Scooby-Doo Return to Zombie Island

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

Join Scooby-Doo, Shaggy and the Mystery Inc. gang as they win a vacation of a lifetime and attempt to put their mystery solving days behind them. As soon as they arrive to the tropical island, Velma, Daphne and Fred can’t help but notice how strangely familiar this island is, to a terrifying trip they once took decades ago. They soon find out paradise comes with a price when they encounter an army of zombies! Hop on board and travel with Scooby-Doo and the gang, as they unearth the mystery of Zombie Island in an original movie adventure!

former voice of Scooby, Scott Innes, I have no doubt that this will be a faithful long overdue sequel to Scooby Doo on Zombie Island. Where the newer Scooby tv shows fell short in recent years, the straight to DVD movies more than made up for. I’m looking forward to getting this in October and you can expect an edit on my review once I watch it-Clayt

Warning Spoilers! I know this is long but there is so much to talk about! Bear with me!

Overview: I thought that this was a bad downgrade for Scooby Doo films even in recent standards of the films. Not much thought was put into it, clearly as there is very little feeling of mystery and scariness. WB claim that this was a direct sequel that follows the events of the first movie that apparently happened, “long ago”. I did not like that they went back to staying teenagers, it just does not sit right.

Opening: I thought the intro to the film was great, probably the best part of the whole film. The instrumental music playing with it was great and spooky and new. I liked when it came back later in the movie too, it felt like the movie’s theme song and that it was setting up dark themes to come. But it definitely did not.

This movie makes no sense, is the resort tropical and for other people to stay at, or did Alan just take over the whole island to shoot this movie? Because there was no one else besides the crew and the culprits that we see on the island. We never actually get to know what happened to the island after the gang left it, because Alan seems to have found it recently, and according to WB the they went to Moonscar Island “long ago”, so there is some unaccounted time that that new black maybe cat creature could have inhabited the island looking for the cat pedestal and simone’s necklace.

Continuity: There are real issues with this subject in this film. When we first see the gang in the beginning, we find out events from curse of the 13th ghosts are apparent in this film. But if you have never seen that film one would question why Fred would sell the mystery machine and why some nosy sheriff does not want the gang to solve mysteries anymore. Not sure why WB would connect these two movies, even though the gang does not even reference any other event from 13 ghosts other than the van. It is just weird in my opinion. AS the film moves forward, there’s barely any continuity from the first film of Zombie Island other than “Oh yeah I think we have been here before”. The characters have not developed from the first movie at all, which would have been nice to see. Yeah they remember events from before, but having that whole sequence of reanimated flashbacks of velma telling everyone the whole first movie in less than a minute was quite repetitive and unnecessary. It was nice to see the characters like Lena and Simone, but the flashbacks could have been done so much better. Like they could have been more spread out and used to help solve their mystery and grow from their experiences. Another problem I have with the issue of continuity is the fact that Velma says that Alan was trying to hide that the gang has checked in to the Mansion before by ripping out guest book pages that they apparently signed. Which makes no sense because they never signed in to Someone’s house. Like what. It would have been more interesting if the pages were torn out because cat creatures harvested the people who signed in and they were trying to cover it up.

How they return to the Island: You think this part would have been better considering the title of this film. But random Elvira shows up I guess to make the movie seem spookier than it is and adhere to older audiences. Then one minute they randomly win a vacation that Shaggy may have entered, we are not sure, and then all of a sudden their on the ferryboat? How did they get their without the mystery machine? Do they know they are going to Louisiana? It makes no sense. I think it would have been more clever for real cat people to draw new people into their trap by having them win a vacation, rather than some director luring them in to make some movies.-Also would have been better if the video Fred took that fell in quicksand resurfaced and that’s how Alan knew their story, not some crazed Velma blog.

The Ferryboat: The ferryboat is important because its the vessel that transports living beings to be subject to the cat creatures immortality. It was weird seeing the gang just appear on the boat, and not even recognize it. They went on it twice, coming and leaving. It was nice to see the boat wear down a bit in appearance to show that time has truly passed by. But that also raises the question of who has been really taking care of the boat? Did the bad ferryman we see stumble upon the boat and island and also the two he was working with? The worst part is at the end of the film Alan lights the whole boat on fire! It is insane! And so unnecessary, and really is a slap in the face to the first film.

Songs: The two main songs were way too light and cheery for a sequel to zombie island.

Velma: I did not like her character in Curse of 13th Ghost, but her character in this film is far worse, and that is saying a lot. She has an odd fixation throughout the film about debunking the supernatural. I know she is a skeptic, but she is the one who solved the mystery the first time around, and explains to shaggy that their spirits had been avenged so they can finally rest. I feel like a couple of times in the films Velma knows what happened the first time around, but oddly wants to deny it. I can understand why she would think that in Curse of the 13th ghost because she was not with Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby, but this time she was there and saw the cat creatures crumble and the zombie souls fly away. I am not a fan of Kate who voices her, I feel like she does not capture Velma’s true character like any of her previous voice actors did.

Fred and Daphne: We all know that a big part of the first film was Fred and Daphne’s connection. The splitting off together after the gang split, the jealousies and slight bickering, to the sweet ending of watching the sun hit the water on the docks. This theming lightly is tied in to the new film. You would think after that whole adventure, and even curse of 13th, they would have more development in their characters and relationship but it just felt kind of forced. Yes when they got spooked when the white van had claw marks Daphne clinged to Fred, and when the black cat tried to Kill Alan by dropping the chandelier on him Fred put his arm around Daphne alone to protect her which was sweet. It was weird when Fred got jealous because this middle aged looking actor playing Jacques was hitting on young teenaged Daphne. I get they were hinting at the jealousies from the first movie but I thought it would have been better with that stunt double seaver. Also when Fred goes after the Monster truck Mystery Machine in the fire Daphne is the only one to really care about Fred being surrounded by flames. The I guess sweetest part for these two would be after Fred jumped over the mansion in the new mystery machine, Daphne hugged him and was happy for him. I wish they talked more of a relationship or development of their connection, because there is obviously chemistry there that is never really fleshed out. Shame.

