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It’s weird that, for as massive of a fan as I am of the Halloween franchise, I have only seen a few of the movies from that series in theater. Up until the David Gordon Greene trilogy, I had only ever seen two in such a format.

The first of which that I got to see in the cinema was the much-maligned (and fairly maligned, at that) Halloween 6: The Curse Of Michael Myers. I distinctly recall seeing it a now long-defunct theater called The Coyle with my dad. He and I rented Halloweens part 4 and 5 religiously in the early 1990’s.

We waited years for the follow up to the Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers so that we could see who the man in black was and what his ties to Myers were. 

Even though Halloween 6 was not ideal, there was one aspect of it I had no idea would be so lasting and impactful to movies to this very day. It was the film that introduced the world to Paul [Stephen] Rudd. 

Rudd was his typical self even in a part 6 horror franchise outing. He was charming and knew how to act with his face when no line of dialogue could measure up. There was something there. And while Halloween 6 is mostly a forgotten outing, Rudd’s career has shined on. He has become one of our all-time dependable comedic talents, and he has consistently been on our screens since 1995. 

This year, Rudd’s newest offering is Death Of A Unicorn. It tells the story of Rudd’s character, Elliott, and his daughter Ridley as they travel through a wildlife reserve to meet with his incredibly elite boss, Odell. Elliott is hoping to be put in position to control the family’s wealth after Odell passes away from cancer. As Elliott and his daughter are en route, though, they hit a unicorn in the middle of the road.

Believing the creature to be dead, they… pile it into their rental car and drive it to Odell’s home. It’s a weird decision to further the plot, sure. But Elliott and Ridley quickly discover that getting unicorn blood on them has cured them of various afflictions from which they suffered. 

Odell’s family sees dollar signs–and a potential cure for his cancer–in all of this, though. And they begin harvesting what they can from the fallen beast. The only problem is… he wasn’t the last of his kind. 

TWO UPS AND TWO DOWNS

+ There is a decent story inside this about a father and a daughter mending their relationship when each seems to want something else from each other. That’s the real soul of Death Of A Unicorn, and it works. It’s always a good thing when a movie can blend fantastical elements with a heartfelt, relatable story. So sure the movie is about unicorns attacking a wealthy compound and the self-interested people within. But it’s REALLY about Elliott and Ridley’s relationship. Good stuff.

And Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega are also up to the task as the pairing, and they add to the movie’s emotional core. Rudd has been a star for ages now, obviously, and Ortega has been establishing herself as a future A-Lister for the last several years, so putting them together was obvious, even with Rudd’s eternally youthful features letting him barely pass as Jenna’s father. But the two have a familial spark between them, and they drive the main story home.

+ Even with how well Rudd and Ortega play their father/daughter dynamic, Will Poulter is the star here and the scene stealer as he usually is. He is one of the best supporting actors in the game these days. It will be interesting to see him eventually get a starring role in some vehicle and see how he handles it because he is so extraordinary as a side talent in everything he is in. 

Death of a Unicorn is not uproariously funny–more on that in a minute–but the moments from the film that will get a reaction out of you are almost all from Poulter. He has great timing and delivery; he really gets how to throw in a perfectly written line. When it comes to things you just can’t teach, he has a great voice for comedy. Like how some folks have movie star good looks that help their career, Poulter is gifted with a wonderful voice and cadence for comedy. He uses it optimally here.

– For a movie that is classified partially as a Comedy, Death Of A Unicorn isn’t wildly funny. It will make you chuckle a few times at best, but it has no real Laugh Out Loud moments. To be fair, I’ve seen its categorization as all over the map. Fantasy. Horror. Dark Comedy. But my AMC app on my phone singularly lists it as a comedy, so I went in expecting a few more guffaws than what I got.

And don’t get me wrong… I do think the movie tries to be funnier than it is. But outside of Poulter and a few moments from Anthony Carrigan, a lot of the humor plain doesn’t land. And that’s strange to think of for a movie starring Paul Rudd, who is such a dependable laugh machine. But it’s all just so unfocused. 

– The unicorn effects aren’t that spectacular. They are passable, I guess, but at no point are you going to confuse them as flesh-and-blood real. They look like effects, and it takes you out of the movie. Which, I mean, they ARE effects, obviously. But the point is, you’ve seen better than these before. No one is going to confuse these unicorns with Thanos from the MCU’s Infinity Saga. Weirdest yet, the unicorns aren’t consistent across the film. They seem to change color and size as the scenes advance. The effects team clearly struggled with their work here. 

OVERALL

For a flick I was looking forward to based on the cast and the trailers, Death Of a Unicorn is just… fine. It’s good, even. But I kind of wanted a bit more. Better comedy. More horror (though to the movie’s credit on the Horror front, there are some gnarly kills in this one that hold very little back).

It felt stuck between the genres rather than committing too much to one side or the other. Ultimately though, what brings it out on the positive side of things is that despite the lack of commitment to a genre, the story between Elliott and Ridley really works. By the end of the movie, I truly cared about their dynamic. 

★★★ Out Of 5