Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf (1988)

It is a performances centric movie

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf (1988)** 1/2 (out of 4) Monsters from around the world gather at their annual car race but the werewolf is missing so Count Dracula demands that they get another. The Hunch Bunch decide to turn Shaggy into a werewolf so Dracula tells him that if he takes part in the race and wins that he'll lift the curse. Scooby, Scrappy and Shag's girlfriend must make sure he wins. SCOOBY-DOO AND THE RELUCTANT WEREWOLF is a fairly entertaining feature but the biggest problem is that it feels incredibly long at 91-minutes. When you consider that this here is close to five individual episodes of the TV series you realize that the subject is best served in smaller portions. With that said, outside the length this here contains some pretty big laughs including the highlight, which takes place during a drive-in horror movie where Shaggy first gets turned into a werewolf. The only problem is that he has the hiccups and keeps transforming back and forth but never realizing it. Another funny thing about the film is Count Dracula who is simply delightful. I really thought he made for some great jokes throughout and Hamilton Camp did a fantastic job with the vocals. The film features all sorts of monsters like Dracula, the mummy, Frankenstein's monster, swamp thing, the bride and various others. Fans of the genre should get a kick out of seeing all of these monsters together and packed into one film. I think the film really would have benefited from fifteen-minutes being shaved off but it's still entertaining.

Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf is an underrated masterpiece in the Scooby-Doo saga*SPOLIERS AHEAD*Plot: Dracula turns Shaggy into a werewolf and kidnaps him, Scooby-Doo, Scrabby-Doo, and his girlfriend Googie. In order for Shaggy to return to being a human he most compete in the Monster Road Race and win first place.The Good News: The film may have an effect of nausea on you. It's from 1988 and everything reeks 1988. From Scrabby-Doo from at the time hit T.V. show to Shaggy's old red shirt and the cartoon animation it reminds you what has happened over the years to the recent What's New Scooby-Doo? The story is fresh and hasn't been done before. The three repeated ways to turn Shaggy into a werewolf are pretty original and my favorite one has to be at the supermarket. Going for a midnight snack Shaggy and Scooby are shopping and a hand pops out from behind the shelf and hands Scobby a snack and then the person emerges from behind the shelf and takes off with the cart without Scooby and plows into Shaggy who falls in the cart and they roll him outside to the designated spot for the transformation, but a melon truck pulls up just in the nick of time at the exact spot. The drive in movie scene was also a long and fun sequence and the idea that the hiccups cured a werewolf and turns the victim from a werewolf and then to a person and so on and so on was pretty neat and used to great degree. Shaggy's girlfriend was a good character and the movie surprisingly didn't need the rest of the gang. The monsters at the castle, while nothing new, it was nice to see them all together. Casey Kasem voices Shaggy and you can't find a lot of fault in his performance. Don Messic voices Scooby-Doo greatly and Scrabby-Doo is actually likable here and makes me kind of mad that he turned evil in Scooby-Doo (2002). The way the whole castle is rigged and every escape and hope turns out to be a trap is pretty smart and something most kid movies don't think of. If all else reason to see this fails then the practice round and the actual race are standout sequences which are action packed and fully entertaining from beginning to end and is a great way to end a film. That is the major highlight of the film and is worth to see it as a stand alone scene. The long running time also helps this out because it seems more natural than it would if it was over in five minutes. The failed plans by Dracula to stop Shaggy from winning the race provide much of the action and it also provides a few laughs and a lot of giggles by Dracula's bride as she does commentary on the race. The Bad News: I don't see how anybody can dislike this. It's fast, entertaining, action packed, and has a slam bang ending.Conclusion: Recommend to everyone and especially for Scooby-Doo fans. Recommend.Rated: Not Rated

Many 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

You 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.