Monster High: Clawesome Double Feature Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Monster High: Clawesome Double Feature Blu-ray Movie Review

Scary.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 28, 2014

For individual reviews of each title, plus many more screenshots, please click through the links below.

Monster High: Fright On
Monster High: Escape from Skull Shores

Monster High: Fright On
Score: 2.5/5.0

The Monster High franchise is one of those that's not quite ubiquitous -- it's not Barbie or Hot Wheels or some other "brand" that's synonymous with youth and popular culture -- but it is universal, universal meaning that it's broken through to a number of venues to sell the name brand, including toys, books, Internet specials, and movies. Of concern here are the movies, in this case Fright On, a 46-minute feature about different monsters forced together under one academic roof and the positives and negatives that result from the merger. Of course, as always seems to be the case with this variety of entertainment, the real learning doesn't happen in the classroom but rather through life experience and the lessons learned that are encapsulated in the predicable final speech about inclusion and the strength in differences.

The Monster High student body is taken aback when the Headless Headmistress makes a shocking announcement: the school is to open its doors to vampires and werewolves for a fully integrated monster school experience. When the new students arrive, integration is the last thing to happen. Cliques and core groups are less than welcoming. The vampires want things to go their way, while the werewolves have largely cordoned themselves off from the community. Pockets of integration are evident, usually in romantically aligned couples, but things aren't going as expected. Enter Mr. Van Hellscream, a man brought in to facilitate the process. As things go from bad to worse at school, a group of students begins to explore what they believe to be the ulterior motives of those involved in the integration process.

At its core, Monster High is about a variety of monsters and "people" better described as being on the periphery of monsters, like a girl who fancies herself an Egyptian princess, that are on the same plane as their human 21st century contemporaries. They're on the cutting edge of fashion, friendship, and life. The program cleverly skews everything to the appearance of monsters with hints of classic monster motifs and styles -- disproportionately sized doors, cell phones and lockers that resemble coffins, and puns aplenty -- but beyond the skewered surface lies a rather typical assemblage of teenage characters and the sort of interactions one might expect of an eclectic group.

More specifically, Fright On takes a look at integration. There are proponents and opponents to Monster High seeing the inclusion of vampires and werewolves (and, eventually, humans or "normies," the program's equivalent to "muggles"). On the way to to the final speech that champions inclusiveness, celebrates diversity, and frowns upon separation by class or characteristic, the program follows a rather standard construction that includes a bit of mystery and misdirection as the students struggle to integrate, remain in their comfortable cliques, and attempt to sort out the hows and the whys behind the integration as well as the identity of a puppet master who seems to be pulling the strings in a direction that favors his or her (or it, as the case may be in a story like this) own ends. It's superficially fun and colorful but for mature viewers watching for the story themes and drama rather than the colors and the characters, there's not much here in the realm of the original. Younger viewers, however, should enjoy the kid-friendly spectacle and probably walk away with questions that will undoubtedly lead to a viewing of several of Universal's classic monster films.

Monster High: Escape from Skull Shores
Score: 1.5/5.0

Imagine Universal classic monsters meet Clueless meets King Kong and get an idea of what's in store with Monster High: Escape from Skull Shores, a 46-minute feature starring the Mattel teenage monster girls in a spring break adventure. It's about as ridiculous as it sounds, especially when one considers the bubble gum Pop music and the dreadful, eye gouging atrocity that is the animation style. A far cry not only in terms of audio/video content and delivery from the companion film Fright On but also a significantly more dull story, Escape from Skull Shores doesn't do the series any justice, even if it does incorporate the usual themes of inclusiveness, togetherness, and comfort in one's own skin.

It's spring break, and a select group of students from Monster High decides to head to The Great Barrier Reef for a few days of fun and sun. The trip is especially important for Lagoona (voiced by Laura Bailey) who wants her boyfriend Gil (voiced by Evan Smith) to meet her parents. Unfortunately, a Kraken attacks their ship and leaves them stranded on a small, salvaged chunk of the hull. They are quickly rescued by a magician named Bartleby Farnum (voiced by Keith Silverstein) and his assistant, the hooded Kipling (voiced by Malcolm Danare). But instead of taking them to the Reef, he instead takes them to Skull Island. There, they discover statues that look just like Frankie (voiced by Kate Higgins) and begin to unravel a dangerous secret about the island and the man who brought them to it.

