I just saw the new direct-to-video film Scooby Doo and the Curse of the 13th Ghost. It's essentially the long over due grand finale of the 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo (with Weird and Boggle quietly forgotten and Scrappy just name dropped and semi-forgotten).
Scooby Doo and the Curse of the 13th Ghost was okay but slightly annoying. Maurice LaMarche did a fantastic job imitating Vincent Price for the character of Vincent Van Ghoul and I even appreciated the appearance of the giant rubber duck but Velma's skepticism got annoying and fast. I thought it would be more like the 1990s Scooby Doo movies where the ghosts were real. But this one tried to have its cake and eat it too, attempting to appeal to fans of the version of Scooby where the ghosts are fake and the ones who liked the occult side of things by trying to imply it all MIGHT have been illusion. I didn't like that and it pretty much ruined the story for me.
Again, Vincent Van Ghoul was great. Even older Flim Flam was good but whoever decided to try to make the supernatural "maybe fake" spoilt it for me. I do love that Mortifer is modeled after Peter Lorre though.
Now that I've had time to think about it, it feels like the Scooby Doo and the Curse of the 13th ghost went under drastic rewriting to try to keep the supernatural ambiguous. I got the impression there was originally a brilliant and almost Faustian redemption story about Vincent Van Ghoul and the ghost of his ancestor apparently being the villain and turning out to just be seeking redemption and that was mostly erased for the annoying Velma the skeptic nonsense being drawn out and more obnoxious than ...I dare say it... Scrappy Doo.
Part of the charm of the 13 Ghosts of Scooby doo was it was one of the first on-going Scooby series were the supernatural was real. I liked that era of Scooby Doo, particularly the 90s direct to video movies, because once they accepted the supernatural was real there was still mystery but it wasn't as repetitive as the old masked suspect trope (something that actually got annoying to me as a kid). But it's like whoever is in charge of Scooby Doo right now can't let that phase of Scooby go and is fixated on downplaying the supernatural in places where it shouldn't be. Let Vincent Van ghoul and his world be truly magical. That was one of that show's best aspects and it should not be undone. This isn't the crossover episode with Supernatural.. If this is meant for fans of the 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo series we should have our magick!
Scooby Doo and the Curse of the 13th Ghost was okay but slightly annoying. Maurice LaMarche did a fantastic job imitating Vincent Price for the character of Vincent Van Ghoul and I even appreciated the appearance of the giant rubber duck but Velma's skepticism got annoying and fast. I thought it would be more like the 1990s Scooby Doo movies where the ghosts were real. But this one tried to have its cake and eat it too, attempting to appeal to fans of the version of Scooby where the ghosts are fake and the ones who liked the occult side of things by trying to imply it all MIGHT have been illusion. I didn't like that and it pretty much ruined the story for me.
Again, Vincent Van Ghoul was great. Even older Flim Flam was good but whoever decided to try to make the supernatural "maybe fake" spoilt it for me. I do love that Mortifer is modeled after Peter Lorre though.
Now that I've had time to think about it, it feels like the Scooby Doo and the Curse of the 13th ghost went under drastic rewriting to try to keep the supernatural ambiguous. I got the impression there was originally a brilliant and almost Faustian redemption story about Vincent Van Ghoul and the ghost of his ancestor apparently being the villain and turning out to just be seeking redemption and that was mostly erased for the annoying Velma the skeptic nonsense being drawn out and more obnoxious than ...I dare say it... Scrappy Doo.
Part of the charm of the 13 Ghosts of Scooby doo was it was one of the first on-going Scooby series were the supernatural was real. I liked that era of Scooby Doo, particularly the 90s direct to video movies, because once they accepted the supernatural was real there was still mystery but it wasn't as repetitive as the old masked suspect trope (something that actually got annoying to me as a kid). But it's like whoever is in charge of Scooby Doo right now can't let that phase of Scooby go and is fixated on downplaying the supernatural in places where it shouldn't be. Let Vincent Van ghoul and his world be truly magical. That was one of that show's best aspects and it should not be undone. This isn't the crossover episode with Supernatural.. If this is meant for fans of the 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo series we should have our magick!