Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Death of a Unicorn.

Death of a Unicorn director Alex Scharfman breaks down the combination of practical and digital effects behind one of the movie’s biggest kills. Elliot Kintner (Paul Rudd) hitting a unicorn with his car sets off a chain of events leading to a slew of deaths that occur throughout the story. By the end of Death of a Unicorn, there are not many survivors left, as the magical creatures brutally kill the various members of the greedy Leopold family and their staff.

While speaking with ScreenRant, Scharfman explains the logistics of how the death of Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant) was filmed. In the script, he had written that there is visible blood on the unicorn’s horn as it slides up through Odell’s head. In addition to Grant’s impressive performance, the scene required a practical horn, a puppet, and a digital horn to make the kill look convincing and to bring the details in the script to life. Scharfman also acknowledges that Odell’s death elicited a strong reaction when the movie debuted at SXSW. Check out Scharfman’s comments below:

At SXSW, I think Richard’s death got, perhaps, the largest reaction, which was such a fun one to shoot. Richard did such a great job with it. When we executed him, some of the noises he was making and spitting out the blood, and then our VFX partners, that was a combination. I love that kill, because it’s a combination of practical and digital, where we have a practical horn under his head, and there’s a puppet in the foreground, but then a digital horn going through his mouth, and then the digital horn coming through the top of his head, which I love, because when he opens his mouth, you could see the blood on the horn as it’s kind of sliding up, which I’d written into the script. And I was like, “I don’t know if this is going to be doable,” but [I was] wanting the sense of, “Oh yeah, this is moving upward.”

What This Means For Death Of A Unicorn

The Logistics Behind Filming Odell’s Death Make It Even More Memorable

Odell’s arrogance, greed, and blatant disregard for others make his death one of the best in the A24 horror comedy movie. It is even more satisfying when knowing the behind-the-scenes details that went into filming the scene. Odell dies when he tries to touch one of the unicorns’ glowing horns, which makes it all the more fitting that he is killed by the horn itself. Having a bloodied horn going through the bottom of his mouth and through the top of the head makes it one of the more logistically challenging kills to pull off, though.

Despite these challenges, the final result works well, as evidenced by the substantial reaction to Odell’s death at SXSW. He does not die while running for his life or when trying to defend himself, but by arrogantly trying to touch the horn and believing he has a right to take all the unicorns’ power for himself. This helps make Odell’s death feel distinct from many of the others, as does the unique and ultimately effective approach to filming the scene.

Our Take On Alex Scharfman’s Comments

Odell’s Death Resonates On Multiple Levels

Seeing Odell die is one of the most memorable moments in Death of a Unicorn‘s carnage-filled story. Scharfman’s writing, Grant’s performance, and the combination of practical and digital effects make the scene even more memorable. Death of a Unicorn does not shy away from killing Odell, his family, and those who serve their agenda in vicious fashion. The over-the-top nature of the kills is integral to the tone of the horror comedy, with Odell’s arguably being the one that makes the strongest impact.