The Horror Of...Halloween Night, Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem

Sitting down for some early morning nourishment. Have to head out on a trip. Perfect time for some Halloween Captain Crunch. I need to fill up on my...green.

Yeah, I know Scotty...

...but it's my cereal.

Anyway, with this I need something else curious. A more recent superhero take. A chance to ride with Batman...and his robowolf...

Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayhem.




Batman Unlimited is a series of Direct to DVD animated movies following the adventures of Batman and his allies as they take on some odd capers from various members of his Rogues Gallery.

It derives from a line of toys that came out (Ah, the cartoon-toy industrial complex.). But I have to say I think it does hold up better than many half hour toy commercials of my youth. It makes for a fun crazy Halloween adventure that taxes the heroes skills.

Oh, yes. It's a Halloween adventures. What better time for the monsters to come out?

You'll also notice these movies have an interesting Gotham City. Massive skyscrapers. High tech buildings everywhere. Clearly a futuristic world.

 It's a new look that reminds me some of Batman Beyond.

It's Halloween is here! And it's time for the kids to get out and get their treats. Even from Arkham Asylum.

So is this an Arkham Asylum, or Mina Tirith?

Solomon Grundy and Silver Banshee make a run for it.

Arriving in Gotham, Grundy is ecstatic. Halloween. Grundy love Halloween!

But some costumed partiers dressed as costumed heroes decide to pester them for being in the road.

Grundy doesn't care for that.

But at least the pair get a car to go joy riding in.

It doesn't take long for the police to notice and give chase. And you'll notice again so of the future tech. The cars race on the ground and then can also take off.

Nightwing is also in town and notices. Then Green Arrow pops up, saying he'd heard the pair had escaped from Arkham.

So the police gets knocked out, and then Nightwing and Green Arrow strike, almost catching the criminals. Then the two heroes get struck by some globs of goo.

It disorients the two of them, and they are taken out.

Scarecrow stands over them, and is pissed that Grundy and Banshee didn't follow the plan.

Batman arrives and checks on the two unconscious heroes. They soon realize all of these villains together isn't good news.

We also see that Cyborg is in town, working with a museum to find and present some ancient artifacts.

Then we see the offices of Gogo Shoto. He's a genius designer that works heavily in virtual reality, primarily games.

He's working late at night when he's attacked. Clayface has come looking for him. And after a chase, he catches him and then evades Batman.

The next day Commissoner Gordon comes to Cyborg for help. A robbery is stumping him, as nothing is clearly missing and security data is damaged. Silas Stone works out that a new super advanced AI had been completed there. And Victor/Cyborg fixes enough security information to reveal the thieves.

Scarecrow and Silver Banshee.

At a nearby Nuclear Reactor, Grundy is riding up in Pizza Delivery outfit.

He tries to fake it out, but the guards aren't buying it. So he goes with Plan B. Punch everyone.

Shortly, he's walking out with the needed tech.

Joker is waiting for him, annoyed that he's taking so long. But he still gives Grundy an ice cream.

Nightwing arrives, but Grundy keeps him busy as Joker runs. And then on the road, he notices robowolf is after him. Joker agrees with me that this is all kind of weird. But amusing.

But better yet. robowolf transforms!

And Batman rides him!

But then Grundy pops up and accidentally headbutts robowolf.

Back at the Batcave Batman and Red Robin try to work out what is going on. A VR genius. An advanced AI. Nuclear tech. To what end.

Off at his hideout, Joker is getting ready to make Gogo do his bidding.

At the big museum gala, everyone is getting together. Bruce says hi to Victor, and then collaborates with Oliver Queen and Dick Grayson.

But Joker shows up to steal ancient stone that had been uncovered. (And I do love this design of the Joker. It feels like it is borrowing from several interpretations, but becomes it own thing. Nice.)

To cover his theft and escape, Clayface has been in the room the whole time pretending to be a statue of a dinosaur. He suddenly comes to life and proves to be quite distracting.

Joker, and his gang, make an escape. But Cyborg jumps in to help catch them.

During the chase, Joker gets a message, and happily activates his Big Plan.

Suddenly, Gotham dies. Electricity wise, that is. Actually, all the tech dies.

All tech. Even the Batmobile.

Even Red Robin's ride.

Even Batman's tech animal menagerie. But then robowolf shows life. It's...laughing?

And then Cyborg loses control. He flies erratically, then crashes, and laughs uncontrollably.

Oh, my god. He's contracted the Teen Titans GO! virus!!! ...Boo Ya.

He's systems are being overwritten.

Joker has control of the city. No tech will be available unless he gives permission. If you'd like to earn access, you can.

For some TV or game playing time, send any sightings of heroes to the Joker. You can also earn tech time by ratting out your friends and family who want to stop Joker.

Also, Grundy is now the Sheriff of Gotham.

This is why we try to warn people about voting machine security.

Everybody is down, and Batman is trying to get the Batcave at least semi-functional. No tools or tech are available.

Oh, and it gets worse. Joker is bolstering his side with Batman's toys, and friend.

And, now, Joker is sitting back and counting down to his plan going global.

Batman is going to have to go old school for this one.

This is a fun light movie. You get a nice collection of villains going after Gotham, and you get a nice collection of heroes trying to unite against them.

If you need so light fun some morning this Halloween season, give this a try. The green Captain Crunch milk is optional.