Scooby Doo! Music of the Vampire

I’ll be going offline again soon, most likely, so I’m going to do my best to get a full week’s worth of updates. Starting with a Scooby Doo review. This week we have “Sccoby-Doo! Music of the Vampire”.  No time to waste so let’s get right to the review.

This movie has a few things going for it but, for me, the best one is the cast. Not the voice actors, they are fine don’t get me wrong, but the characters. This is a Scooby movie full of interesting and entertaining characters. I’ll get to them each, individually as the review goes on. I just wanted to mention that they are they main draw here.

After a short musical number, we open to the Gang solving a mystery involving a Cockroach monster. I’m guessing this was a tough case because the gang decides it’s time for a vacation.  Where to exactly? A small Louisiana town named, Chauve Sourie Ville. Why there? Because it’s the home to “Vampire Palooza”.

I want to take a second here. I was going to rail about how stupid the gang was. Of all the places to go for a vacation they decide to go to a Vampire festival. That is just ridiculous. Why? Considering their luck, what are the chances that they don’t end up facing a vampire, or more likely a Vampire disguise wearing criminal? It’s almost guaranteed. I was going to say these things until I realized that no matter where the gang goes, crime happens. It’s like “Murder She Wrote”. Wherever the main character in that show went someone died. She was an angel of death or a harbinger of doom, much like Paul Kersey from Death Wish. The Gang are exactly the same. The could go to Hershey’s park and they’d end up facing a monster made of chocolate. So of course they’re going to a Vampire festival! At least this way they know what kind of threat they’d be going up against.

Could you imagine that kind of life? Wherever you go, whatever you do, bad buys will be there. There is no way out of that. It’s a simple truth of your life. No wonder Shaggy had a mental breakdown. Speaking of which, I can’t help but wonder how long the Gang was hypnotized into being Shaggy and how they reacted after coming out of it? I’m assuming Fred was pissed that they Mystery Machine had been renamed.

Back to the plot. The gang arrives at the festival and we get our first influx of characters.  We quickly meet Lita Rutland (Event Organizer), Vincent Van Hellsing (Their host and failing author), and Jasper Poubelle (Anti Vampire crusader and red herring.). Lita tells the gang that tourism is down and the festival is losing money.

Van Helsing, who owns a vampire Museum, takes the gang there. He gives them a quick tour and shows them a few of his more prized pieces. They see jewelry and the body of a supposed vampire named Valdronya. Valdronya was the one sung about in the opening.

We then meet our next set of characters. There is an acting troupe in town, they are all ‘vampires’. These guys just scream “failed to get into Cirque Du Soleil”. They still put on a decent show though. Daphne falls for their leader Bram, wonder why he chose that name? The groups attempts to resurrect Valdronya with a chant. Surprise of surprises they succeed! Do you know what that means? I’ll tell you what that means. There is now case to be solved. Vacation? Fuck that noise it’s time to solve some shit!

The gang heads back to museum only to find out it’s been robbed. The jewels and the body of Valdronya are missing. Like a real promoter Lita is using this to pump up attendance at the festival by telling a fake story to the news. Meanwhile Jasper, the red herring, is pushing his anti vampire agenda. I was very interested in just where his vampire hate comes from, but it turns out it is all just a smoke screen. He’s just using this cause to barge his way into the Mayor’s office. He’s a true politician.

It’s Daphne and Velma who find out about Jasper’s plan. They check out his organization’s trailer and learn the truth there. But while doing that they get attacked by Valdronya. During their escape the vampire hangs on to the top of he Mystery Machine and attempts to grab Daphne. In the struggle Daphne rips off a piece of fabric from his sleeve. Velma runs him off by going through a tunnel with a low roof.

Have you noticed that I haven’t mention Scooby and Shaggy yet? They are the stars of these movies so the plot usually revolves around them. This one is a bit different. This movie is more of a Daphne adventure. She’s the target of the vampire. That doesn’t mean the Scooby and Shaggy are always going to take a back seat.

The night of the attack Shaggy and Scoob are also attacked by Valdronya. They end up in the swamp and meet our next, and last character, Tulie. Tulie is an inventor, he created hover shoes but the plans were stolen by the vampire.

Back in the town Fred, Daphne, and Velma learn the piece of fabric from Valdronya is made of modern materials.  Van Helsing excuses this by saying that while the Vampire’s body didn’t decay over the years the clothes did and he had to replace them.

Daphne heads off to question the ‘vampire’ actors and meets with Bram. He offers her his love and immortality. Daphne turns down both of those things. Bram doesn’t take this well and kidnaps her. He’s a bit of a dick. He is also working for Valdronya apparently since he took Daphne to be the vampire’s bride and not for himself.

Fred receives a text from Daphne telling him she’s been taken. Fred, Velma, and Val Helsing head off to the swamp to stop the wedding. Before they can reach the scene Van Helsing is pulled from the boat. Fred and Velma try to find him but instead stumble on Shaggy and Scooby.

At the scene of the ceremony the actors are tying Daphne up, if only she had some sort of, I don’t know, marital arts expertise. If only. Inconsistent, it’s the only word to describe her character. Anyway, we learn the actors believe they will be given immortality by Valdronya in exchange for Daphne. 

Valdronya appears and quickly puts the actors to sleep. Daphne falls into a trance and agrees to marry the vampire. But before that can happen Shaggy and Scooby arrive to distract him. This leads to a chase and the capture of the vampire.

So who is Valdronya? Is the vampire real? Was it Jasper or Lita? Maybe this was all a trick by Bram and the actors? Just who could it be?

Well, it turns out the Vampire is no other than Vincent Van Helsing! shocking? No?

But why?

Money. It’s always money. Van Helsing wanted to create a new tourist attraction which would bolster the business at his museum and his book sales.  He created the false vampire by using the hover shoes, knock out gas, and holographic projections. So the usual Scooby ‘bad guy’ kit. 

Want to know the funny part of this? The actors. They thought it was all real! They actually believed they would receive immortality. This must be very hard on them. 

With the case wrapped up and the bad guys arrested, Bram asks Daphne out but is flatly refused, the movie ends.

This was a pretty good Scooby movie. The outcome wasn’t overtly obvious, and the characters were fun. The animation was good, the music was nice, and the cast (No big names this time) was very good. This is a Scooby movie that’s story first and spectacle second. It’s a little quieter then some of the previous ones but is worth a watch.

7 out of 10.