"You hear the screeching of an owl, you hear the wind begin to howl ..."
Fans of 1998's "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" know Skycycle's rock song "It's Terror Time Again" all too well. It brings back a flood of nostalgia for this straight-to-video movie where the threats facing those meddling kids and their dog aren't some bad guy in a mask.
Here's a quick recap about the plot ...
After spending time apart from Mystery Inc., Fred gathers the rest of the gang as he and Daphne prepare to find footage of "real monsters" for her show "Coast-to-Cost with Daphne Blake." They visit New Orleans with no luck until they meet Lena, a chef who works at a mansion on a haunted Moonscar Island, and her employer Simone. It turns out, the haunts are very real and the gang finds themselves mixed up with Cat God-fueled revenge and very real zombies.
Now that the summary is out of the way, it's time to revisit a childhood favorite and talk about why this movie is simply one of the best Scooby-Doo movies.
People are familiar with the usual Scooby-Doo formula that's been on TV screens since 1969: an antagonist in a costume terrorizes these teenagers only to be unmasked in the end. Fred is the leader with a plan, Daphne is the damsel in distress, Velma is the smarty-pants who loses her glasses every episode and Shaggy and Scooby are the hungry scaredy-cats. But "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" throws a curveball to long-time fans.
Daphne isn't so helpless, Fred never has a master trap to catch the monsters and Velma keeps her glasses (although she does lose her lens cloth). Shaggy and Scooby mostly remain the same until the end when their perfect timing helps fight off the villains instead of running away the entire time.
It's laughable how often they make fun of their adventures and how things got old with the same creepy villains in the same creepy get-ups. They're parodying themselves in the first half of the movie – and they're doing a great job. The franchise is also known for being silly, but this plot is very dark.
The seemingly innocent characters behind the chaos actually have a very dark rise to their murderous ways. They were originally settlers looking for a peaceful life, but pirates invaded their land and drove the rest of their village into a bayou where they became alligator snacks.
To further turn the series on a dime, the zombies that vary from Confederate soldiers to pirates and tourists are actually red herrings as the "good guys" who are trying to help. And the real villains are cursed people who turn into cat monsters and drain life from their victims in exchange for immortality.
Even though some of the original voice actors like Casey Kasem (Shaggy) aren't brought onto this project, the cast does justice to memorable characters that people are attached to. Writers Glenn Leopold (writer for "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest" and "The Smurfs") and Davis Doi (producer for "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest" and "Dexter's Laboratory") also do a wonderful job delivering a story that pays homage to its original roots while bringing something new.
Arguably, "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" walked so its other movies in the franchise could run. The darker film ushered in an equally mature movie with 1999's "Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost," followed by more light-hearted yet fantastic films "Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders" in 2000 and "Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase" in 2001.
What do you think of these points? Do you agree? Which Scooby-Doo movie is your favorite?
Connect with Samantha Incorvaia on Twitter at @_SamI520.
