October 12, 2012 – The Disney Channel Original Movie Girl vs. Monster Premieres
“This is no ordinary Halloween…”
On October 12, 2012, the Disney Channel Original Movie Girl vs. Monster premiered. It earned 4.9 million viewers on its premiere, and won an award at the Radio Disney Music Awards for “Best Crush Song.” The film was written by Annie DeYoung and Ron McGee, and directed by Stuart Gillard. It stars Olivia Holt as Skylar Lewis, Brendan Meyer as Henry, Kerris Dorsey as Sadie, Luke Benward as Ryan, Katherine McNamara as Myra, Tracy Dawson as Diemata, Adam Chambers as Cobb, Brian Palmero as Steve, and Jennifer Aspen as Julie.
The film begins with a party being set up at the old McQuarry mansion, and Skylar Lewis surprises the group by performing a flip to fix a banner. She then sings with the band, impressing everyone with her voice. The lead guitarist of the band, Ryan, has an obvious crush on Skylar, but Skylar doesn’t believe that he’s attracted to her. To make her way home quickly, Skylar decides to cut through the cemetery, ignoring the protests of her friend Sadie, who remarks that Skylar has no fears about anything, which is not normal. Meanwhile, two mysterious figures enter the graveyard after Skylar leaves, attacking a monster that was originally after Skylar.
After her mom says no, Skylar rushes to ask her dad to attend Ryan’s party
Skylar asks her parents to go to the party, but her mom Julie refuses to let her go, having always refused to let her go out on Halloween night. Her parents act suspicious about the holiday, and she runs out of the house; her father Steve then continues his very mysterious work with monsters. At school, Skylar runs into her friend Henry, who is soon bullied by the football players. Ryan shows up to talk to her about the party, and invites her to stop by, but incurs the wrath of Myra, Ryan’s on-again off-again girlfriend. When Myra attempts to fix a banner at the school for the band, she ends up crashing down the stairs. Back on Skylar’s street, a monster appears in the form of a dog, scaring a group of trick-or-treaters. It is soon captured by the mysterious figures, who are revealed to be Skylar’s parents.
After school, Skylar stops by Ryan’s to watch his band practice, and watches him sing. He tells her that there is no lead singer tonight, and asks Skylar to sing with them. He tells her that he needs her, and she agrees to do it, although she doesn’t know how to convince her parents to let her go. Steve is puzzled by the increasing monster activity in the area, and asks his assistant Cobb to help keep an eye on Skylar that evening. Her parents leave, but Skylar plots to escape past Cobb and the alarm system, and calls Sadie and Henry to assist her. As she cuts the power, she accidentally releases the monsters that are inside one of her fathers’ devices, and Cobb has to help her flee the basement. One monster in particular, Diemata, threatens Skylar before heading after her parents. For the first time in her life, Skylar knows fear, especially after Cobb reveals that Diemata wants to kill her parents and possess her soul for all of eternity.
Diemata, now freed, asks her minions how the world has changed
Diemata hears about how the world has changed, and is determined to bring back fear to the world. Skylar’s parents have their hands full with the monsters on the loose. Cobb gets a call from her parents, and he tries to explain to them what’s going on, but tells them that she now has fifteen years of fear coursing through her. Skylar refuses to accept what is going on, referring to all of it as a dream. Cobb finally explains that Diemata is Skylar’s personal monster, who wants to feed off all of Skylar’s fears. Skylar is a fifth generation monster hunter, and finds that Diemata used to feed off of her grandfather and his fears. After he passed away, Diemata decided to feed off of Skylar instead. Her parents sealed Diemata away, which locked away Skylar’s fear for fifteen years. Cobb decides to arm the kids with all the weapons they’ll need to protect them from Diemata while he remains in the lab to fix the containment tank.
