Death of a Unicorn Blu Ray Review (A24)

Death of a Unicorn is a 2025 horror comedy written, produced, and directed by Alex Scharfman (Passing Thru) in his directorial debut. It was executive produced by film maker Ari Aster (Beau Is Afraid, Eddington, Hereditary, Midsommar, and Dream Scenario). The budget was $15,000,000 and it grossed $16,413,499 worldwide at the box office. Father and ambitious lawyer Elliot Kintner (played by: Paul Rudd from the Ant-Man franchise, Ghostbusters franchise, Clueless, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Friends, Anchorman franchise, Role Models, Knocked Up, and This Is 40) struggles to get along with his daughter Riley (played by: Jenna Ortega from Wednesday, Scream franchise, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Studio 666, Iron Man 3, Insidious: Chapter 2, American Carnage, and X) on a road trip. They accidentally hit a young unicorn with their car and Elliot tries to put out from misery but fails. They bring it to the wilderness retreat of a mega-wealthy pharmaceutical CEO Odell Leopold (played by: Richard E. Grant from Warlock, Dracula, Logan, Game of Thrones, and L.A. Story) with his outrageous family that includes Belinda (played by: Téa Leoni from Bad Boys, Jurassic Park III, The Family Man, Spanglish, and Madam Secretary) and Shepherd (played by: Will Poulter from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, We’re the Millers, Midsommar, Warfare, and The Bear) plus their staff. The parents of the wounded unicorn come back for their child and they seek retribution for the group that’s currently holding him hostage!!!! Death of a Unicorn takes the curiosity of the killer unicorn from 2011’s The Cabin in the Woods and turns it into a full length feature. Let’s not forget about the independent trilogy CarousHELL from Steve Rudzinski especially the 2nd one. Death of a Unicorn has a few similarities to it but it still ends up being much different than that horror franchise at the end of the day. Elliot and Riley have an awkward relationship when it comes to being father and daughter. They don’t really get along at first, Riley feels like she’s being forced to go on this road trip. They end up becoming closer as their reality turns into a living nightmare. Jenna Ortega shines as Riley. She’s see people for what they really are. She’s able to feel what others do around her. When the situation gets dangerous, she actually has some great ideas to fix it. She has a strange connection with the unicorns. Paul Rudd is great as Elliot. This is more of a serious role for the veteran. He’s just a dad trying to connect with his rebellious kid. He tries to make a bad scenario better but he unfortunately makes it worse. Will Poulter steals the show as the greedy Shepherd. He is hilarious and he doesn’t care about putting himself before anyone else. He is very spoiled and he uses his powerful family to his every advantage. The legendary Richard E. Grant causes so many more issues as the power hungry Odell. He sees an opportunity for more fame, money, and power which puts everyone in danger. The rest of the supporting cast includes Téa Leoni, Anthony Carrigan (Superman), Jessica Hynes (Shaun of the Dead), Kathryn Erbe (OZ), Sunita Mani (Mr. Robot), and Steve Park (Fargo). Death of a Unicorn has an excellent balance of horror and comedy. It takes a little bit to really get somewhere but it’s worth the anticipation. I do appreciate that it wasn’t watered down and it had an R Rating. It had some quality gore, violence, and interesting deaths. I wish they used practical over CGI fx when it came to the unicorns. I think an old school approach would have worked better here because sometimes it was a little bit of a distraction. Regardless, it still looked good for what it was. It had a similar vibe to the original Jurassic Park with it’s questionable science mixed in with the unexpected. It was funnier than I thought it would be especially the Shepard and Griff roles when the shit hit the fans. They always made a gruesome spot funny as hell. It tries a few different things and I feel it never knows what it truly wants to be after everything is done but the concept alone drives Death of a Unicorn. It’s kinda all over the place but it still works. It has potential for more in the future but it’s hard to say if that will happen. It keeps itself suspenseful, entertaining, and fun for the most part. It’s a nice entry into the killer animal sub-genre, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from A24! This 1080p (2.39:1) transfer looks stunning on blu ray, I’m a little surprised that it didn’t get it’s own 4K home video release but it barely made it’s budget back at the box office so that’s probably why. The slick cinematography, locations, and fx stand out the most when it comes to the visuals here. It has a few different audio options which includes English: Dolby Atmos and English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 tracks on the disc. The audio shines when it comes to all it’s chaotic situations and soundtrack. All of the dialogue is crystal clear, the killing is elevated, and the music has a big boost to it. It has English SDH and Spanish subtitles. It has an “Audio Commentary” with writer, producer, and director Alex Scharfman. He chats about the production. He talks about the cast, characters, concept, story, points out easter eggs/warnings, locations, and he goes into great detail about everything here. There’s plenty of technical moments, personal information, and inside stories from experiences on the set. It’s an interesting track that teaches you all kinds of new stuff about Death of a Unicorn during this. It has the little over 15 minute “How to Kill a Unicorn”. It has interviews with the director and some of the main cast. They chat about their characters. They talk about the concept and it’s story. They show appreciation for the villains and what they bring to this insanity. They bring up working together and that this was such a unique project. The director says no one has done this before and that’s what motivated him to do it. It has some additional behind the scenes footage here. It has a little over 13 minutes of 8 “Deleted Scenes”. It comes in a slipbox in a digipack with 6 different art cards. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!