Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island

I watched Zombie Island when I was young (maybe 7) and was so scared that I haven't watched it again until now. I knew what the basic outcome was and that it had a generally darker and more thoughtful tone, but I was still blown away by the thematic depth of the film, unparalleled in the Scooby Doo universe. The biggest theme that jumped out at me during the film due to the way it was highlighted in the ending explanation was colonialism (or violence against natives more generally). The natives are settled peacefully on an island, when pirates decide that they have to take the island by force. The head honcho renames the island after himself, of course, and the villagers who were kicked out call out to their cat gods for help. When the cat gods give them immortality so long as they take human lifeblood, the cycle of taking humans at the harvest moon begins. The inversion of history is extremely interesting as it creates ambiguity in who is good and evil in the situation - yes, the pirates attacked and destroyed what the settlers had built, but now the settlers are luring and killing humans every year while the zombie pirates try to keep the people alive. It does have plenty of classic horror/mystery elements, with hints at what is really going on on the island but lots of uncertainty, particularly given the expectations of Scooby Doo. It is just that blending of smart horror/mystery ideas with classic Scooby Doo elements that make Zombie Island an all-time great. Mysteries in general are at the very heart of the film - is there any real mystery or ghost in the world? I love the opening, as it's both great character work and hints at the way the film intends to explore mysteries later on. If you're new to the characters, their positions as they've separated tell you all you need to know about their tropes without being ham-fisted, and if you've been watching for a long time it's really cool to see the way their favorite elements of being in the gang manifest in their jobs. Scooby and Shaggy are simply going from job to job, eating whatever they can, but with Fred, Daphne, and Velma, each has a role distinct with their personality but both Daphne and Fred's show and Velma's bookstore remark upon commercialization. Yes, they loved mystery solving for what it was, but eventually they moved on and used it as a means to make money. Velma loves books, of course, but in our short snippet at her store we also see the way she has a meticulously curated and organized collection but little traffic. Daphne has a bit of a character revamp in this film to be more assertive, which is surprising but works well. We even see her driving the Mystery Machine! She still loves being the center of attention, and she is the member of the gang most determined to find a real, spiritual mystery. Fred is still his macho, do-it-all self, but does cede some leadership to Daphne. There's a nice nod when Fred considers putting on his ascot but decides against it, and just before then when Shaggy opens his suitcase of identical green shirts and tells Scooby he needs to dress for dinner, I thought that was absolutely hilarious. On the mystery side of things, the gang finally finds a real mystery (despite all of Velma and Fred's guesses at the logical explanations that could exist, which were both funny and subtle ways to emphasize just how many masked mysteries they've solved) but don't have proof. My only question is why voodoo dolls of the cat women were made. All in all, a fantastically well made movie that stands right alongside Camp Scare as head and shoulders above all other Scooby Doo films. I'll watch Return to Zombie Island sometime soon, though my expectations are quite low based on everything I've heard.

This is a horror movie not a mystery. What makes Scooby-Doo stories true to the creators' original intent is that monsters, magic, etc are not real. There is supposed to be a MYSTERY to solve, which always includes a natural, not supernatural, explanation. This movie completely breaks away from that core aspect of what constitutes a genuine Scooby-Doo story. As soon as you make the supernatural "real", you no longer have Scooby Doo. Other stories where magic is real like Harry Potter etc are fine because it's foundational to the story and presented as such right from the beginning. But the basis of Scooby Doo teaches youth in an entertaining way to use their critical thinking skills to discover that things are not as they always seem and that there is a natural explanation for what at first appears to be supernatural. On top of all that this movie is WAY TOO SCARY for the age range of kids for which Scooby-Doo was created. This movie is completely undeserving of the Scooby-Doo name.

The gang is back, with better animation and a different wardrobe for Fred & Daphne. Like the live action film, the gang reunites after a few years apart, but not because of a clash of egos. Daphne is now a talk show host, Fred is her producer and personal camera man, Velma runs a mystery book store and Shaggy and Scooby work at an airport checking luggage. But they miss each other and reunite on Daphne's birthday to set out on a cross country journey looking for "real" ghosts, only to find more "nut jobs in Halloween costumes". Then they head to the Bayou where they crash at an old house run by a creepy woman. Something fishy is clearly going on, but who's behind it all? Is it the creepy old woman who owns the house, her daughter who has a thing for Fred, the rugged gardener who Daphne seems to have a thing for, the fisherman, the ferry man, or something much, much worse? Before you can say "Scooby snack!" the gang is up to their neck in trouble battling zombies and cat people! Will they survive? By far the best of the new Scooby Doo animated films on video, this one explores certain themes that kind of developed but were never explored in the old show - like is there something going on between Fred & Daphne, and what would the gang do with themselves if they were apart. It also explores what happens when the gang finally encounters the real deal and not a guy in a mask, so it's basically "Night of the Living Dead" with the Mystery Inc gang. Frank Welker, voice of Fred, is the only member of the original series on hand. Don Messick, voice of Scooby, died before this one was put into the works, and for some reason Casey Kasem wasn't available as Shaggy. Shaggy is voiced instead by Billy West (, Geek-er from "Geek-er", Fry from "Futurama") and he is a capable Shaggy. Scooby is voiced perfectly by Scott Innes. Daphne is voiced with girlish perkiness by the late Mary Kay Bergman (Really horrible what happened to her; I hope she's found peace in the next world) and BJ Ward (Scarlet from the GI Joe cartoons) is the geeky Velma. Cam Clarke, the voice of Leonardo from "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and the new voice of He-Man, plays the gardener, and Mark Hamill does another creepy vocal characterization. Don't miss Fred trying to yank the head off a zombie grumbling "It's the gardener... it's the fisherman... it's the ferryman!"

