Out of every adult-oriented cartoon movies I’ve personally watched, nothing has lingered in my mind quite like the terror-laced conclusion of a viscerally violent and overwhelingly transgressive film from 2022 The Unicorn Wars.
Back in the year 2015, the Spanish writer-director created a dark, bleak and often savage universe with some tiny , forlorn glimmers of hope.
While The Unicorn Wars appears as it stemmed from a drive to push animation further, the director stated that it was rather a try to convey a widespread, cross-cultural theme about “the mutual source of all wars.”
That idea is expressed through a squad of vividly colored bears , clearly modeled after a famous series of cuddly figures.
Maturing in a society focused on militarism and the military-industrial complex, numerous the bears are consumed by slaughtering unicorns, thanks to a sacred text that tells the bears they were once masters of the woods, until the horned beings expelled them.
Some have not completely accepted the indoctrination, and prefer to experiment with narcotics and mate outdoors.
In contrast to their gentle counterparts, these colorful critters display genitals , definite libidos.
For a certain notably brutal, cynical bear, the character Bluey, the conflict against the unicorns transforms into a route toward dominance — and specifically to authority above his more tender, nicer brother Tubby.
The character is a bully and an apparent psychopath , and as horror takes over his squad and takes his teammates sequentially, he takes progressively control for himself, via progressively violent, harmful methods.
At the same time, the horned creatures are experiencing their own horror, through an expanding, harmful creature in their woods.
“At the beginning, it seems like a comedy,” the filmmaker commented. “But then it turns into a more intense and melancholic film. And ultimately, it becomes a scary feature.”
Unicorn Wars begins feeling a bit like among the quirky movies from an iconic animator, that discover a wicked pleasure in permitting animated figures swear, fire weapons, or sex each other up.
Then it evolves into something more like a more grim film from that creator, including ever more explicit brutality and a tangible link to genuine suffering of battle.
By the end, it’s a complete theatrical horror massacre.
The fear that makes the film a Halloween-friendly watch starts well before than indicated.
Unicorn Wars is one for the devoted gorehounds, for enthusiasts of intense movies who wish to watch a movie they have not watched previously, and who can handle a plot that pulls unflinching brutality.
Watch it in a dimly lit space free from interruptions, and the conclusion will burrow under your skin and linger.
Where to watch: Offered for digital rental or sale on various online services.