Spoilers herein.
If this movie happens right after "Scooby Doo on Zombie Island", we have to
assume that Mystery Inc. has gotten back together, becoming the famed sleuths once again. The show opens up with the gain going after monsters in a famous museum, although they don't get the catch: Ben Ravencroft, a famous horror
writer, apparently snuck in and gets to catch the bad guys! The whole ordeal doesn't hit the gang until the masked men walk away saying they "would have
gotten away with it if it weren't for that meddling... writer!" Freddy does have to admit, he's glad that for once they aren't called kids (at this point, we have to assume by now the gang is in their 20's, possibly even 30's,).
Ben invites the gang to his hometown in Massachusets and tells them about his ancestor, Sarah Ravencroft, who was rumored to be a witch; he says she was a
wiccan and was wrongly persecuted.
Once arriving in town, they see that, supposedly, Sarah's spirit has been rising to haunt the village, bringing out tons of tourists! Naturally, Ben's not happy. He tells Velma about a journal that Sarah kept, and he's been searching for it so he can clear his family's name.
Scooby & Shaggy go about their usual business of eating everything in sight,
and come across an all-girl band named the Hex Girls (of course, not before
thinking they're witches). These girls play out the stereotypical goth band, down to the shredded clothes and prosthetic vampire teeth.
Somewhere in this time frame, the ghost appears and starts to attack, throwing fireballs at Shaggy & Scooby. It's pretty obvious to the audience this ghost is a fake, shouting stupid lines about her persecution and dressed in typical witch clothing: pointed hat, rope belt, you wonder why the guys behind this didn't add a broomstick!
For the sake of people who haven't seen this movie, I won't reveal who is behind the fake ghost (the whole thing gets a little complicated), but the mayor tells Ben he got the idea after accidentally digging up Sarah's grave! Ben's furious, but mostly upset that her journal wasn't there. Suddenly, Velma finds a clue (Jinkies ensue), and locates the journal. Of course, for those of us who have been
paying attention, it's no surprise that it's no journal: it's a book of spells, and Ben wants to bring back Sarah's spirit (since her blood runs in his veins, he has warlock powers). He starts destroying the village, and pulls Sarah's ghost out of the book, but she's not very grateful... things start to go crazy as Mystery Inc. rushes to defeat both Sarah's ghost and Ben before the whole world is
destroyed!
Though most Wiccans will be put off having their dogma thrown around like a
gag (and a lot of Christians won't be happy with how popular the Wiccan
stereotype is viewed), most of the movie isn't half bad. Tim Curry does an
impressive job as Ben. The most painful part, overall, is the Hex Girls music. Many a goth-fan or even those of us who understand goths know that they
would NEVER write lyrics like these. Guess Hanna-Barbara decided to dumb
down the lines so kids would understand.
Not bad, but I'll stick with the classics any day of the week.
If this movie happens right after "Scooby Doo on Zombie Island", we have to
assume that Mystery Inc. has gotten back together, becoming the famed sleuths once again. The show opens up with the gain going after monsters in a famous museum, although they don't get the catch: Ben Ravencroft, a famous horror
writer, apparently snuck in and gets to catch the bad guys! The whole ordeal doesn't hit the gang until the masked men walk away saying they "would have
gotten away with it if it weren't for that meddling... writer!" Freddy does have to admit, he's glad that for once they aren't called kids (at this point, we have to assume by now the gang is in their 20's, possibly even 30's,).
Ben invites the gang to his hometown in Massachusets and tells them about his ancestor, Sarah Ravencroft, who was rumored to be a witch; he says she was a
wiccan and was wrongly persecuted.
Once arriving in town, they see that, supposedly, Sarah's spirit has been rising to haunt the village, bringing out tons of tourists! Naturally, Ben's not happy. He tells Velma about a journal that Sarah kept, and he's been searching for it so he can clear his family's name.
Scooby & Shaggy go about their usual business of eating everything in sight,
and come across an all-girl band named the Hex Girls (of course, not before
thinking they're witches). These girls play out the stereotypical goth band, down to the shredded clothes and prosthetic vampire teeth.
Somewhere in this time frame, the ghost appears and starts to attack, throwing fireballs at Shaggy & Scooby. It's pretty obvious to the audience this ghost is a fake, shouting stupid lines about her persecution and dressed in typical witch clothing: pointed hat, rope belt, you wonder why the guys behind this didn't add a broomstick!
For the sake of people who haven't seen this movie, I won't reveal who is behind the fake ghost (the whole thing gets a little complicated), but the mayor tells Ben he got the idea after accidentally digging up Sarah's grave! Ben's furious, but mostly upset that her journal wasn't there. Suddenly, Velma finds a clue (Jinkies ensue), and locates the journal. Of course, for those of us who have been
paying attention, it's no surprise that it's no journal: it's a book of spells, and Ben wants to bring back Sarah's spirit (since her blood runs in his veins, he has warlock powers). He starts destroying the village, and pulls Sarah's ghost out of the book, but she's not very grateful... things start to go crazy as Mystery Inc. rushes to defeat both Sarah's ghost and Ben before the whole world is
destroyed!
Though most Wiccans will be put off having their dogma thrown around like a
gag (and a lot of Christians won't be happy with how popular the Wiccan
stereotype is viewed), most of the movie isn't half bad. Tim Curry does an
impressive job as Ben. The most painful part, overall, is the Hex Girls music. Many a goth-fan or even those of us who understand goths know that they
would NEVER write lyrics like these. Guess Hanna-Barbara decided to dumb
down the lines so kids would understand.
Not bad, but I'll stick with the classics any day of the week.