This article appears in the new issue ofDEN OF GEEK magazine.
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Jenna Ortegahas a confession to make: she likes blood.
The more of it, the better.
And never once in all those chillers has she tired of the red-dyed corn syrup.
But the thought exercise just wont stick.
No, I cant really even say that.
I always like it whenever they bring the blood.
Its like youre getting into the good stuff.
Its just so funny to me, Ortega says.
It looks like the shark fin fromJaws.
The unicorn blood had some glitter.
So its harder getting off.
Yet, somehow, the beast was still able to pierce through the subconscious.
It started like a lot of my ideas often do, Scharfman tellsDen of Geek.
Its a scene or an image, a kernel of something, and it kept sticking in my brain.
Nearly 10 years later, its a dream turned reality, not to mention Scharfmans first feature as director.
Even Scharfman admits he originally imagined it to be a short film.
Seriously, who doesntwant to revel in a tale where a father and daughter mercy-kill the ethereal?
I love it when a script doesnt waste time.
Its nice to just get into it.
Like wewantto see the unicorn.
It has heavy clawed hooves, long cruel fangs, and hair that darkens with its mood.
As one character surmises on therealunicorns of antiquity, they were supposed to be divine monsters.
The first recorded unicorn story goes back to like 400 B.C., Scharfman explains.
The writer-directors excitement is infectious as he rattles off facts and speculations.
These were beings to be feared, respected, and in absolutely no uncertain terms, fucked with.
Old World gods, as the filmmaker sums up.
We referenced them all the time, says Ortega.
It was an ancient way to speak about the world of here and now.
Its also created a divide between a father and daughter that seems ever pertinent.
However, its also about disparate generations coming togetheron and off the screen.
I think thats the easiest way just to get a better understanding of somebody.
In a certain sense, the film is about the eternal divide between fathers and daughters.
In another, it is derived from the extreme present.
Instead, it is a modern-day liege lord that awaits.
I was trying to think about the movie writ large, says Scharfman.
Rudd even cracks he could find a corrupt pharmaceutical familys latest scandal by simply scrolling through todays headlines.
Theres a monster outside the house, and it wants in.
Its ridiculous in the moment but effective onscreen.
It also deliberately evokes some of Stan Winstons velociraptor tricks in the originalJurassic Park.
This led to oh, they can get inside the house!
which you dont get with a lot of creature movies.
So that became a fun reference point.
As it turns out, not every creature element is meant to terrorize.
Its this otherworldly supernatural attachment to this creature, Ortega says of her kinship with the beast.
It takes her on this celestial journey into the unknown.
It also hints that there is more at play with these steeds intelligence than just an appetite.
Says Ortega, I think in a way theyre almost trying to enlighten Ridley.
You might want to form some sympathy!
The Maiden Fair
Death of a Unicorncan be a strange beast.
And thats probably an idealist empath whos on a college campus somewhere protesting right now.
That can include the unicorns they meet along the way.
Even that glittery purple blood carries meaning.
Theres something interesting in creating a fictional creature that somehow lives between warm and cold-blooded, Scharfman says.
Obviously, red plus blue equals purple.
As the movie progresses, theyre moving toward each other, the director adds.
Which gives you purple.
Death of a Unicorn premieres at SXSW on March 8 and opens nationwide on March 28.