If applying makeup to wooden masks, a seemingly endless conversation between boyfriend and girlfriend about whether the girl's parents will accept the guy's saltwater origins, being beat over the head about themes on inclusiveness and self-worth, and characters so vain that they become upset when someone else is kidnapped by a rampaging monster rather than them, then Monster High: Escape from Skull Shores just might work. Admittedly, the series has never been about the subtle, and the message is hardly hidden in this film. Yet it's so blatant that even the mightiest magic from its slick antagonist couldn't make it any less obvious. The characters undergo no advancement because they only cover the same ground only situated across a different backdrop. The story lacks creativity and audiences, even younger viewers, will likely be left wondering how such a simple message can be delivered with so much blunt force by so many one-dimensional characters.

Oh, the animation. Have mercy on the eyes of the poor viewing audience. Monster High deserves better than this. With characters so externally colorful and well-defined -- even if they're one-shot message carriers on the inside and exist only to deliver that message under a sea of clever puns -- one can only imagine why, other than budgetary concerns and constraints, the filmmakers decided this was in some way preferable to the intoxicating colors and flow found in Fright On. Nothing -- not the characters, not the environments, not the drama, not the music -- benefits from the shoddy digital animation. Whatever qualities the film may have -- and it's rather vapid after the immediate message that's been conveyed 100 different ways before -- are sucked out of the film by this visual atrocity like a vampire chugging a pint of the red stuff.

Monster High: Clawesome Double Feature Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Monster High: Fright On
Score: 4.5/5.0

Color, color, color. Monster High: Fright On produces a dizzying variety of bubble gum-flavored hues that jump off the screen with a radiance befitting royalty, or at least trendy high school monsters. The film displays a broad range of shades, from hot pink to vomit green with commendable vibrance and stability across the entire palette. For something with a title that at least suggests darkness, this one is a spectacle of every shade under the rainbow, and then seemingly more. Image clarity within this 1.78:1 animated ghoul-fest is impressive. Viewers will be able to soak in every last detail on clothes, accessories, and background elements inside and outside the school. A few light jagged edges are evident, but overall Universal's Blu-ray produces clean, well-construted lines. There's practically no troublesome banding or other unwanted eyesores. Overall, a radiant transfer from Universal.

Monster High: Escape from Skull Shores
Score: 2.0/5.0

Monster High: Escape from Skull Shores is more or less technically proficient -- only some occasional banding really mars the presentation - - but the animation gives the 1080p, 1.78:1-framed Blu-ray almost nothing with which to work. Details are flat and lightly fuzzy. There's no tangible texture on Kipling's hood, the island's terrain, the wooden masks, or the monsters' clothes or accessories. The image is flat and lifeless, which is also apparent in its coloring. The palette lacks any sort of vibrance whatsoever. Everything is dull, tired, and burdened with a heavy push towards a flat monotone. This is truly a striking example of the differences between more classic, lively animation, such as that found on Monster High: Fright On, and this, budget digital that does the material no visual favors.

Monster High: Clawesome Double Feature Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Monster High: Fright On
Score: 4.0/5.0

Monster High: Fright On's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers the musical equivalent of all of those colors in the form of catchy teen pop music that doesn't include a big surround support but that does offer clear notes and effortless spacing across the front. A balanced, but hardly overpowering, low end supports. Light ambient effects are subtly impressive in crowded school hallways, but don't expect to feel surrounded by monsters and the little sonic odds and ends within their world in every shot. Dialogue is delivered firmly and accurately from the front-center portion of the stage, rounding a healthy, but hardly memorable, lossless soundtrack into form.

Monster High: Escape from Skull Shores
Score: 2.0/5.0

Too loud. Monster High: Escape from Skull Shores washes up on Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack that's way too aggressive. It's ear-piercing and not in a good way. Music blares at the expense of refined clarity. The Pop-inspired notes never find any stage balance or tight, precision clarity in the delivery that seems to just throw it out there with a jetpack strapped to it, hoping for the best. The result are overly sharp notes and something that requires the listener scramble to turn the volume down from reference. There are precious few ambient support effects anywhere in the film. Dialogue suffers the same fate as music, coming across too sharply. Much like the video, this audio presentation is trounced by the more balanced and enjoyable track found with Fright On.

Monster High: Clawesome Double Feature Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Monster High: Clawesome Double Feature contains no bonus content.

Monster High: Clawesome Double Feature Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Neither movie is particularly good -- they're too vapid and theme-heavy, Skull Shores in particular -- but they do serve a base purpose of modern animated entertainment. Video on Fright On is colorfully gorgeous, while the video on Escape from Skull Shores is dreadful. Audio, likewise, is significantly better on Fright On. No extras are included. For die-hard franchise fans only.