Rating: ****
Review Date: 9/18/26
When Shaun's pumpkin patch is accidentally destroyed, he turns into a mad scientist to try and grow some new pumpkins in time for Halloween. Naturally, his plan backfires spectacularly when a large hairy beast shows up at the farm and starts terrorizing the town. It's up to Shaun to resolve the crisis before the angry townsfolk get their hands on the monster, and hopefully in time to celebrate Halloween.
It's an utterly brilliant film and an easy contender for my top film of the year. The craftsmanship is superb, and the horror theme makes use of some great lighting effects. The writing is hilarious and I haven't laughed that hard and that much in a long time. What's amazing to me is that it manages to maintain a constant level of madcap slapstick for its entire 80-minute running time, while remaining fresh and funny throughout. In lesser hands, this would have become tedious and tiresome after the first twenty minutes. Overall, it's a "must see" film for Aardman fans and animation fans in general. It's a great mood enhancer, and is precisely what I needed to see right now.