The Gory Animated Film Ending That Haunts Fans
Out of all the mature cartoon movies I’ve personally viewed, no other has remained with me quite like the terror-laced ending of a graphically gory as well as highly provocative film from 2022 The Unicorn Wars.
Back in the year 2015, this Spanish writer-director crafted a grim, somber , often savage world that included some tiny , forlorn hints of hope.
Although The Unicorn Wars seems like it stemmed from a desire to push animation further, the director clarified that it was more an effort to convey a widespread, cross-cultural theme about “the common origin of each battle.”
That idea is communicated by means of a group of brightly hued teddy bears , obviously modeled after a popular series of cuddly figures.
Maturing in a society built around militarism and the defense industry, numerous these creatures are fixated on killing unicorns, thanks to a religious scripture that claims the bears they used to be rulers of the woodland, before the unicorns drove them out.
A few have not completely fallen for the brainwashing, and would rather try out substances or mate in the woods.
Unlike their cuddly counterparts, these bright beings display sexual organs , definite sex drives.
For one notably brutal, skeptical animal, the character Bluey, the conflict with unicorns transforms into a road toward dominance — and specifically to dominance over his more tender, kinder brother Tubby.
The character acts as a tormentor , a seeming antisocial figure , and as fear dominates his squad and takes his teammates individually, he grabs more and more control on his own behalf, through ever more bloody, damaging approaches.
Meanwhile, the horned creatures are enduring their own horror, as an expanding, deadly beast in their habitat.
“In the early stages, it seems like a lighthearted film,” the filmmaker stated. “However it turns into a more serious and melancholic film. And ultimately, it’s a terrifying movie.”
Unicorn Wars starts out feeling a bit like among the playful movies from an iconic filmmaker, that uncover a naughty glee in letting cartoon characters curse, fire weapons, or sex each other up.
Subsequently it turns into something more like a darker movie by that same creator, including ever more visual gore and a tangible relation to the real tragedy of war.
In the finale, it is an outright Grand Guignol bloodbath.
The horror that makes the film a Halloween-friendly watch kicks in much sooner than that description suggests.
The Unicorn Wars is one for the devoted gorehounds, for fans of intense movies who desire to watch something they haven’t ever seen on-screen before, and can endure a story that pulls no restraint.
View it in a dark room free from interruptions, and that ending will dig deep within you and take up residence there.
How to view: Available for rental or purchase on multiple streaming sites.
