Dracula needs a werewolf for his annual race and decides Shaggy is the perfect fit. With the help of a couple of bumbling idiots, Shaggy is turned into a reluctant werewolf. With the help of the infernal Scooby, Shaggy must win the race before he is stuck in Transylvania forever. The only problem is that Dracula has every intention of rigging the course to make sure Shaggy loses. This is a really entertaining movie. I thought I'd never seen it before, but it dawned on me while I was watching it that I have. It was a childhood favorite of mine and I forgot the title. This one is lacking Fred and the gang, but Shaggy and Scooby are up to the task in entertaining us like always. This is NOT to be taken seriously obviously. There are some really good gags and slapstick. One involves Shaggy's hiccup troubles in the midst of turning into a werewolf. Another involves food gags, such as "spiderweb spaghetti" Shaggy isn't a very convincing werewolf, which is the point, of course. It has so many classic monsters in it! Frankenstein, Dracula, Jeckyll & Hyde, Mummy and more. Hamilton Camp steals the show as Dracula! His hammy performance is filled with funny one- liners and I relished every moment he was on-screen. The only thing that bothered me was Scrappy's involvement. He annoys me to no-end. Shaggy's girlfriend was pretty cool, though. The ending is hilarious and leaves it open for a potential sequel. (Probably not, it has been many years since this movie came out) I can't forget the Hunchbunch, either! They were great. Scooby fans will love this movie! The gags can get a bit redundant, but most of them are funny. It's filled with creativity and fun. Take a trip back to your childhood and just enjoy yourself. 7.2/10
... View MoreOkay, okay ... first the good stuff. Some of the colors here are very cool, particularly the intense greens and blues in Dracula's castle. But that's not what Scooby-Doo is about, right? It's about corny jokes, frightened squeals and Ghostbuster-style monsters. And there's plenty of that here, if that's what you want. Many of the usual cast -- Fred, Velma and Daphne -- are Missing In Action, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.But for those of us who aren't huge fans of the cartoon, there's really not much appeal. The monster race takes up about 50% of the movie, simply Shaggy and Scooby driving along while Dracula continually thinks up new ways for him and his cronies to stop them. As soon as they get past each of the obstacles, they're straight in the lead again. And that's pretty much what this movie has to offer. Well ... I say 'movie' ... really it's just an extended cartoon episode. There's nothing here to suggest that it's a departure from that, aside from the running time. Don't get me wrong -- I don't mind Scooby in small doses, but ninety minutes of this was just about all I could take without my brain melting.Good for big fans, and maybe for kids, but not much appeal for anyone else.
... View MoreMany consider "Zombie Island" to be Scooby's big comeback. However, I disagree! While "Zombie Island" was the return of the original concept and the movie that made Scooby-Doo popular again. I think the "Reluctant Werewolf" is Scooby's real comeback!To begin with the concept is actually pretty interesting and good, the characters are pretty amusing, the movie is funny, and above all this is not only Scrappy's final appearance but Scrappy has such a small role that at times you forget he's even there! And when you do realize he's there he's actually doing something useful.Also the monster car race was pretty cool and way better then those of Hanna-Barbera's Wacky Races cartoon's from the `60s. I first saw this movie in 1991 at the Disney channel?! during the Halloween season. And on Saturday Night I had a chance to see it for a second time on Cartoon Network:)4(****)out of 4(****)stars
... View MoreYou know a Scooby-Doo feature is bad when Scrappy seems benign relative to everything else. Actually the little guy for once does a good job of refraining from irritatingly hogging the spotlight in this one, but unfortunately we just might have been better off if he had.The basic plot is that Dracula turns Shaggy into a werewolf and forces him to win an all-monster road race to have any chance of becoming human again. The race itself tries to cross the Wacky Races with the Coyote/Road Runner shorts but after the 527th failed effort to put Shaggy and Scooby out of the race and the 83rd time Dracula whines about things not going his way (with no end in sight), it gets just the tiniest bit tedious.This (in conjunction with the concurrent "Pup" series) was the point where the Scooby-Doo franchise hit absolute rock bottom, and the cowardly great dane and friends went into a long-overdue semi-retirement.
... View More