Scared Shrekless (2010)

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

On Halloween, Shrek and several fairy tale characters go to the castle of Lord Farquaad, where they compete in telling scary stories. The last one remaining in the castle wins. This twenty-minute cartoon consists of three stories done as a homage to cult horrors. Gingerbread's story is inspired by the film "Bride of Frankenstein", Puss and Donkey squabble in their usual way through a parody of Hitchcock's "Psycho", and Shrek wins the night with scenes from the movie "The Exorcist" applied to Pinocchio. Imaginative, witty and technically well done. I enjoyed it very much.8/10

Scared Shrekless (2010) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Highly entertaining 21-minute short takes place on Halloween as Shrek proudly teaches his kids the proper way to scare people. This gets the "group" discussing how they might be able to scare Shrek and this is when donkey, the gingerbread man and Puss in Boots tell their scary stories. It seems some people thought that the later SHREK films weren't all that good but I must say that I found this short to be extremely good and I think it's so good that it'll probably appeal to more horror film buffs than actual SHREK fans. I say that because the film has some wonderfully clever homages to older films like PSYCHO and THE EXORCIST and I think both of them work tremendously well. The stuff dealing with Puss in Boots and PSYCHO were highly entertaining and especially when Donkey got involved. Another great moment happened when Shrek tells his story of a possessed Pinocchio. The animation, as you'd expect, is top-notch as are the vocal performances with everyone really giving it their all and delivering fun performances. Obviously there's nothing here too scary that kids won't be able to watch it but I do wonder how many young ones will recognize the films that are being paid homage to. Either way, adults and especially those who enjoy horror movies should really enjoy this.

Scared Shrekless is a brilliant Halloween special, of the two Dreamworks specials(the other being the Monsters vs Aliens one) this is the better one of the two. Gorgeously animated(the backgrounds are always colourful yet wonderfully atmospheric at times too) with creepy music, hilarious, witty writing, inspired storytelling, all our favourite characters at the top of their game(especially Puss and Gingerbread) and great voice acting(even with the replacement of Eddie Murphy for Donkey's voice). The special is made up of three parodies, the best being the parody of Bride of Frankenstein with Gingerbread, hysterically funny, full of creepy atmosphere and often cute. Shrek's Exorcist parody was also amusing and effective in its creepiness, if not quite as terrifying as the real thing(understandably). Puss and Donkey's Psycho parody was good, it was funny with great voice work and storytelling, only let down by a couple of Donkey's comic interruptions, occasionally coming across as forced. Overall though, Scared Shrekless is brilliant, if you love the first two films(I do) or love horror(the more I see the more I highly appreciate it) you will love it. 9/10 Bethany Cox

To be honest I went into this movie a little deflated expecting a cheap, run of the mill Halloween episode designed only to milk the last bit of magic from the Shrek franchise. As with Shrek the Halls I was completely wrong. It was excellent. You can kind of tell that Eddie Murphy isn't there, but it doesn't matter his replacement does a fine job.Scared Shrekless sees our favourite characters head to Lord Farquad's mansion to see who can stay the night while telling scary stories. We get a pretty chilling song from the information booth (Tuloc is a creepy place) that from the very start sets the scene. We then head right into the action hearing Ginger Bread's, Donkey and Puss and Shrek give three parodies of horror movies. The first and the third are definitely creepy; Puss & Donkey's tale is somewhat lacking and much more comic then those two. However that being stated all three stories all three stories present a weird demented dark humour that will have you laughing like you did way back in Shrek 2. The final scene we're Shrek is left alone with Donkey gives us what Shrek is really about as Shrek uses his ogre abilities (with a little help from the wife and kids) to prove who really is the King of Halloween. With Donkey running and screaming away the final Shrek chapter ends with Shrek, Fiona and the kids hurling eggs at the 7 Dwarfs. This little story is a gem that you can put with your copy of Shrek the Halls. It will have you laughing out loud as you hear the horror stories you grew up with. Its something you'll be able to watch and enjoy every Halloween. I really recommend it, it was a great way to finish the Shrek franchise, a bit disappointing that Eddie Murphy wasn't there but a brilliant job overall. Children under 7 won't get scared, you may wish to wait until your kids are about that age before you sit down and watch it with them. Otherwise go for your lives.