Search - Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers on DVD

A childhood favorite of mine, still plenty of typical Scooby

Alexiel | United States | 06/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The premise is that Shaggy inherents a spooky, decaying mansion from his Uncle Beaureguard, and the movie begins as he, Scrappy-Doo, and Scooby-Doo are en route to the mansion. The whole estate is pretty spooky and decayed looking, replete with swamps and forests surrounding the house, a perfect setting for mystery and mayhem. At the mansion they are greeted by a sinister butler with a humorously overdone but still jarring laugh in Farquard.



This does nothing to alleviate the nervousness Shaggy and Scooby are feeling, and with the introduction of the ghost of Uncle Beaureguard, an escaped ape (pursued by Sheriff Buzby, your typical thick-drawled, incompetent, and overweight Southern sheriff stereotype) they're ready to leave, when they find a message from Uncle Beaureguard that says Shaggy must solve a series of riddles to locate his treasure. To deal with the ghosts, they call in "ghost exterminators" - the Boo Brothers, who indeed are a knock-off of the Three Stooges in every way.



With the treasure beckoning, and the fact that their truck is incapacitated, they stick around, despite Uncle Beaureguard's ghost, a skeleton ghost, a headless horseman, the ape, the bumbling sheriff, the Boo Brothers doing more interfering than helping, a hillbilly girl who has fallen in love with Shaggy and takes every opportunity to press her unwanted affections, and her hillbilly brother who "protects" his sister by hunting Shagggy and the gang and shooting at them. Well, treasure usually isn't easy to come by.



The riddles lead the gang around various areas of the esate - to the attic, basement, graveyard, caves, etc. One of the things that appealed to me as a kid (and still does) was the neat idea of this vast, spooky estate you could explore, with the fearful crumbling mansion at the forefront. There's secret passages to be found, and the skeleton and Confederate ghost (Uncle Beaureguard) to be found at every turn, or more mundane foes to be avoided. The idea of the riddles, that solving the first riddle leads you to the location of the second one, and so on, was something I thought was very cool as a kid, though it's an old idea.



I think the animation and look of the show is pretty well done, considering the time, budget, and technology. The mansion and its grounds do give off a spooky air of decay and mystery; the setting is excellently accomplished. The supporting characters are mostly old stereotypes played out for humor but that works well for what it is. The ghosts are suitably menacing for this sort of thing, and Scrappy-Doo isn't as obnoxious as he's been on other occasions (though I'd like to have seen what this movie would've been like with the original Mystery, Inc. gang). The suspense of getting to the treasure is nicely built up, and there are some fine revelations along the way to keep viewers interested.



In conclusion, this movie isn't rocket science or anything complicated. In fact, to your average modern audience there probably isn't a whole lot ot recommend this film. But, for whatever reason, it clicked with me growing up and even now. It's got a classic gothic ghost story set-up, which usually appeals to me, along with some slapstick and typical Scooby-Doo humor. It's fun, moves quickly, and shows more than just perfunctory thought and effort put into it (as opposed to later Scooby-Doo movies). I give it five stars because it succeeds for what it is."

The most UNDERRATED Scooby flick

Alexiel | 02/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is my favorite of any Scooby film ever made. In the film Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy travel into the South, as Shaggy is to inherit his uncle's gothic estate. The ghouls include: a Civil War general, a skelton ghost, a headless horseman, a ghost wolf, and a "ghost" ape. Hilarity ensues as the Boo Brothers are called to help with the ghost problem. This film probably has the scariest backgrounds of any other Scooby movie out there. If your hesitant about this movie, I'm guaranteeing you right now that you will enjoy it."