Ruh-Roh Reviews is here to review all the full-length animated Scooby-Doo movies in chronological order (according to Wikipedia) from Scooby-Doo! Meets the Boo Brothers (1987) right through to the present!
It’s only been four years since the questionable Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights (1994) graced our screens, but the Scooby-Doo cinematic universe is about to be changed forever with the release of Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998). It’s unbelievable that the fifth Scooby-Doo film to ever be released turned out to be the best entry, and one of the best animated movies ever, but I’ve never lost faith in my favourite crime-solving dog.
While we’ve had a few films already which show monsters as real, Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island takes it to new heights, giving us a whole paranormal world to interact with. This entry is incredibly enjoyable and quite creepy for younger audiences.
Throwing aside Shaggy and Scooby’s previous adventures with ghosts, monster schools, and drag-racing Dracula, Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island focuses on how all of the gang’s previous escapades have involved criminals in masks. It even causes the gang to go their separate ways for a while, with everyone feeling unfulfilled with their career choice.
Sometime later, Daphne and Fred are working in television, and the pair come up with the idea to travel the country trying to find real ghosts and monsters. Because Fred knows it won’t be the same without the rest of the Scooby gang, he invites Shaggy, Scooby, and Velma along for the ride too.
However, things are the same as they ever were as all the gang comes across are criminals with impressive costume budgets who are intent on pretending to be paranormal. And while we get an amazing song out of this montage (The Ghost Is Here by Skycycle), it leads to Daphne being incredibly frustrated that they’re right back where they were, and she’s not getting the footage required for her TV show.
And that’s when they meet Lena in New Orleans, who says the island she works on is supposed to be haunted. With nothing to lose and the first good lead they’ve had in ages, the gang decide to follow Lena back to Moonscar Island and investigate what’s going on.
As well as Lena, Moonscar Island is home to plantation owner Simone, and a lot of cats. Simone says the island is haunted by famous pirate Morgan Moonscar and his crew, with them coming out at night and being the cause of many an island visitor’s disappearance.
And when the sun goes down, it does indeed seem the island is haunted. Carvings appear on the kitchen wall, a pirate ghost is caught on camera, and Velma is even levitated. But of course, everyone is sceptical. They’ve been in this situation before, and Daphne doesn’t want to get too excited before they know what is really going on.
And that’s when we get the big reveal of the movie. The creatures are real and they’re zombie pirates. Every night when the sun goes down, the zombies crawl out of the ground and demand that the Scooby gang leave the island.
But everything is not completely as it seems, and Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island decided they were going to go all out with the monsters and give us two. Because Morgan Moonscar, his gang, and his apparent victims aren’t the real bad guys. The actual villains of the piece are Lena and Simone, who are actually 200-year-old werecat energy vampires who need to absorb the life force of their victims to stay young and alive.
Morgan Moonscar rocked up on their island and killed most of the other inhabitants, and to get their revenge, Lena and Simone prayed to the cat god they worshipped. They were turned into werecats so they could murder the island’s infiltrators, but it has meant they’ve needed to continue luring victims to the island every year.
The gang are able to stop Lena and Simone from absorbing their life force, which not only sees the werecats defeated but also means the spirits of all the zombies are finally laid to rest, leaving Moonscar Island is no longer haunted.
This double reveal is quite possibly what makes Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island the best Scooby-Doo movie, and the use of real monsters is something that we’ll see in lots of the movies going forward because it allows things to get a little bit spookier. I also love the fact we have monsters who aren’t bad guys, and even though they are scary, they’re simply trying to save the Scooby gang from suffering the same fate.
The animation style and rise in quality in the four years since the last film are also outstanding, and the darker colour palette lends itself well to the darker subject matter in the film. The addition of original songs is also fantastic and makes the movie all the more memorable.
I also love the deeper dive we get into the Scooby gang themselves, with Daphne, Velma, and Fred all given more to do than we’re used to in the average episode. We can see how strong a group of friends they are, and how much being apart affects them all in different ways. Shaggy, Scooby, and Velma all seem to have scored their dream jobs, but without the Scooby gang around them, they’re unfulfilled. Scooby even cries! It’s clear these guys love each other.
The monster design in this movie is fantastic, and just that little bit scarier than we’re used to from Scooby-Doo villains. The zombies themselves are very gross, with heads that come loose and skin hanging from skulls. However, the werecats are also brilliant, and it’s even better as a surprise second reveal. There’s skin ripping to expose hair, eyes turning yellow, and fangs protruding before we get the full reveal of Lena and Simone in their true forms.
It’s also quite dark for a Scooby-Doo movie that these creatures have been getting away with murdering folk for the past 200 years. Alongside Morgan’s pirate pals, we see zombie tourists complete with Bermuda shorts and cameras, who have been lured to their deaths by Lena.
As we follow the Scooby gang out of their teenage years and into adulthood, it makes sense that the stories would have a different tone, and as an eleven-year-old Scooby-Doo fan when this movie came out, it was something I was incredibly excited about.
The Scooby-Doo movies up until this point had been a bit questionable, but Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island brought in a new era of Scooby cinema. Turning to real monsters meant that the world of Scooby-Doo could be significantly expanded, and would never become boring and predictable. It also marks the start of Scooby starting to talk a little more clearly, so he’s more of an active character in the story, which is fab as well.
Overall, I don’t think anyone has a bad thing to say about Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. It’s the perfect gateway horror that’s still enjoyable as an adult horror fan. I’m also obsessed with the fact the werecats feel like they’re straight out of Stephen King’s Sleepwalkers (1992).
Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island is less about the comedy and slapstick angle that the other movies have leaned into and definitely feels completely at home in the horror genre.
REVIEW SCORE – 5/5
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