Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom review: A baa-rilliant start to Halloween season

It's a great year for sheep in cinema. First, The Sheep Detectives executed on its wild premise to deliver a sweet, tear-jerking mystery. Now, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom gambols into theaters to give audiences young and old alike the perfect pre-Halloween treat.

Directed by Steve Cox and Matthew Walker, the third feature-length Shaun the Sheep film is a worthy continuation of Shaun's (voiced by Justin Fletcher) barnyard hijinks, brought to life with gorgeous craftsmanship and spooky flair courtesy of Aardman.

What's Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom about?

Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom kicks off in the lead-up to Halloween, when the denizens of Mossy Bottom Farm are buzzing for the big day. Shaun and his flock are hard at work growing their very special, very secret pumpkin patch, while the Farmer (John Sparkes) is building up the courage to ask the Vet (Sosanya) to the Halloween Hoedown.

This being a Shaun the Sheep film, neither Shaun's pumpkin patch nor the Farmer's hopes for a date go quite according to plan. To reveal more about the film's Rube Goldberg machine of ridiculousness — as well as its many literal Rube Goldberg machines — would spoil half its fun. For now, let's just say that Shaun's mad scientist attempt to create the perfect jack-o'-lantern leads to the disappearance of the Farmer, and the very coincidental appearance of a very hairy monster who wreaks havoc across Mossy Bottom. Can Shaun fix his mistakes in time for Halloween?

Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is a great horror primer for young audiences.

The Beast of Mossy Bottom recalls the plot of another Aardman classic: 2005's Academy Award-winning Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Like The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, The Beast of Mossy Bottom also follows animals trying to protect their owner from a grisly transformation. Also like The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, The Beast of Mossy Bottom serves as a solid introduction to horror for young audiences, one that's also full of knowing winks to older viewers.

The Beast of Mossy Bottom wears its horror influences on its sleeves. Its playful opening sequence cleverly using lighting — mostly in hues of red, green, and purple — and shadow play to transform Shaun, the Farmer, dog Bitzer (also voiced by Sparkes), and the rest of the farm animals into everything from zombies to vampires. Add in ketchup blood fake outs, a toilet paper mummy, and a Michael Jackson "Thriller" dance, and The Beast of Mossy Bottom makes it clear that this is horror by way of Shaun the Sheep. That means it's pure, wordless fun, without any particularly intense scares.

The horror nods keep coming throughout, with riffs on Psycho and an inspired "Cronen-burger" shop sign counting among the very best. But what's best is how naturally they fit into The Beast of Mossy Bottom. This isn't Aardman just spamming horror references left, right, and center. This is Aardman earnestly engaging with the genre, as they did with The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

That combination once again proves to be a match made in heaven. Look no further than Shaun going full Frankenstein — FrankenShaun? — throughout the movie. Shaun's usual talent for elaborate contraptions fits perfectly into his mad scientist turn here, and The Beast of Mossy Bottom is full of madcap inventions, all brought to captivating life through Aardman's stop-motion artistry.

Like FrankenShaun, Aardman creates something ridiculously fun that's just the right balance of silly and spooky. It's a perfect starter horror film, and a perfect way to celebrate the first chill of fall.

Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom comes to theaters Sept. 18.