Movie Review: Monster High: Scaris: City of Frights

Scaris: City of Frights
Mattel Entertainment, Nerd Corps Entertainment, USA, 2013.

Clawdeen and her ghoul friends arrange a fashion mob that is a success despite Toralei's  pranks. Famous fashion designer Madame Moanatella Ghostier sees a Frighttube video of Clawdeen's show and becomes interested. Madame Ghostier invites Clawdeen to Scaris to be her possible apprentice. 

Rochelle is from Scaris so she can be Clawdeen's guide. Can the other friends other come too? 

Pretty please?

Sure they can.

Also Toralei smuggles herself into the plane being a nuisance for the rest of the trip. The boys stay home longing for the girls. After all Scaris is the most romantic city in the world, so who knows what kind of hunky monsters the girls may meet there. Rochelle Goyle misses her über-romantic boyfriend Garrott who suddenly stopped writing letters to her.

Rochelle

Rochelle's grandma

Toralei is always a meanie

Clawdeen is not the only candidate. There are also Hexican skeleton girl Skelita and Chinese dragon girl Jinafire from Fanghai. Madame Ghostier is a harsh teacher who demands that Clawdeen must give up her unique style if she wants to work for her. But Madame Ghostier has skeletons in the closet. And more skeletons are trying to get sleep in the catacombs under Scaris.

Skelita and Jinafire

Madame Ghostier

Given the fashion context, Clawdeen looks a lot like Tyra Banks

Meanwhile the other girls go shopping and sightseeing famous tourist attractions such as Ogre Dame Cathedral and the Bouvre Museum. Ghoulia tries a career as street musician. Some surprise visitors pop for a visit and finally it is time for the great fashion show.

Ogre Dame Cathedral

Yet I'm playing my accordion

It feels that for this entry the budget was higher, the animation looks more polished. The city of Scaris looks lively with monsterified versions of famous landmarks. The story expands the monster universe and introduces new locations. The franchise seems to ditch the idea of mainly normie populated world, going to full fantasy territory, as the monster towns with familiarly punny names are so abundant all over the world.

From now on the Monster High movies aim to have more epic plots. As the Monster High antagonists have usually been Toralei, members of Van Hellscream- family or some minor comical villains, Madame Ghostier feels more serious than the usual villains. Some of the inspiration seems to come from "Project Runway" fashion contest show. The story has a theme of keeping it real and staying true to your own ideas.

Fun upbeat rock with roll or greatest hits of Himalayan Yak Band?

Fast and furrious

As a bonus adventure there is a short "From Fear to Eternity."
It is time to return home. But Cleo and Draculaura are still shopping and they are going to need more than one suitcase. Due to overbooked flights the Monster Highers have to take separate flights. Clawdeen's living design book gets on the wrong flight that is going to Fangladesh. After some jungle adventures the monsters travel all around the world visiting even Abbey's homeland at Himalayas. The split team revisits also Skull Shores and remeets the Tikis.

It is a fitting comedic bookend for the slightly more serious main story.

Tikis again

Poor Eyeball-guy (whose real  name is Eyera) gets eye inflammation.

Rating: Good

Voice actors: Erin Fitzgerald, Kate Higgins, Ogie Banks, Salli Saffioti, Evan Smith, Debi Derryberry, Audu Paden, Garrett Sander, Laura Bailey, Cam Clarke, Cindy Robinson, America Young, Stephanie Sheh, Julie Maddalena, Jonathan Lipow, Dustin Mckenzie
Directors: Dustin Mckenzie, Andrew Duncan, Audu Paden