Tired of chasing old men in masks, Daphne and Fred go off to start a successful TV series, Velma opens a mystery bookstore and Scooby and Shaggy works as customs officers at an airport. However when Fred decides that the next episode of their show should be about real ghosts, the gang get back together to travel across the deep south. After many `men in masks' they arrive in New Orleans to be invited to a house haunted by a dead pirates and an island full of zombies. However the gang discover that everything is not quite as it's seems on the island. The nineties film version of the animated Scooby Doo are quite different from the original series. Instead of being cheesy, they are knowingly cheesy and contain a lot more jokes aimed at themselves for adults. While it is not quite as adult orientated as the Simpsons for example, it is still pretty amusing. Daphne and Fred both being slightly jealous of the other having opposite-sex interest is one example of this that worked quite well. Also the film's go harder for scares from their ghosts, I'm not saying it's scary but it has a lot more action than the series! The zombie have real menace and are not just comedy characters. The voice work is good considering it is not the original cast by and large. Mark Hamil is probably the biggest name on the list and does OK but all the cast do well – even if some of them are really doing impressions instead of performances! Overall this will please kids but will also be enjoyable for adults who do enjoy Scooby. The wit is a little more than just pratfalls and there are some nice self-depreciating touches that are funny. The zombies and all are quite effective and the film is enjoyable. Don't expect art – it does what it does and does it quite well.

I really liked this movie. It was nice to see the Scooby gang in a modern setting--a real shock to see them dressed in 90's fashion. I loved the new spin on the Daphne/Fred relationship. The sexual tension between those two has always been thick enough to cut with a knife! I am also glad that Scrappy did not appear in this movie, but I would have liked to learn what became of him. This movie is kind of spooky, so I would not recommend it for really small children. It might scare them. This is great for adult and teen fans of the Scooby Doo show. A+

Both "Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island" and its follow-up, "Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost", fail to recapture the feel of the various series. It's not that I like everything to remain stagnant and the same--after all, I actually like Scrappy, and my favorite Scooby-Doo series was the very different and daring "13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo". "Zombie Island" gives alternate careers and paths to the characters--the series "The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries" said Fred had become a mystery writer and Velma an apprentice rocket scientist. But here, Velma is a bookstore owner, and Fred the camera crew for reporter Daphne. I don't like the hints of romance between Daphne and Fred. Just because they're the two most physically beautiful people in the gang doesn't mean they automatically have to be paired up. Personally, I prefer Daphne/Shaggy, Velma/Fred, not Fred/Daphne, Velma/guest star, and Shaggy/nobody. I would also be happy if they went back to everybody being just friends--that way I could imagine what I want, and Fred/Daphne fans can imagine whatever they want, and nobody's heart gets broken.

With me being in my mid-teens, I feel a little bit silly watching the Scooby-Doo videos, but I have to admit, Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island was really the best out of all the franchise. Sure, it may be a little different, but when it comes to this one, I'm not kidding here. Its scariness does live up to the original show in my opinion. It is so creepy, you'll want to watch it again and again. Also, the ending just gives me the right to say "Surprise!" I'm definitely not going to tell you what it is though, 'cause it might get me kicked off of here. Anyway, if you like Scooby-Doo with just a touch of scariness, you'll love this. Oh, and I also recommend Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King if this is not enough.

I love Zombie Island very much, one of the best Scooby Doo movies easily along with Witch's Ghost. The animation was very good(one of the best-looking Scooby films), and so was the very 90s soundtrack, Terror Time's extremely catchy. The voice talents, while not as great as the ones in the two films I mentioned, are extremely good. The standouts are Billy West and Adrienne Barbeau.(with a great french-sounding accent), I also really liked Tara Charendoff as Lena, so much better than she was in the Little Mermaid sequel, where her character was very annoying. I also really liked the sophisticated and very atmospheric plot, which was refreshingly different also, about a pirate's ghost haunting a Louisianna plantation, the scenes with the zombies are genuinely unsettling(at times too much so perhaps). I never predicted the ending, I really didn't, no other ending in a Scooby Doo has been more creepy or had as much staying power. I especially loved the scenes with Scooby chasing the cats(the peppers gags were even funnier), they were funny and captures the spirit of classic Scooby very well. My only real criticism was that very young children will find it very frightening, as my sister did when she was 7, so much so she refused to see it for ages. All in all, a very good film, that is up there with Witch's Ghost, Alien Invaders and Goblin King. 9/10 Bethany Cox

The beauty of Scooby Doo is that there are no ghosts. In this story, ghosts, zombies and vampire-like creatures are real. Souls are sucked from people, who then inhabit the swap. At the end when the bad monsters die, the zombies crumble and their souls are released. Luckily I watch movies with my kid. I fast forwarded through the nasty parts (gory zombies, Fred and Daff ripping the head of a real body) expecting the usual ending, only to be faced with multiple victims who died and then crumbled to dust. Who would expect that from Scooby Doo???? To the viewer who said this was the best ever: I like character development, but not bait and switch.