Shaggy and Scooby: They are pretty much the same in this movie, although I wish there was more of Scooby in this film to help solve the mystery. I do not remember them splitting up at all, or even haggling scooby snacks for scooby and shaggy. I missed that. The only scooby snacks were used for fake gold which was dumb. There weren’t even hot peppers! Is there still a pepper plantation on the island? Who knows! I am surprised that they did not look for the peppers as soon as they knew they were back on the island. Missed potential right there.

Supporting characters: These characters were the weakest side characters of any scooby movie I have seen. Barely any personality in most cases, and do not provide much depth at all. Bo, Jacques, Lena and Simone were great supporting characters that made the story so interesting and their characters were memorable. But Alan was the worst part of this film. I hated how he just paraded around in Simone’s special necklace that probably has great importance for the cat curse that I wish could have been explained better rather than telling us that it can lead to the treasure. I also really did not like that Alan just “found” her necklace. I feel like it should have been more of a wow factor as to who found the necklace, and perhaps was searching for it. I thought from the trailer that he was the cat creature, which would have made sense because he lured them to the island and lit the ferry boat on fire to stop them from leaving, because that’s the only way off the island and if he was a cat creature he would have no reason to leave the island so why not burn the only way off it. But alas, his character ends up with moonscar’s lost treasure which was thought to have been owned by simone but I guess not. He was not even looking for the gold but just runs away with it, and the gang couldn’t care less, which is kinda sad. Seaver the stunt double has no personality and provides no depth to the story. Also why is Fred the only one to get a stunt double? His character was so unnecessary, and I guess they were trying to parallel him to Bo but you cannot compare the two. But wait…
Where is Bo??? Why wasn’t there an actor for him? Did Velma not write about him in her blog? She must have because she seemed to like him at the end of the film! There were no flashbacks of him, talk of him, and he was the only secondary character that survived with the gang at the end of the movie, he should have made an appearance! He should have arrested the culprits not the sheriff who most likely did not even have jurisdiction on Moonscar Island anyways

Culprits: The only reason I was surprised by who the culprits were was because their characters were so forgettable I plum forgot all about them until that unmasking, which I have to say was disappointing to watch an unmasking. Like I get they wanted the treasure, but we barely even see themselves outside the cat costume until the end which is strange.

Treasure: I liked how they incorporated the idea of Moonscar’s treasure in this sequel, it was the only real trace of continuity in this film. But it was done poorly. The theme of the treasure was not even brought up until later in the film, which was sad if that was a big motivation for the cat culprits. Finding that very old treasure should have been a bigger deal, and still should not have gone with Alan!

Easter eggs: There is a reluctant Werewolf Easter egg on Velma’s blog in the unsolved caper section. It was nice to see a callback to an older movie that is well liked. Shaggy also says that the actor zombie are witches when the appear to melt. At first I thought this was a reference to the wizard of oz, but I think it is more likely a reference to witch’s ghost, which could indicate a possible sequence for that movie. Lastly, Shaggy hints at a sequel or perhaps a trilogy which could mean that zombie island would have a three part story. I mean why else would he say trilogy at the very end of the movie, he could have just said sequel but he also said trilogy. I would like this idea if they had a well though mystery and characters in this sequel, but they sure set up a possible third film.

Loose ends: They must really think that this sequel would do well to have a third with all the loose ends this movie has. The black cat creature is the biggest mystery, because only scooby and shaggy see it and he is never unmasked. We do not know who he is, how he got there, if he has drained anyone, nada. This is the same cat creature that tried to kill the gang multiple times. Thrashing the tree and the van, dropping a chandelier, and starting a fire. Not sure why he wants to kill them, I really want that black cat explained, and why it is black and not the same color fur as simone and friends. It also makes no sense as to why the movie ends with the gang still on the island. There is no way for them to get off it because the ferry burnt down. Also Alan could not have run off very far either because he cannot get anywhere. The characters themselves are loose ends too because they still need more development.

Hopes for a Trilogy: I almost feel like they need a third movie to redeem themselves. They certainly have it all set up for a third one, but if they were to do it it would have to be very good. They would need better music, a creepier vibe, and better animation. Not to mention more creativity and care from the writers and everyone working on the film. We would need Bo back for sure, Velma to do a 180 and go back to being just a bit skeptical and witty, than paranoid and annoying. More character development for sure, and more development for Fred and Daphne’s connection. I would also want an explanation of the black cat creature, and a better understanding of the cat god and its followers. I feel like there is a bigger mystery there.

So much untapped potential in this movie! This could have been really good but not enough care or thought was put into this movie.

Save this franchise: I feel like it’s one bad scooby project after another. We are in the time period of before Zombie island was released when they needed to save scooby, and they did in 1998. Well it’s time for them to do it again with another groundbreaking movie to save this beloved franchise if they want scooby around for another 50 years. They have the tools. They just need a better team to make these movies!

-Michelle Tortorelli

DVD Wholesale Main Features :   

Actors: Various
Directors: Various
Format: NTSC
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)
Number of discs: 1
Rated: NR-Not Rated
Studio: WarnerBrothers
DVD Release Date: October 1, 2019
Run Time: 72 minutes
ASIN: B07TKNG4VY