Paradox Talks: Scooby-Doo! on Zombie Island · 12:45am Oct 9th, 2015
I decided to review a few older movies from when I was just a kid, the scary ones. For Halloween, of course.
And up first is a 1998 film known as Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island.
First, a little backstory:
This film is the first in a long line of direct to home films, and unlike other Scooby-Doo related shows it dealt with real ghosts and the like.
We start with the title of the movie and . . . wait, where's the theme song? The most catchy theme song in the history of theme songs?
Okay then, guess we aren't doing that.
We have panning shots of an eerie castle, for some reason. . I thought this was supposed to be on an Island of zombies?
Then we see some sort of monster rip open a wooden door to reveal the Gang.
Fred, Velma and Daphne run in one direction, while Shaggy runs the other way. .. I guess Scooby followed Fred.
We get a good ole chase scene with the Scooby theme. Oh, there it is!
After the music ends we unmask the villain who turns out to be a real estate agent who was printing counterfeit money.
The scene fades to find Daphne on a talk show. We learn that she travels the US in search of mysteries.
However, the gang retired because they were getting bored
Daphne says that she does miss the gang, and Fred gets an idea. Daphne then tells us that she plans to travel the country looking for REAL ghosts and haunted houses.
. . . Be careful what you wish for.
Daphne wants to start with the state of Louisiana, stating that it has the best haunts.
Fred reveals that he got the gang back together for Daphne, who is overjoyed with it.
We then get a montage and a song about ghosts. However, each 'spook' ended up as busts.
Feeling defeated, the gang stop in a town for lunch, where they meet Lena Dupree.
Wait, Lena's voice. I know it from somewhere. .
So Tara, we meet again.
Lena explains to the group that if they want to see a real haunted house, her boss has one.
The group is a little off put, considering all of the busts before the got there. But Lena tells them that her boss's house is on an island called 'Moonscar Island'.
. . .
Let me guess, that's where the zombies are. .
Anyways, Velma does some research on the island and reveals that there has been a number of people gone missing on the island.
The group decide to investigate, and the y follow Lena to a ferry. We then meet the ferryman: Jacques. Voiced by Jim Cummings.
*researches Jim* . .
Man, this guy is EVERYWHERE!
We meet another man called "Snakebite Scruggs' who, along with his pet boar Mojo, is constantly fishing for a fish called 'Big Mona'.
The gang get to the island, where they follow Lena to a beautiful white house. There, a blonde haired woman known as Simone Lenoir, meets the gang and allows them to look around her home. There is also a man out front doing some gardening. Lena explains that he's the new gardener, Beau.
After stupidly eating peppers, Shaggy and Scooby find writing on the wall. The writing saying: "Get out"
Daphne decides to record the experience, during which a ghost writes 'Beware' underneath the previous message.
Fred then uses his camera's settings to adjust the picture until they see a ghost.
Simone explains the ghost is that of Morgan Moonscar, a pirate that came to the island nearly 200 years ago.
Velma returns to the kitchen to find that there's something behind the paint. Using a spatula, she uncovers a word 'Malestrom' which turns out to be the name of Moonscar's ship.
Meanwhile, Scooby and Shaggy have a picnic, which gets interrupted by some cats. Scooby chases them until he runs into Mojo and Snakebite. The latter telling the former to 'go get 'im, Mojo!"
Scooby and Shaggy flee from Mojo until the fall into a hole, where Moonscar's zombie appears.
Shaggy and Scoob find the others and bring them to the hole, but there's no Zombies.
They go back to Simone's house, where Simone offers them a place to stay for the night. After that, Lena shows the gang their rooms so they can get ready for dinner.
Shaggy starts getting ready for dinner while Scoob goofs off. Just then, a ghost from the civil war era appears in a mirror and tells the two to 'get out!'
They yell and run into Fred. Velma and Daphne appear. Velma inspects the mirror and gets her glasses dirty. She comments that her cleaning cloth is missing.
She then reveals to the group that the mirror had, in fact, belonged to the ghost.
Simone tells them that the island once had civil war barracks on it.
Lena serves dinner, and Scoob makes a mess of things. Simone tells Scoob to eat outside, but Lena has a better idea.
Our favorite duo find themselves eating crawdads in the Mystery Machine. Some cats show up and Shaggy drives deeper into the forest to lose them.
Finally, the island becomes filled with zombies, and the duo flee the mystery machine.
Velma, Fred, and Daphne hear the screams and they go to investigate, but not before running into Beau. Beau says he saw the duo, but no Zombies.
The group splits up and begin searching for Scooby and Shaggy. Fred and Daphne find the Mystery Machine and manage to knock down a zombie. Shaggy and Scooby then appear. Fred thinks that it's just a costume, but when the entire head comes off, the group realize it's real.
More zombies appear, Scoob and Shaggy run. Fred and Daphne also begin running, but they lose the camera in quicksand.
Then, we get my favorite song from this film.
ALL THE YES!
As the song ends, Shaggy and Scooby find themselves in a cave where three Voodoo dolls sit. Interestingly, they look like Fred, Daphne and Velma.
Shaggy and Scooby play with them, causing Fred, Daphne, and Velma to levitate. But they drop the dolls when some bats scare them.
Meanwhile, the group returns to the manor, where Lena had been screaming because Simone was dragged away through a secret passage.
The group, sans Shaggy and Scooby, enter the tunnel and travel until they find a door.
Velma opens the door, and the group wonders what the room they're in is.
Velma deducts that it's a shrine, but then points her finger at Lena, saying that she would know.
Now, hold on to your butts.
It's revealed that Simone and Lena were behind the disappearances. That 200 years previous, they were part of a group of settlers that devoted themselves to a cat god. Then Moonscar and his pirates arrive and drive everyone but Simone and Lena into the bayou, causing them to be eaten by crocodiles.
. . .
Wow, that's kinda depressing for a kids show.
Simone tells them that she begged the cat god to destroy the pirates, and both Simone and Lena were turned into Were-Cats that needed to suck the souls out of people to preserve their immortality. Velma then realizes that the Zombies were merely warning them to flee the island.
Meanwhile, Scoob and Shaggy run into Jacques, who is revealed to be a were-cat as well.
Simone tells the group that Jacques wanted immortality, and because they needed a ferryman, they gave him his wish.
Just before Simone and Lena could start their ritual, Scooby and Shaggy fall into the cave, knocking the were-cats away. Velma manages to free herself, and goes about freeing the rest of the group. The zombies show up and tackle the two cat creatures, causing them to let go of Shaggy and Scooby, who's souls were being sucked.
Velma turns and looks a the sundial, and reveals to Simone that her time was up.
Everything but the group, and Beau, turns to dust. Velma explaining that because they were avenged, the souls could rest in peace.
Our movie comes to a close as the group leaves on the ferry, Beau reveals himself to be an agent investigating the disappearances.
And that ends the movie.
So what do I think of it?
I loved it when I was four, and I love it now!
With a great balance of cartoony fun and a rather dark story tone for a kids show, I have to give this the only score I can:
5/5 stars.
I'll see you guys next week, when I review another Halloween movie:
HOUCUS POCUS!
Actually, now that I think about it, I should watch the Halloween town movies too. .
OMG this movie use to scare the heck out of me. ( i use to be scare of anything that was skeleton/undead related) and I don't think it help me ( when i was little) that these were "real" monsters
3454130 And how old were you when you first watched it? Cause I watched it when I was only 4.
3454172 like around five or six.
3454190 So, I guess that means I can understand how scared you were. . .
Either way. . . this movie is a good one.
3454197 yeah it is now that that i older and not scare of the undead any more