Diemata manages to capture Skylar’s parents by tricking them into believing she has kidnapped Skylar. Skylar and her friends try to make their way to the party, but are fearful of all that is going on in the woods. The monsters feed on their fears and chase them through the woods, but Skylar is able to face her fears and shoot one. She goes to look for her friends, and is able to find Sadie, but Henry is tormented by one of Diemata’s minions. Cobb arrives, and explains that Henry is paralyzed in fear, which happens when they face their monsters and lose. Skylar finally believes that these monsters are real, and the group sets off to the party. Meanwhile, Skylar’s parents are being held captive in Julie’s father’s old lab, and Diemata taunts them before telling them that she will scare them to death. Julie and Steve are less than impressed with Diemata’s antics, but when she threatens to torture Skylar in front of them, they react with fear. Diemata then goes to Myra’s house, and takes over her body to use as a way to get to Skylar.
Skylar joins Ryan on the stage, facing stage fright for the first time in her life
Skylar and Sadie arrive at the party, just in time, as Ryan is about to sing with the band, and he’s terrified. As she makes her way to the stage, her fears take over her, and she gets struck with stage fright. However, Ryan reassures her that he’s right there for her, and that she can do this, and she’s able to perform. Unfortunately, Myra shows up and kicks her off the stage, and Skylar rushes from the room. As Skylar looks around the room, she spies a picture of her mom and what she deduces to be her grandfather. Sadie alerts her that the mansion is crawling with monsters, and she needs to stay and defend her friends. Skylar, who has been filled with fear, finally decides to face her fears and fight Diemata, thanks to Sadie’s pep talk. Cobb is able to revive Henry, but Henry is so embarrassed by the situation that he gives up, believing that he is no help to Sadie and Skylar. Cobb convinces Henry not to give up, and Henry works with Cobb to fix the lab.
Sadie and Skylar battle the monsters of the mansion, and are successful at capturing one. They call Cobb for more supplies, and Henry decides to screw up his courage and bring them over to the mansion. Diemata decides to leave Myra’s body, and heads to the ballroom to feed on the party guests’ fears. Henry makes his way to the party, and is confronted once again my Diemata’s scarecrow minion, who is Henry’s personal monster. Henry confronts his monster, and finally overcomes his fears, effectively defeating the monster. The party guests are attacked by the monsters, and flee in fear, with Skylar and Sadie working hard to try and capture the monsters. Sadie and Skylar are soon confronted by Diemata and her other minion, who happens to be Sadie’s personal monster. Sadie has a hard time standing up to her monster, but Skylar has a plan, and enlists the band’s help. Unfortunately, Diemata possesses Ryan, thwarting her plan. She makes him say that she’s the worst singer on earth and tries to embarrass her, but she decides to sing anyway, facing her stage fright. Realizing that Ryan is possessed, she calls out for Ryan to stand up to Diemata. He does by asking Skylar out, and when Skylar accepts, Diemata is sent out of Ryan. Sadie then is able to face her monster, and is no longer scared.
The party is moved to the graveyard, with Skylar and Ryan facing their fears
Ryan and Skylar perform together with the rest of the band, moving the party to the graveyard, with the monsters no longer terrorizing the party. After the song, however, Diemata reappears, and reminds her that she needs to find her parents. Skylar rushes back to the mansion with Henry and Sadie, and finds her parents dangling from the roof. Steve tries to get her to run, and Julie tells Skylar to not be afraid. The entire party watches the showdown between Skylar and Diemata. Skylar then offers herself in exchange for her parents. Although her parents try to dissuade her, Skylar makes the deal with Diemata, but grabs a blaster from Sadie. However, her parents fall, and Skylar runs to save her. Diemata feeds on Skylar’s fear of losing her parents, and grows in size. Skylar soon realizes that Diemata’s actually feeding on Steve and Julie’s fear, and runs to get some rope from the lab.
Skylar heads back to the roof to save her parents while Sadie and Henry distract Diemata. Together, they work to seal Diemata, and Steve and Julie face their fears, believing that their daughter can save them. Diemata is soon vanquished and sealed away, and all of Skylar’s fears are sealed away. Skylar then sings with Ryan’s band, and Myra becomes Skylar’s friend. Sadie is able to face her fears of public speaking. Henry is able to face his bullies at school. The movie ends with Diemata breaking the glass of the container in the lab, and laughing.
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