The Gruesome Animated Film Ending That Stays With Audiences
Out of every mature animated films I’ve ever watched, nothing has remained with me as much as the terror-laced finale of a graphically gory and overwhelingly transgressive film from 2022 Unicorn Wars.
In 2015’s, this Spanish filmmaker crafted a grim, melancholy , often savage world that included several minor , forlorn hints of optimism.
While Unicorn Wars seems like it originated from a drive to push animation even more, the filmmaker clarified that it was rather a try to convey a widespread, multicultural message about “the shared root of each battle.”
That idea is expressed via a group of vividly colored bears , clearly based on a well-known series of cuddly figures.
Maturing in a society centered on aggression as well as the war machine, many of these creatures are fixated on slaughtering the mythical beasts, due to a holy book that claims the bears they used to be kings of the woods, until these creatures expelled them.
A few did not entirely fallen for the indoctrination, , would rather sample substances or fornicate in the forest.
Unlike their friendly counterparts, these colorful critters have visible genitals and obvious libidos.
For one particularly cruel, cynical bear, the bear named Bluey, the battle with the unicorns turns into a route toward dominance — and particularly to dominance above his more tender, more compassionate sibling the character Tubby.
The character acts as a tormentor , an apparent sociopath , and when horror takes over his squad and kills his fellow soldiers one by one, he seizes progressively control for himself, via progressively bloody, damaging approaches.
Meanwhile, the horned creatures are experiencing their own nightmare, in the form of a growing, destructive monster in their forest.
“Initially, it seems like a comedy,” the director commented. “But then it becomes a more serious and sad film. And by the end, it becomes a horror film.”
Unicorn Wars starts out similar to one of the more whimsical movies from a renowned animator, which find a mischievous joy in allowing animated figures swear, shoot each other, or engage sexually.
Then it becomes closer to a bleaker movie from that creator, including ever more visual gore , a noticeable connection to the real suffering of battle.
By the end, it becomes a full-on Grand Guignol massacre.
The fear that turns the film a perfect Halloween movie begins a lot earlier than that description suggests.
Unicorn Wars is ideal for the hardcore gorehounds, for lovers of extreme cinema who wish to see a movie they’ve never watched previously, and can endure a plot that pulls absolutely no punches.
See it in a dark room without any distractions, and the finale will burrow under your skin and stay with you.
Where to watch: Accessible via streaming or buying on several online services.
