That Gruesome Cartoon Film Ending That Haunts Viewers
Among all the adult-oriented cartoon movies I’ve ever viewed, nothing has remained with me quite like the dread-soaked conclusion of a graphically gory and overwhelingly transgressive 2022 movie The Unicorn Wars.
Back in 2015’s, the Spanish filmmaker crafted a dark, somber and often savage universe that included a few small , forlorn twinges of optimism.
While Unicorn Wars feels like it originated from a drive to expand the medium even more, the filmmaker explained that it was more an effort to communicate a universal, multicultural message regarding “the shared root of every conflict.”
This theme is communicated via a band of vividly colored bears , openly modeled after a famous series of lovable characters.
Being raised in a community focused on warmongering as well as the war machine, many of these animals are obsessed with slaughtering unicorns, due to a sacred text which states them they used to be masters of the woods, until the horned beings forced them out.
Others have not completely fallen for the brainwashing, , would rather try out narcotics or engage sexually in the forest.
In contrast to their gentle equivalents, these vivid animals display genitals , obvious urges.
For one especially vicious, cynical bear, the bear named Bluey, the conflict against unicorns transforms into a road to power — and especially to dominance over his softer, more compassionate sibling the character Tubby.
This bear behaves aggressively , an obvious psychopath , and when terror takes over his group and takes his fellow soldiers individually, he grabs progressively control for himself, in increasingly gory, harmful methods.
Meanwhile, the horned creatures are suffering their own terror, through an expanding, destructive monster in their woods.
“At the beginning, it seems like a humorous movie,” the director commented. “Yet it becomes a more intense and melancholic film. And by the end, it becomes a horror film.”
Unicorn Wars starts out resembling one of the more playful movies from a renowned animator, which find a wicked pleasure in letting animated figures curse, fire weapons, or sex each other up.
Then it evolves into something more like a bleaker work from that director, with increasingly graphic violence , a palpable relation to genuine suffering of battle.
Ultimately, it’s a full-on Grand Guignol bloodbath.
The fear that turns this a perfect Halloween watch begins much sooner than that description suggests.
The Unicorn Wars is suited for the hardcore gorehounds, for enthusiasts of graphic films who desire to see a movie they’ve never seen on-screen before, and are able to withstand a narrative that offers unflinching brutality.
View it with the lights off with no disturbances, and the conclusion will burrow under your skin and stay with you.
Where to watch: Available for rental or purchase on multiple online services.
