HALLOWEENTOWN, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Every day this month, resident horror movie enthusiast and 828newsNOW staff reporter Pruett Norris is recommending a Halloween film for your macabre amusement.
Whether they be monster movies or fearsome family films, demonic possessions or slasher sensations, this exercise hopes to encourage spooky seasonal “scream”ings at home or in cinemas.
As the old saying goes, “trick or treat, trick or treat, give me something good to…watch.”
Day 5: SCOOBY-DOO! AND THE WITCH’S GHOST (1999, 70 min., directed by Jim Stenstrum)
At the turn of the millennium, one of America’s oldest, most enduring cultural icons decided it was time for a renewal. This baptism of change would fundamentally alter the legendary characters forever, but a quarter century on, undoubtedly for the better.
I’m talking, of course, about “Scooby-Doo,” the classic cartoon series about a group of mystery solving teens and their talking dog.
In the late 90s and early Aughts, a reinvention of the franchise occurred with the release of four direct-to-video films:
- Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)
- Scooby-Doo! and the Witch’s Ghost (1999)
- Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders (2000)
- Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase (2001)
All four films are fascinating. They range in quality from amusing to fantastic and are an indelible artifact of the power of home video just 25 years ago. In fact, they created a trend that endures today for Scooby and the gang, 38 animated direct-to-video films on.
However, the biggest change they made to “Scooby” canon was an alteration of the threats the Mystery Gang faced. It’s a fact of popular culture that Shaggy, Fred, Velma and Daphne are “meddling kids” who stop costumed villains from “getting away with it, too.” The four films in the early era of “Scooby” movies made the monsters real.
While “Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island” is probably the most beloved of the quartet, and the film that legitimately terrified me as a child to the point where my parents hid the VHS from me, it’s not my favorite. That distinction belongs to the only one of the four, oddly, with an exclamation point in its title, as though calling out for special attention.
”Scooby-Doo! and the Witch’s Ghost” is wonderful. It is the perfect Halloween evening choice at a brisk 70 minutes. The film is set in an indelibly autumnal New England, introduced goth icons The Hex Girls to the “Scooby” universe and features “Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “IT” star Tim Curry as the descendant of a colonial witch.
The film is funny and well animated. The voice acting is spot on. The soundtrack is filled with bangers. Though a cultural artifact of a different millennium, “Scooby-Doo! and the Witch’s Ghost” is one I have watched a million times and am still not tired of it.
Give it a shot, you meddling kids.
Scooby-Doo! and the Witch’s Ghost is available to stream on Max.
Looking for more October movie recommendations? Read the rest of the 828boosNOW archive:
DAY 1: BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE