Scooby-Doo e o Fantasma da Bruxa

Scooby and the gang are back, and this time, they come to Oakhaven at the invitation of horror writer Ben Ravencroft. However, the place has become a tourist trap due to the new puritan village, and the sightings of the ghost of a witch named Sarah Ravencroft. This begins a new mystery, but things are not what they seem.

This is a good animated movie. Like its predecessor, Scooby-Doo On Zombie Island, the film has a good mix of horror and comedy. The movie also introduces memorable characters like the Hex Girls (who would re-appear in a future DTV movie, as well as an episode of What's New, Scooby-Doo?), and the twist near the end is something I would never expect from Scooby. This is one worth watching.

Whilst investigating a haunted museum the gang meet horror writer Ben Ravencroft and get invited back to his hometown. When they get to Oakhaven they find the tourist season at full flow – attracted by tales of the ghost of Ben's ancestor who was burnt as a witch. The gang begin to try and unravel the town's mystery despite the many red herrings.

This update of Scooby Doo is much better than you'd expect it to be. The plot is just what you expect from Scooby Doo (witch haunting town – but is it real or is someone up to no good etc). However it does have a little added spice by having some modern twists – like the fact that Fred always wants to go off with Daphne when they split, or Fred being tired getting called a `kid', or Thelma's geeky status nicely kept.

The plot is good for the most, with plenty of red herrings to make it less than obvious as to who's behind everything. The animation is good – the gang are nearly identical to the original, with the exception maybe of Fred. However the feel of the film is quite like the dark mood of the Batman animated series. The only complaint is that you can that it is modern by the use of car chases, supernatural battles and Batman-type fights. However it is good to see the characters in a well animated adventure – even if some of the ghosts are more scary and less comedy that they are usually.

The voice work is good – except Fred doesn't sound quite like he should. Tim Curry is good but really you know that if he's going to do the voice then his character is going have some meat on it. The `ghost' is poor – all `thee' and `thou'. But in the most case the voices are fine.

Overall it is a modern telling so we really do have ghosts etc, but apart from this it's actually very enjoyable – the humour, the pop culture references etc all made it much better than I thought it would be, even if some of (The Hex Girls) doesn't work very well. Oh – and did we need to have the Scooby Doo theme song by Billy Ray Cyrus?

I started watching the original show when I first got the Cartoon Network, and as soon as I found out that they were making movies separate to the usual formula of fake villains, I just had to check 'em out.

Don't get me wrong; Zombie Island was cool too, but this one in particular is by far my favorite.

This has got to be one of the best of these movies simply because of the fact that the gang faces off against a conjured ghost... it also sheds some much-needed light on the differences between wiccans and witches.

Not only is the plot a draw, but the music was pretty cool too. The Hex Girls were pretty killer for an animated band.

All in all, I really enjoyed this movie. I even look for it every October.

9/10

In this follow up to "Zombie Island", Velma finally gets a shot at romance when she and the gang meet Ben Ravencroft, a horror author with a shady family history - was his great, great, great grandma a witch of a wiccan? Well, someone's terrorizing his home town - is it a genuine witch or are the towns people trying to pull a scam? Do those creepy Vampire Singer girls have anything to do with it? The usual gags and calamity ensue.

In addition to Velma's love story, another innocent observation is made about Fred & Daphne - namely that Fred is always pairing himself with Daphne when the gang splits up. Shaggy finally shows interest in women, which later becomes a big factor in "Alien Invaders". Shaggy also appears to be shorter here than he used to be; he was always the tallest of the bunch but now appears to be hunched over. Must be the new animation.

But this is really about Velma and her long ignored need for love and affection (hinted at when she got all giggly around the rugged detective gardener at the end of "Zombie Island"). Never before has Velma ever had this kind of treatment in an animated Scooby feature, and odds are she won't get it again. And backing her up is the usual gang and good animation. Probably not for little kids though.

I'm 21 and I admit, I watch Scooby Doo videos, ok? Good then. Well, I gotta say this is one of the better ones in the video series. The voices are awesome, including Tim Curry as Ben Ravencroft, who is a horror writer that the gang meet. He is going back to his hometown for the Autumn Fest, and he invites the gang along, Velma being one of his biggest fans. They learn about one of Ben's ancestors named Sarah Ravencroft who was marked a witch. Her ghost is supposedly haunting the city, and it makes for a very big festival near Halloween. The usual Scooby stuff happens here. Shaggy and Scooby are big chickens and try to stay away from the action, and they eat a ton of food at the local diner. For a cheap Scooby Doo movie released only on video, it has a really entertaining plot, and a surprise ending. You think it's all over and done with, and then you get an ending that you never expect. It's a good movie, and the voices are done really well.