That Gory Cartoon Movie Conclusion That Haunts Viewers
Among all the adult-oriented animated films I’ve ever viewed, no other has stuck with me quite like the fear-filled finale of a viscerally violent and overwhelingly transgressive 2022 movie Unicorn Wars.
In the year 2015, this Spain-based writer-director developed a dark, melancholy and frequently brutal world that included several minor , forlorn glimmers of optimism.
While Unicorn Wars feels like it came from an impulse to push the medium even more, the filmmaker clarified that it was rather an attempt to convey a global, multicultural theme about “the shared root of every conflict.”
That idea is conveyed via a squad of vividly colored bears , clearly inspired by a famous series of cuddly characters.
Growing up in a society focused on militarism and the war machine, numerous these animals are obsessed with killing the mythical beasts, because of a holy book which states the bears they previously were masters of the woods, until the unicorns forced them out.
A few haven’t fully accepted the indoctrination, and choose to experiment with substances and fornicate in the woods.
Unlike their cuddly equivalents, these vivid animals display sexual organs and obvious libidos.
For one especially vicious, cynical bear, Bluey, the war against unicorns becomes a route to power — and specifically to authority over his gentler, nicer brother Tubby.
The character acts as a tormentor and a seeming antisocial figure , and as terror dominates his group and takes his fellow soldiers individually, he grabs increasingly power on his own behalf, in increasingly bloody, destructive ways.
Meanwhile, the horned creatures are suffering their own terror, as a spreading, destructive monster in their woods.
“In the early stages, it feels like a humorous movie,” the director said. “Yet it becomes a more serious and melancholic film. And in the finale, it transforms into a scary feature.”
The Unicorn Wars begins similar to one of the more whimsical films from a renowned animator, that uncover a wicked pleasure in allowing cartoon characters swear, engage in violence, or engage sexually.
Then it turns into something more like a darker work from that artist, featuring progressively explicit brutality and a palpable connection to the actual suffering of conflict.
Ultimately, it becomes an outright theatrical horror massacre.
The horror that turns the film a Halloween-friendly movie starts a lot earlier than that description suggests.
The Unicorn Wars is suited for the devoted fans of gore, for lovers of intense movies who wish to view something they haven’t ever viewed until now, and can endure a story which delivers unflinching brutality.
Watch it in a dimly lit space free from interruptions, and the conclusion will crawl under your skin and take up residence there.
Where to watch: Offered for rental or purchase on multiple digital platforms.
