Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998) is a fantastic and mandatory Halloween watch for me, and it should be for you too! If you don't remember why it should be or haven't seen it, read this review!
*Side note...If you don't want this classic film to be ruined forever, I suggest you pretend like the Zombie Island sequel just doesn't exist. Look that synopsis up if you dare.*
First off, the story is interesting. The live-action movies, which came out a few years after this film, followed the same structure. The Mystery Crew has been disbanded for a while now, and our gang hasn't seen each other. Seeing Scooby and Shaggy sorrowful after the big crew's fight is disheartening, and they all part. It's exciting to see them all get back together for a mystery.
The setting is cool out on the bayou. This already makes a scary environment because anything could be lurking in the dark. In this film, a couple of things already are. A plethora of scenes are a knee-slapper. The cats have a personality and pick on Scooby, so he chases them around. The riverboat captain is funny as well as the bayou man (Mark Hamill). Also, Scooby and Shaggy are in a sort of heaven because of all the hot Louisiana peppers. They fill up on these fire veggies, and it's hilarious.
On a darker note, the flashback scene reveals all the tourists died a gruesome death by alligators. That's pretty daring for Scooby-Doo. It did set the stage for the movie though in a perfect way.
As always, the gang is great. Each character plays their part. As mentioned before, Shaggy and Scooby are entertaining. Velma does what she always does and tries to find out "the trick" behind the monsters. Dafney is not a helpless person anymore and tries to find out the mystery. Fred takes the lead as usual and starts to make Dafney jealous with the caretaker Lena.
I would be remiss not to the song. All of you nerdy fans know exactly what I am talking about. You can listen to it below. It's a great song accompanied by a great chase scene.
The cool part about this film is that it's real. The zombies, Voodoo Dolls and oh ya the cat monsters. That was a left turn that I didn't see coming the first.
Overall, it's an awesome movie! You should watch it again this October. My movie rating is A+.
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