FIRST LOOK: Daniel Radcliff in Horror Director Alexandre Aja’s ‘Horns’

SYNOPSIS: In the aftermath of his girlfriend’s mysterious death, a young man awakens to strange horns sprouting from his temples.

WHY YOU SHOULD GIVE A DAMN: Alexandre Aja directed one of the most riveting and disturbing films in recent memory, High Tension, but his American follow-ups-Mirrors, The Hills Have Eyes, Piranha 3D-have fallen short of expectations.

While Mirrors was a bust, THHE and Piranha were both entertaining efforts, but they lacked the stringent aesthetics of High Tension, the film that gave him a name here, stateside. Personally I love that film, it’s just a shame the ending sucked.

And that seems to be par for the course for Aja’s career thus far. Just almost making it. He’s so close to that one film that will put him up there with the Carpenters and Dantes and Romeros. Horns might be that film.

With an international star as big as Radcliff, his Harry Potter films have put him on a bit of a pedestal, and a story as intriguing as a man-child that grows magical devil-horns that helps him see into a person’s soul, it looks like Aja might finally get his big break as a serious filmmaker (let’s be honest, while Piranha was fun, it was straight fluff).

It’ll also be interesting to see Radcliff give adult fantasy-horror a try, and I’m not talking dainty British-horror. Aja is known for directing some brutally violent scenes; we’ll see just how violent Radcliff can get.

WHEN CAN YOU SEE IT: Spring 2013. Until then, here’s some pics to keep your interest. It’s filming as we speak.