That Gory Animated Film Conclusion That Haunts Audiences
Out of all the adult-oriented animated films I’ve personally viewed, no other has remained with me as much as the fear-filled conclusion of a viscerally violent as well as overwhelingly transgressive 2022 movie The Unicorn Wars.
Back in 2015’s, the Spain-based filmmaker created a grim, bleak and frequently brutal world with several minor , desolate hints of optimism.
While The Unicorn Wars seems like it originated from an impulse to expand the medium even more, the filmmaker clarified that it was more an attempt to express a universal, cross-cultural theme concerning “the common origin of each battle.”
That idea is expressed through a squad of brightly hued teddy bears , openly modeled after a famous line of cuddly characters.
Growing up in a culture built around militarism and the military-industrial complex, a lot of the bears are consumed by killing unicorns, because of a sacred text that claims the bears they previously were masters of the woods, until the unicorns expelled them.
A few haven’t fully bought into the indoctrination, , would rather try out drugs or mate in the woods.
Unlike their cuddly equivalents, these bright beings have visible sexual organs and obvious sex drives.
For a certain especially vicious, skeptical animal, the bear named Bluey, the conflict against the unicorns becomes a route toward dominance — and especially to dominance over his softer, nicer brother the bear Tubby.
Bluey is a bully , a seeming psychopath , and as fear dominates his unit and kills his teammates individually, he grabs increasingly power for himself, through ever more bloody, harmful methods.
At the same time, these mythical beings are enduring their own horror, in the form of a spreading, deadly beast in their woods.
“At the beginning, it appears as a lighthearted film,” the filmmaker commented. “However it becomes a more intense and sorrowful movie. And in the finale, it transforms into a terrifying movie.”
Unicorn Wars starts out feeling a bit like one of the most playful movies by an iconic animator, that discover a mischievous joy in allowing animated figures curse, fire weapons, or engage sexually.
Then it turns into closer to a more grim film from that artist, including ever more explicit brutality , a tangible connection to the actual suffering of war.
In the finale, it is an outright extreme drama massacre.
The horror that makes this an ideal spooky-season viewing starts well before than one might expect.
Unicorn Wars is ideal for the devoted fans of gore, for lovers of intense movies who want to watch something they have not seen on-screen before, and who can handle a plot that pulls unflinching brutality.
Watch it with the lights off without any distractions, and the finale will crawl deep within you and linger.
Where to watch: Available for digital rental or sale on several streaming sites.
