I think directors Leia and Jadzia Perez have the right idea: if you're going to make an independent fantasy film, filling it with violence, cannibals, and heart-eating deities is definitely the way to go. That's what they have done with their film THE WISHING FOREST.
Scripted by Jamie Grefe and produced by Stormi Maya (who also has an acting role in the movie), THE WISHING FOREST tells the following tale:
A beautiful desperate widow goes on a dangerous quest to meet a mythical wish-granting unicorn who lies deep in the cannibal-infested “Wishing Forest.” Along the way, she encounters a mighty warrior and a deceptive thief, who may or may not be trustworthy. But danger lurks everywhere and they are being tracked by the deadlist cannibal of all, a bloodthirsty savage who worships a magical feral Goddess who feasts on the hearts of his victims.
Maya's co-stars include Karin Brauns, Samuel Story, and Robert Amstler.
I usually only make time for unicorns when they're in Ridley Scott films, but the trailer for THE WISHING FOREST, embedded below, has convinced me to make an exception for this one. This seems to be a throwback to the days when directors like Jim Wynorski were making sword and sorcery movies, and I grew up on stuff like that. And this has leather-faced cannibals in it!
A release date has not yet been announced, but the film is expected to be out sometime within the year.