The Grisly Cartoon Movie Ending That Haunts Viewers
Out of all the adult-oriented cartoon movies I’ve ever viewed, no other has lingered in my mind quite like the terror-laced ending of the explicitly bloody and highly provocative film from 2022 Unicorn Wars.
Back in the year 2015, the Spain-based filmmaker developed a grim, melancholy , often savage universe with a few small , forlorn hints of hope.
While The Unicorn Wars appears as it stemmed from a drive to advance the medium further, the director explained that it was more a try to convey a universal, multicultural theme about “the shared root of all wars.”
This theme is conveyed by means of a band of colorful pastel bears , obviously modeled after a famous line of cuddly figures.
Being raised in a society centered on aggression as well as the war machine, numerous these creatures are obsessed with killing the mythical beasts, due to a holy book which states them they previously were kings of the forest, until the horned beings drove them out.
Others did not entirely bought into the brainwashing, and prefer to experiment with narcotics and engage sexually in the forest.
Unlike their gentle equivalents, these colorful critters show genitals , clear urges.
For one especially vicious, pessimistic creature, Bluey, the war against unicorns turns into a route to control — and particularly to supremacy over his gentler, more compassionate sibling the bear Tubby.
The character acts as a tormentor , an apparent psychopath , and while fear takes over his group and takes his fellow soldiers individually, he seizes more and more influence for himself, in increasingly bloody, damaging approaches.
At the same time, the horned creatures are suffering their own horror, as an expanding, deadly beast in their forest.
“In the early stages, it feels like a lighthearted film,” the director said. “However it becomes a more dramatic and sad film. And in the finale, it transforms into a horror film.”
The Unicorn Wars starts out resembling one of the most quirky films from a legendary filmmaker, that discover a mischievous joy in allowing cartoon characters curse, shoot each other, or sex each other up.
Subsequently it turns into more akin to a darker film from that artist, including ever more visual gore and a tangible connection to the actual tragedy of battle.
Ultimately, it is a full-on Grand Guignol carnage.
The terror which makes the film a perfect Halloween watch starts well before than that description suggests.
The Unicorn Wars is suited for the devoted lovers of violence, for enthusiasts of extreme cinema who desire to watch a movie they’ve never seen on-screen before, and who can handle a story that offers absolutely no punches.
See it with the lights off with no disturbances, and the finale will dig into your mind and stay with you.
Availability: Offered for digital rental or sale on multiple online services.
