Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost (1999)

Undescribable Perfection

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

One of the greatest scooby doo movies. Whilst a bit confusing at times this is a a classic for all of them

I'm not sure if "Scooby-Doo On Zombie Island" was supposed to create a new Scooby-Doo continuity with the many films being direct sequels. "Zombie Island" isn't alluded to at all here. What matters is that the animation in this film is great. It does seem to be on par with "Zombie Island" which was gorgeous. This was around the time 2D theatrically released films were declining. While these movies aren't as good as the animated DC films, they're still quite good. When you have a film this short, pacing is very important and that was done quite well here.This movie does in fact feature an actual hoax but the way it builds itself after this reveal is quite interesting. While not as dark as the previous entry, it does get adult. It's funny how we get so much more serious and realistic stuff with the characters that aren't Scooby or Shaggy. It seems like all the comedy is focused on them and that works out just fine. I may not be the biggest Scooby-Doo fan, but these movies are enjoyable. Many people don't realize how many of them there are! ***

This is very good. The animation is great, so beautifully done the backgrounds were,the story is neatly-set up, and this is the movie with the best voice talent. The only criticism with the movie is the song "wind, earth, fire and air" as the lyrics are rather uninspired. Tim Curry does a fantastic job in one of his most entertaining voice overs, especially when Ben is revealed evil, and Curry is allowed to show off his impeccable villainous side. The ending is quite good, and the Hex Girls are great. The ghost is 400 years old, so the language is obviously going to be different, comprehend. This is one of the best Scooby Doo movies, better than What's New Scooby Doo? anyway. Watch out for Goblin King and Zombie Island too. In case you haven't noticed, most of my reviews are positive, because I want to be encouraging about the films I've seen, and evaluate the problems also. 9/10. Bethany Cox

How wonderful the advent of DVD so that we can all enjoy our favorite movies and television shows over and over at our own leisure - and commercial free to boot! For me, Scooby Doo is one that I'll always enjoy. I watched the television series as a kid, and seeing it again now brings back many fond memories. The new movies are an extra special delight in that they introduce the aspect of real ghosts and monsters rather than the usual bad guys wearing masks. Although "Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost" starts out with just that, both in the opening museum capture sequence and the first sequence in the New England town, it's soon revealed that there is indeed a real witch in the works.When Scooby and the Gang meet writer Ben Ravencroft (deliciously voiced by Tim Curry), he invites them back to his home town, where they discover tourist season in full swing, fueled by rumors of a witch's ghost in the form of Ben's ancestor Sara Ravencroft (isn't the name Ravencroft absolutely perfect for a witch?). Ben is hurt by the bad name it gives himself and his ancestor, whom he insists was a good Wiccan who acted as a sort of seventeenth century apothecary, using herbs and natural potions to cure people of their ailments. He enlists the help of Scooby and the gang to help uncover the truth behind the witch hauntings and assist him in finding Sara's old journal which he says holds in its pages the recipes for all her cures.It isn't long before the sleuthing youths uncover the real culprits behind the witch and reveal a scheme orchestrated by the Mayor and several other townsfolk. They apologize to Ben saying they just wanted to bring money to the town in the form of tourist dollars. This is a cute and amusing twist, and a nice touch that the townsfolk aren't bad guys at all but simple folk trying to boost their own economy. And it's nice that their trick hasn't done any real harm. Of course this sort of skulduggery could only be feasible in an animated film, as the stunts they pull would be quite impossible in reality, and impossible even to believe in a live-action film. But for me at least, that's one of the charms of watching a Scooby Doo movie.At this point I thought the film was over and was delighted when Ben reminded the gang that Sara's journal still hasn't been found. There was more to come! Velma then finds the clue they need in a portrait of Sara. Earlier, Scooby had dug up an old shoe buckle that Shaggy now wears on one of his sneakers. But Velma has noticed that it's not a shoe buckle at all but the clasp of the journal that Sara is holding in her portrait. Scooby leads them to the spot where he found the buckle and voilà! They find Sara's journal in a buried chest.Now things really heat up, because instead of looking like the innocuous journal of a Wiccan healer, the journal resembles something like the Book of the Dead from the Evil Dead movie. Velma remarks on this and Ben (in typical Tim Curry fashion) suddenly turns on the evil "charm" and reveals that his ancestor Sara was in fact a witch, imprisoned inside the book by her enemies four hundred years ago. It's Ben's plan to free her spirit and have her rule the world by his side.But once freed, Sara has plans of her own, and they don't include playing second fiddle to Ben. She traps him in a magic bubble and then goes on a vengeful rampage. It's up to Scooby and the gang to save the day; and with the help of Thorn, lead singer of the local band The Hex Girls and 16% Wiccan by blood, they manage to cast the spell that sends Sara back into her book prison. She drags Ben with her and the book is then set on fire and destroyed by a burning tree branch.The final action sequences are exciting, funny and extremely entertaining for a straight to video cartoon film, and I highly recommend this and all the other Scooby Doo movies to any fan and anyone who enjoys good fun, laughs, and witches, ghosts, and zombies. And is it just me, or does anyone else get really hungry during the scenes in which Scooby and Shaggy scarf down all the food? All in all a delightful experience.