Movie Review of Monster High: Frights, Camera, Action (2014)

The animated film uses voices from Laura Bailey, James Horan, Cam Clarke, Yeni Alvarez and Kate Higgins.

My oldest daughter is a big fan of the various Monster High movies that have been released. However, while I do let her watch them, I rarely watch with her out of fear of rotting a couple brain cells in the process.

However, I ended up inadvertently doing that this past weekend when I was on the couch doing some work on my laptop and she put on this particular film. And, as much as it pains me to admit this, it was actually considerably better than I thought it would be.

The adventure with Draculaura (Debi Derryberry) and her friends searching for the Vampire’s Heart was actually somewhat interesting (though, admittedly, a little predictable at times too), just because I loved how they put a monster twist on London, Hollywood and New Orleans and the mystery about where the heart was hidden was also entertaining because it was pretty much a scavenger hunt requiring them to find clues that pointed to their next destination.

The part, however, that entertained me the most was the ongoing argument between factions of other Monster High students (still at the school) over which of two big-named movie stars was better looking. The fact they looked exactly alike (a fact that did not go unnoticed by the male students) but the two groups continued to fight it out to the point it had to be settled in a make-shift court was actually much funnier than I thought it would be, especially when they revealed the real truth about the actors (something I am sad to say I didn’t see coming, even though it ultimately did make a lot of sense).

As far as Monster High goes in general, I’m probably not going to drop everything to get caught up on all the movies I haven’t watched before or even make an effort to see future movies with my daughter. However, this particular film did manage to surprise me and, while I didn’t intend on watching it with my daughter, I am ultimately glad I did because it proved to be much more entertaining than expected.

My Grade: B