Scoubidou et le Fantôme de la sorcière

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 have been a really big fan off scooby doo for as long as I can remember I literally grew up watching episodes of the gang exploring ghost and ghouls and I loved every minute of every episode. I soon discovered the films and got them all on tape and to this day I still watch them all the time even as I've grown they haven't got any less enjoyable. Scooby Doo & The Witch's Ghost is some really good fun and an enjoyable film for all ages the story is interesting and like most of the films has a surprising ending it's always someone you don't suspect! Scooby Doo & The Witch's Ghost is funny and has all the loving gang in it the music is also good the soundtrack being unique. I would recommend this film to anyone and especially to a scooby doo fan! Really is some enjoyable harmless fun.

When Mystery Inc. Consisting of Fred (Frank Welker), Dalphne (Mary Kay Berman), Velma (B. J. Ward), Shaggy (Scott Innes) and talking dog Scooby-Doo (Scott Innes) look into a case at a museum, they're assisted in wrapping up the caper with help from horror novelist Ben Ravencroft (Tim Curry). As Mystery Inc. And Ravencroft strike up a friendship, Ravencroft invites the team to his hometown of Oakhaven, Massachusetts where much to Ravencroft's surprise the town has been turned into a tourist hotspot centered around the alleged ghost of Ravencroft's ancestor Sarah Ravencroft (Tress MacNeille) who in history was recorded as a witch but Ben claims was actually a Wiccan healer. As Ben tells the gang of his hope to find Sarah Ravencroft's journal in the hopes of dispelling the notions she was a witch, Mystery Inc. Investigate the alleged ghost haunting Oakhaven.

Following the unexpected success of Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, Warner Bros. Was eager to get a sequel. As Zombie Island had been a one off experiment, the creative team were largely left on their own as the series had been dormant for quite some time. With the massive success of Zombie Island Warner Bros. Scaled back creative freedom for the sequel with executive mandates to dial back the tone which executives felt went "too dark" in Zombie Island. Warner Bros. Hired screenwriters Rick Copp and David A. Goodman to produce their own draft for Witch's ghost which pretty much went through the standard Scooby-Doo formula but Glenn Leopold of Zombie Island was allowed to re-write the last third of the film to make some level of adjustment and tonal continuity between films. Despite the troubled production, Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost is good even if it doesn't reach the level of Zombie Island.

Like the previous film, Mystery Inc. Is still their same lovable selves with intrepid leader Fred, brains Velma, and lovable cowards Shaggy and Scooby. Daphne is unfortunately a little scaled back in this incarnation as her curiosity and drive was used as a center piece for the plot in the previous film with her "Haunted America" show and her presence is rather diminished by comparison. Tim Curry is fun playing a Dean Koontz/Stephen King esque horror novelist who becomes an ally to the team and there's even some nice chemistry between him and Velma, but unfortunately by the third act his character takes a turn that largely discards much of that build-up in favor of recycling the climax of Zombie Island with considerably less stakes and menace than that film. Like the previous film, Witch's Ghost features some great music, particularly from the fictional band within the film, The Hex Girls who are basically Jen and the Holograms by way of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and are well voiced by Jennifer Hale, Jane Wiedlin, and Kimberly Brooks respectively. The plot of the movie definitely shows signs of the more micromanaged production is there's less of the self-effacing parody of the franchise formula this time around (though Fred has amusing moments regarding villains referring to Mystery Inc as "kids") and the atmosphere and intensity of certain scenes and moments has been dialed up comedically so there's much less menace. The villains in particular no longer have the depth and meance they had in Zombie Island and have been scaled back to more over-the-top "muwhahaha" type villains that have the depth of mud puddles but at least the voice actors do bring energy to them (even if the voice acting sounds overly similar to Mom from Futurama).

Witch's Ghost is a step down from Zombie Island, but not by much. There's still some fun things they do with the characters, Tim Curry is welcome in his supporting performance as Ravencroft, and the music remains great. Unfortunately the plot does show signs of "too many cooks" as the script feels more uneven, there's less of the self-satire from the first movie, and the third act feels massively shoehorned even by the standards of a franchise that has never had water tight logic. I still have an affinity for this entry, but I can't deny its flaws.

The second direct to video Scooby home movie is a pleasant surprise with elements of the old series resurfacing in an updated storyline. Scoob and the gang are in the thick of things as the video opens, solving another mystery, and meeting a new friend in the process. Mystery writer Ben Ravencroft, one of Velma's idols, meets the crew and invites them up to his old country home to see the fall colors. But when the gang gets there, they find the town being haunted by a creepy witch. The legends say the witch is the spirit of Sara Ravencroft, Ben's ancestor who he believes was actually a Wiccan -- a healer, misunderstood by those who persecuted her.

The classic Scooby-Doo episodes of the first two seasons had a mix of mystery, musical numbers and silly humor. Much of that mix was absent in the first video, Zombie Island. This video recaptures that formula nicely, with a couple of musical numbers performed by the "Hex Girls", who also figure into the plot. The story is well-done, with the ending not coming where you expect it. Voice talents are a strong point here, with Tim Curry as Ben Ravencroft, Tress McNeill (of Animaniacs fame) as the Witch, and Scott Innes returning as the voices of both Scooby and Shaggy.

Overall, a great family movie and a must for any serious Scooby fan... well worth the price of the video.

I honestly didn't care for this Scooby Movie. It felt dull compared to Zombie Island. The whole story was kind of thrown together in such an odd way. The whole movie felt rushed until the end where it was the longest scene. The ending was at least ten minutes of running around. But I got some laughs out of the movie. And the Hex Girls were awesome. Overall, it's watchable but not great.