Director: Steve Rudzinski
Year: 2016
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher; Horror/Comedy
Plot:
Upset about being a child’s carousel unicorn, a special figure breaks out of his bondage and sets out to seek revenge on the kid who angered him where he finally tracks him down at a party with his sister and her friends forcing him to take them out to get to him and relying on a special hunter to stop the rampage.
Review:
On the whole, this was a pretty solid cheesy genre effort. Among the better elements here is the fact that this one just goes all-in on the ludicrous nature and premise that’s being utilized here. From the unicorns’ remarks about the situation and his lifestyle working at the carnival directly to the camera, this one gives off a goofy atmosphere quite early on and tends to set an example of what’s in store. That this carries on into the rest of of the film where the ludicrous nature of a talking carousel creation wandering around talking to everyone it comes across while not realizing what’s going on until it’s too late or the utterly wacky storyline about the mascot from the amusement park coming after him to stop the rampage makes for all sorts of cheesy, silly fun here. That the attacks are carried over with an actual stiff, practical horse-prop manipulated and filmed to appear as though it were a real being just adds to the goofiness present here.
As well, there’s plenty to like here about the antics of the killer creature out in the wilds which has a lot of outrageous gore gags and stalking to it. The idea of taking out the workers around the carnival and the couple on their date leading up to the assault on the party are great fun full of goofy puns and outrageous situations involving the creature performing the over-the-top actions. Once at the party, the idea of it going through the bestiality role with the admirer and turning that into a fun killing spree stalking through the various guests in fine form, as the confrontations in the living room, out in the kitchen and involving the mascot hunting it down at the end tend to go hand-in-hand with the tone and atmosphere created here. With the great gore involved in the multitude of kills, plenty of over-the-top comedy and the right air of seriousness involved, these hold the film up quite well over its minor aspects.
There isn’t a whole lot to dislike with this one. Among the few issues is a rightly-acknowledged part in the first half where the unicorns’ lines become repetitive and not that funny. Being variations on the same thing for every kill it commits, it would’ve been tiresome and annoying to keep going with the same setup and punchline which is then rightly called out before it gets to that point with a clever twist about doing so which saves it somewhat even though it still comes off irritating beforehand. As well, there’s the ludicrous nature of what’s going on, from a talking carnival carousel unicorn that doesn’t have much in the way of explanation for how it’s still alive or how it finds the kid at the party when it just seems to be going through the community taking them out as it comes across them that might be troublesome which goes hand-in-hand with the low-budget nature and outrageousness of the premise for some to handle. These are really the only real issues here.
Overview: ***.5/5
A genuinely fun, silly and over-the-top genre effort that doesn’t really have tons of problems beyond the most obvious issues that would be expected in an effort like this, the film features quite a lot to like and enjoy about it. Give this a look if you’re a fan of silly genre efforts or curious about this one based on its setup or reputation, while those who don’t look for this style of genre effort in the slightest should heed caution.
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