whether it’s an SUV, a sportster, or a yuppie mobile. You wouldn’t want to own it, but you’ve got to admit it’s a pretty nifty vehicle.