Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)

Scooby-Doo has often followed a trend or routine of visiting some inconsequential location, discovering a mystery, being chased by numerous monsters and then neatly solving it with the trademark quote, "meddling kids". Zombie Island, however, moves from that entirely.To begin with, having the gang split up before being reunited is a nice touch to reintroduce their individual characters for those of us who lost track during the show's long hiatus. The opening sequence and those following Daphne's new challenge to find a truly haunted location are wonderfully put together, and really bring out the meaning of what the show is all about. There may be a brief pause in between, but soon the story develops into something quite intriguing.Imagery of the island and inside the mansion are perfectly captured, and scenes involving Shaggy and Scooby wandering the forest were eerie and when the zombie began to rise from the ground, it became a breathtaking experience. It's no surprise that the movie was given a parental guidance certificate, because there were some truly horrific parts for kids to endure. The movie may lose a lot of momentum by the end, but the historical links bring a whole new light on the mystery, and having the monsters be real is a risky step, but a successful one nonetheless. Overall, it was masterfully created, with a straightforward screenplay and a simple concept that became something quite original and incredible.The only real problem I had was the nasty fisherman's involvement in the story, if only to move suspicion from any of the other characters. Definitely one of the best Scooby-Doo stories ever!

This is part of my in-depth reviews of all of the Direct-to-DVD Scooby-Doo movie instalments!When this movie was released in 1998 it was a breath of fresh air. It reinvented Scooby- Doo for the 90's in a brand new way. Zombie Island was the first of many Direct-to-DVD franchise instalments and in my opinion it is by far and away the best one made to date. The Animation is Done by an Asian studio company called "MOOK studios" and it looks absolutely fantastic, it's drawn with unbelievable shading and detail that adds to the heavy, dark tone which this movie has.The story of the movie is fairly simple but has many unique twists and turns. After being bored of just unmasking bad guys pretending to be ghosts the gang splits up and all go their different ways until Daphne (who has her own TV show now) decides to try and hunt for more supernatural haunts in Lousiana and catch it all on tape. Fred gets the rest of the gang together for the ride as they head to a supposedly haunted mansion on Moonscar Island owned by Simone and her housekeeper Lena. The mystery then truly begins.I won't give to much away about the story except that their have been many mysterious disappearances on the island and in the bayou's and the gang find the Zombies of the people who have "disappeared" and find out why they have "disappears". There is a huge twist at the end of the movie that is just perfect and also very dark for this Scooby world. I think it's the darkness and scariness that makes this movie the best out of them all; it still feels like a Scooby movie and has various comedic lines and moments but it just has a much more adult tone overall and seems like the main aim of the movie is to tell a solid story while giving kids (and some grown up) the spooks.The Voice cast is stellar as well. With Frank Welker returning as Fred. Mary Kay Bergman as Daphne. BJ Ward as Velma. Scott Innes as Scooby and the infamous Billy West as Shaggy (who i think does an excellent job personally). Mark Hamill and Jim Cummings also lend there voices to some less than friendly characters too.This is a must buy for all Scooby fans as it is the best instalment in the whole franchise since Scooby-Doo Where are you? In my opinion. No-one are who they seem throughout the whole story and it will keep every one guessing while the story unraveles in front of their eyes. It's just an all round excellent Scooby-Doo adventure which delivers excitement, laughs and various frights throughout and is yet to be upstaged. As good as Scooby gets 10/10

This was a great episode to honour the memory of the late Don Messick (1926-1997), who was the original voice for Scooby Doo--as the show's closing credits state. The original gang--Fred, Velma and Daphne are reunited again with Scooby and Shaggy but this time Daphne isn't the dangerprone 'dumb' blond from the classic 1976-1978 'The Scooby-Doo Show' TV show.Instead, she's Daphne Blake a smart media savvy star whose hunting for a real ghost with her show's partner Fred 'Jones'. She's tired of finding people pretending to be real ghosts wearing ghost masks and Fred decides to round up the gang including Velma Dinkley, Scooby and Shaggy to go into Bayou country where they finally stumble into a haunted house on Moonscar Island--where there have been reports of a number of disappearances of people in the past--and nearly perish themselves. The episode's writing was top notch as was the animation. The episode isn't your usual Scooby Doo "whose hiding behind the ghost costume" because the villains are real ghosts. And the zombies are actually the victims here. What a head turner! Two other top notch Scooby Doo movies are Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost and Scooby Doo! Camp Scare.

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.