Because the animated adventure “Everything Full of Monsters” is primarily aimed at an age group where you still have to accompany the children to the cinema, but no longer necessarily have to sit next to them in the hall, a perfect double feature would have been offered here: While the youngsters watch the film adaptation of the children’s book series by Guy Bass (in the original: “Stich Head”), which has been successful since 2011, the parents go to the one that starts just a week later “Frankenstein” by Guillermo del Toro. On the way home you could still have a perfect discussion about the themes of the stories: after all, both films are based more or less directly on the legendary horror novel by Mary Shelley.
However, there is a catch: the epic blockbuster “Frankenstein” lasts a whole hour longer than “Everything Full of Monsters” (not to mention the fact that the films are unlikely to be shown at the same time of day). But it's not that bad, because adults can also have fun with “Everything's Full of Monsters” – even if the essentially exciting reinterpretation of “Frankenstein” develops more and more into a fairly generic animated action comedy over the course of its hour and a half running time. In any case, people always laugh loudest when a monster flops down a mountain or the villagers shit their pants out of sheer fear.
Stitchhead lets Fulbert Freakfinder persuade him to perform as a monster in his circus…
Stichkopf (voice in the German dub: Felix Auer) is the first creation of the mad professor (Kai Taschner), who regularly brings monsters he has patched together back to half-life at his castle in Grottenow. However, the creator immediately loses interest in his creations after their “birth”, which is why Stitchhead is instead given the task of looking after all the different Frankenstein creatures. The most important thing is that the monsters must not behave like monsters under any circumstances – otherwise the frightened residents of the village of Rafferskaff in the valley would form an angry mob and burn down the castle.
But then one day the monster circus comes to the village. And when the enterprising director Fulbert Freakfinder (Gerhard Jilka) learns that real monsters live at Grottenow Castle, he sees his big chance come: He convinces Stichkopf to work as a “freak” in his circus – because the audience will not only pay a lot of money to be able to take a look at the “terrible monster”, they will also love him. And in fact: the Stitch Head merchandise soon becomes an absolute hit – and the new star in the horror world increasingly forgets that his monster family at Grottenow Castle – especially his very best friend Monster (Waldemar Kobus) – already misses him immensely…
Through the eyes of Frankenstein
Actually, the beginning of my “Frankenstein” criticism fits here perfectly, so why not: “When Mary Shelley's novel was published in 1818 – initially anonymously – the sympathies of the contemporary audience lay predominantly with the scientist Victor Frankenstein. Only in the following two centuries did the reading become more and more established that in reality it was not the artificially created creature, but its egomaniacal creator and an intolerant society are actually the 'monstrous things' in the story.” In “Everything Full of Monsters” this change is consistently taken further in the reading of the super-classic:
Just minutes after their creation, Stichkopf shows the creatures a video in which it is explained to them why they must not under any circumstances live out their natural monster rage. It is certainly not a coincidence that the film, which immediately instills in the viewer a deep fear of an “angry mob,” is reminiscent of American educational films that have prepared students for a possible nuclear war since the 1950s (and thereby not so much enlightened them as intimidated them). Anyway, there are some really nice ideas, especially at the beginning: The lack of success of Fulbert Freakfinder's circus so far can easily be explained by the fact that the highlight of his freak show consists of a – no longer particularly flexible – human knot. And the fortune teller who greets everyone with information about the manner of their death doesn't exactly turn out to be a crowd-pleaser either.
The film delivers what the title “Everything is full of monsters” promises!
“Everything Full of Monsters” can also score points with its everything crooked and crooked gothic look, which of course immediately reminds you of the films by Tim Burton (“Corpse Bride”) and Henry Selick (“Coraline”) – which are in a different league. Especially since the European production by Steve Hudson (“True North”) and Toby Genkel (“Maurice the Cat”) doesn’t have to hide in comparison to the VERY much higher budgeted Hollywood competition. Instead, the problem is that the density of strong ideas decreases as the film progresses – and therefore increasingly shorter lengths creep in: Instead of clever Frankenstein references, there is mainly the usual chaotic cartoon hustle and bustle.
And almost worse: Although the film presents an incredibly varied collection of monsters – from the girl's head in the aquarium to the octopus with a chicken body – there are hardly any gags that are aimed at the special characteristics of the creations. The “Toy Story” authors did a much better job of this with the various toys in Andy's children's room. Instead, the monsters simply all have a different local dialect – everything from Franconian to Hessian is represented. But the gag has already been used in several other films before – and this tired, humorous universal solution simply wouldn't have been necessary here because the monsters would have already offered more than enough templates.
Conclusion: If the youngsters are still too young for the films by Tim Burton and Henry Selick, then “Everything Full of Monsters” is definitely a good introduction to “scary” cinema. However, the great narrative potential of this children's version of Frankenstein is often not exploited in favor of generic animated action and a wild dialect stew.