Shia LaBeouf To Grow Horns

I’m not a big fan of Shia LaBeouf. I find that his style of acting is overly eager, and his on-screen presence is forced. Perhaps in time he will learn how to ease into his roles without coming across as a try-hard. He also needs to pick edgier or more matured roles, to shed that frat-boy image. His attempt at being grownup in last year’s “Wall Street” sequel was a commendable first step, though he was a little out of his league in scenes with more magnetic actors like Michael Douglas and Josh Brolin.

LaBeouf’s taken yet another step towards edgier fare with his latest project. He’s just signed on to play the leading role in an adaptation of the Joe Hill novel, “Horns”. It’s the story of a man named Ignatius Perrish who wakes up one day to find knobby little horns growing out of his head. What’s even weirder is the effect he now has on people. Every time he speaks to someone, they go into a trance-like state and voice out their deepest, darkest, most unspeakable opinions. Perrish has no idea how he got his horns, but he soon discovers it has something to do with the unsolved murder of his girlfriend. Hill’s book is filled with supernatural encounters and religious subtext, though critics say it works better as a light piece rather than a serious examination of guilt, honesty and faith as the author intended. By the way, Hill is the son of horror legend Stephen King. He changed his last name to avoid falling under his father’s considerably large shadow.

“Horns” sounds like a fairly meaty starring role for LaBeouf, especially if the film follows the book’s tone and straddles humour and darkness. No director is attached yet, and no script has been written. Mandalay, the studio that secured the rights, is now actively searching for the right team.