That Gruesome Cartoon Movie Ending That Stays With Fans
Out of all the mature cartoon movies I have ever viewed, no other has stuck with me as much as the terror-laced ending of a graphically gory and highly provocative 2022 movie The Unicorn Wars.
Back in the year 2015, this Spain-based writer-director created a dark, melancholy and often savage universe that included some tiny , forlorn twinges of optimism.
While Unicorn Wars feels like it came from an impulse to advance the medium further, the director stated that it was rather an attempt to convey a widespread, multicultural message concerning “the common origin of each battle.”
This theme is expressed by means of a squad of colorful pastel bears , clearly modeled after a popular line of lovable characters.
Being raised in a society focused on warmongering as well as the military-industrial complex, many of the bears are obsessed with exterminating the mythical beasts, thanks to a religious scripture that tells them they were once masters of the forest, before the unicorns forced them out.
Some haven’t fully accepted the indoctrination, and choose to experiment with narcotics and fornicate in the woods.
Unlike their gentle counterparts, these vivid animals have visible sexual organs , clear urges.
For one particularly cruel, pessimistic creature, Bluey, the conflict with unicorns transforms into a road to power — and particularly to authority above his gentler, more compassionate sibling Tubby.
This bear is a bully , an obvious antisocial figure , and when terror takes over his group and claims his fellow soldiers one by one, he grabs progressively power on his own behalf, through ever more violent, harmful methods.
Meanwhile, the unicorns are suffering their own nightmare, as a spreading, harmful creature in their habitat.
“Initially, it appears as a humorous movie,” the filmmaker commented. “Yet it becomes a more intense and melancholic movie. And by the end, it’s a scary feature.”
Unicorn Wars commences similar to among the quirky films by a legendary animator, that uncover a naughty glee in letting cartoon characters swear, shoot each other, 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 connection to the actual horror of conflict.
By the end, it becomes a full-on extreme drama carnage.
The terror which makes this a perfect Halloween watch kicks in a lot earlier than one might expect.
Unicorn Wars is one for the hardcore fans of gore, for enthusiasts of extreme cinema who desire to see something they have not viewed until now, and who can handle a narrative that offers no restraint.
View it in a dark room without any distractions, and the conclusion will dig deep within you and take up residence there.
How to view: Accessible via digital rental or sale on various digital platforms.
