The Grisly Cartoon Movie Ending That Lingers Viewers
Out of every adult-oriented cartoon movies I have personally viewed, no other has lingered in my mind as much as the terror-laced finale of a explicitly bloody as well as deeply subversive 2022 movie The Unicorn Wars.
In the year 2015, the Spanish writer-director created a dark, bleak , frequently brutal universe that included a few small , forlorn glimmers of hope.
Although Unicorn Wars feels like it came from a desire to push animation even more, the filmmaker explained that it was more an attempt to communicate a widespread, multicultural theme concerning “the mutual source of every conflict.”
That message is communicated via a squad of vividly colored bears , obviously inspired by a well-known series of cuddly characters.
Maturing in a community focused on warmongering and the military-industrial complex, a lot of the bears are fixated on slaughtering unicorns, due to a religious scripture which states them they used to be kings of the woods, before the horned beings forced them out.
Some haven’t fully accepted the indoctrination, , choose to sample drugs or engage sexually in the woods.
Unlike their cuddly counterparts, these colorful critters have visible genitals and definite sex drives.
For one particularly cruel, pessimistic creature, Bluey, the conflict against unicorns turns into a road toward dominance — and especially to dominance over his more tender, kinder brother the bear Tubby.
The character is a bully , an apparent psychopath , and while terror takes over his unit and claims his fellow soldiers individually, he takes increasingly power personally, through ever more gory, damaging approaches.
At the same time, the horned creatures are experiencing their own horror, as a growing, destructive monster in their habitat.
“In the early stages, it feels like a humorous movie,” the filmmaker commented. “However it becomes a more serious and melancholic movie. And ultimately, it transforms into a horror film.”
Unicorn Wars starts out feeling a bit like one of the most playful features by a renowned filmmaker, which find a naughty glee in permitting animated figures swear, shoot each other, or have intimate relations.
Subsequently it becomes more akin to a more grim film by that same director, featuring progressively graphic violence , a tangible relation to the real tragedy of conflict.
In the finale, it becomes an outright Grand Guignol carnage.
The terror that makes this a Halloween-friendly watch begins a lot earlier than indicated.
The Unicorn Wars is suited for the most dedicated gorehounds, for fans of extreme cinema who wish to see a film they’ve never watched previously, and can endure a narrative that pulls unflinching brutality.
See it in a dark room without any distractions, and the finale will burrow under your skin and linger.
Where to watch: Available for streaming or buying on various digital platforms.
