Here I am, I'm coming out of the dark
Not afraid to show my secrets or my scars
This is where I'm finally free
This is where I'm meant to be
Here I am, I'm coming out of the dark
Out of the dark
Not afraid to show my secrets or my scars
This is where I'm finally free
This is where I'm meant to be
Here I am, I'm coming out of the dark
Out of the dark
— "Coming Out of the Dark"
Monster High: The Movie is a 2022 movie owned and co-produced by Mattel. It serves as the start of Generation 3 of the Monster High franchise. It was released on both Paramount+ and Nickelodeon on October 6, 2022.
The movie follows Clawdeen Wolf, a half-human, half-werewolf who attends Monster High, a boarding school for descendants of famous monsters, which will only admit those who have a true monster heart. Struggling to keep her human side a secret, Clawdeen and her new ghoulfriends Frankie Stein and Draculaura discover a heinous plot which could not only reveal her true identity, but could also Destroy the school. When all starts to unravel, Clawdeen must learn to embrace her true monster heart and help the other monsters save the day.
A sequel was released on Paramount+ on October 5th, 2023.
This movie provides examples of:
- Adapted Out: Jackson Jekyll and Holt Hyde are seemingly replaced with Mr. Komos, whose design invokes Jackson's gen 1 looks and who has a connection to the same monster.
- Adaptation Personality Change: Draculaura, who was a friendly Genki Girl in previous incarnations, is more serious, sarcastic, and aloof.
- Adaptational Gender Identity: Frankie Stein, who was originally cisgender female, is reimagined as non-binary who goes by "they"/"them" pronouns.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- Monster-human relations. In past generations, Monster High promotes peaceful coexistence with humans. In this movie, the staff and students are pro-segregation, and the main cast takes the first steps to fighting this.
- Past versions of Deuce have always been Cleo's boyfriend, and while a few other characters in gen 1 crushed on him or tried to steal him, this never included Clawdeen. Here, he's the object of Clawdeen's affection.
- Lagoona is portrayed as Cleo's right-hand ghoul rather than Ghoulia.
- Advertised Extra: Even though she got a poster and a doll in the initial gen 3 release to go with the movie, and she received plenty of promotional material, Lagoona doesn't appear much in the movie and just seems to be the Innocent Beta Bitch to Cleo's Alpha Bitch.
- Be Yourself: The true meaning of True Monster Heart.
- Big Finale Crowd Song: "No Apologies", sung by everyone at Monster High to celebrate humans and monsters making peace and Clawdeen's acceptance amongst monster-kind.
- Bond One-Liner: By Clawdeen after she defeats Komos.Clawdeen: Think of it as extra credit.
- Chekhov's Skill:
- Clawdeen's Involuntary Shapeshifting comes into full play in the climax since her human-affected hand is what allowed her to unlock the door to Hyde's lab.
- Draculaura's flawed release spell becomes fully useful much later when the ghouls are trapped in the lab and Draculaura uses the last of the spell to unlock the way out.
- Crossover: Though she doesn't have any lines, Clawdeen makes a cameo in the Paramount+ ad featuring
Mr. Garvey butchering the names of Nickelodeon characters he's teaching. - Crowd Song: "Coming Out of the Dark", as Clawdeen and the other monsters arrive at Monster High.
- Dark Reprise: "Coming Out of the Dark" returns in a more somber version as Clawdeen is leaving Monster High thinking she is the cause behind the school falling apart.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Draculaura becomes much friendlier with Clawdeen and Frankie once she confides in them about her passion for witchcraft.
- Distant Duet: Portions of "Coming Out of the Dark" are sung by Draculaura, Frankie, and Deuce as they reflect on their first days at Monster High in the same manner as Clawdeen.
- Ending by Ascending: The movie ends with Draculaura rising into the air and taking Clawdeen and Frankie with her.
- Evil All Along: Mr. Komos is Mr. Hyde's son, who wants to destroy Monster High to avenge his father.
- Fantastic Racism: Monsters are prejudiced against humans, and witches even more so. The Sequel Hook implies witches have it out for monsters just as much.
- Foreshadowing:
- The school does not start to fall apart once Clawdeen arrives; instead strange things occur whenever Komos is around.
- Komos' mostly human appearance apart from the yak-like horns, as well as his design resembling Jackson, hints he's not at all a full monster like the others. Matter of fact, he's even more human than Clawdeen.
- When the ghouls reach Hyde's lab and Clawdeen discovers the potion, it is emitting a Sickly Green Glow. Turns out the potion is more dangerous than she thought.
- Fur Against Fang: Averted. Vampires and Werewolves don’t have any issues with each other, but instead it’s Vampires and Witches, who are at war.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: How Komos is defeated; Clawdeen uses Cleo’s phone's selfie mode to reflect the Deadly Gaze he stole from Deuce back to him, turning himself to stone.
- Hulking Out: Inverted. Fear, stress, and anger cause Clawdeen to become less monstrous and more human. Hulking in, if you will.
- Informed Flaw: Cleo is set up as Monster High's Alpha Bitch, and characters treat her like one, but other than some fake friendliness and tattling on Clawdeen for serious rule breaking, she's doesn't do anything that mean.
- Magical Incantation: Draculaura uses several through out the movie.
- ''Perfect skin in it’s place put a pimple on her face.''Power Potion bring me Motion.''Change your Body, change your face put another in your place, though inside the same you’ll be change outside what others see.''Bring the power to my fist, release the hold with gathered mist.
- Missing Mom: Clawdeen's full-werewolf mother was implied to have passed away some time before the movie.
- No Ontological Inertia: The instant Komos has been turned to stone, it causes all his doings to become undone, giving Draculaura and Deuce their powers back and reviving Deuce in return.
- Power Parasite: Komos as the ultimate monster can drain the "monster essence" out of other monsters, drastically weakening them while taking all their powers for themself.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Clawdeen gives this just before turning Komos' stolen gorgon powers on him.Clawdeen: Yeah, I know exactly what powers you have. (Holds up Cleo's phone in selfie mode) Smile.
- Psychosomatic Superpower Outage: Whenever Clawdeen feels uncertain or shaken over herself, she shapeshifts into a human. According to Frankie, this happens to most monsters who are part-human.
- Really Was Born Yesterday: During Frankie's first two days at Monster High they happily proclaim to whoever they meet that they're just over two weeks old.
- Red Herring: Clawdeen wasn't the half-human threatening the school; Mr. Komos was.
- Sequel Hook: Right before the credits, there's a shot of a mysterious witch who watches the Monster High students through her crystal ball, declaring that Draculaura is the key to destroy the Vampires once and for all.
- Villain Has a Point: Komos did make a strong point when he told Clawdeen to not drink the potion, for it does not turn a half-human monster fully monster, it turns them into the ultimate monster who steals other monsters' powers.
- Komos's motivation comes across as extremely justified, since it's stated early in the movie that his father was killed by a lynch mob for the "crime" of being half-human. Granted, he went about it the wrong way, but wanting revenge on the people responsible for his father's death is pretty understandable.
- Villain Song: True Monster Heart, which is sung by Mr. Komos.
