The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Thursday, October 26, 2017 — 5B

The Best 

Scooby Doo! 

Movies to 
Watch this 
Halloween

10. “Scooby Doo 
Pirates Ahoy!”

9. “Scooby Doo and 
the Witch’s Ghost”

This is the one that 

introduces 
the 
Hex 

Girls, 
a 
memorable 

trio of pop-rock sing-
ers that have become 
recurring characters in 
the Scooby Doo fran-
chise. That’s basically 

the 
only 
memorable 

thing about it, but that 
seems worthy enough 
to give it the number 9 
ranking on this list.

Who doesn’t love 

Scooby Doo? The myster-
ies, the chases, the Scooby 
Snacks, everyone has got a 
fond memory of watching 

the Mystery Incorporated 
gang crack a tough case. 
Here’s a rundown of ten 
of Scooby’s greatest (and 
strangest) hits!

IAN HARRIS
Daily Arts Writer

Anyone who thinks 

pirates are rad will 
get a kick out of this 
pirate themed adven-
ture. Released in 2006, 
this is one of the more 
recent entries on the 
list and one of the last 
Scooby Doo movies 
follow the classic struc-

ture of a minor char-
acter being unmasked 
as the villain at the end 
of the story. After this 
the franchise jumped 
the shark a bit, with 
crossovers with WWE, 
WrestleMania, and the 
rock band KISS coming 
soon after.

8. “Scooby Doo and 
Loch Ness Monster”

Is the loch ness 

monster real? Probably 
not, but this mystery 
has some pretty great 
moments anyways. 
Anyone with half a 
brain will likely be 
able to figure out 

who’s behind the mon-
ster in the first ten 
minutes, but remember 
these movies are made 
for kids, so cut it some 
slack.

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

7. “Scooby Doo and 
the Goblin King”

Certainly one of the 

most bizarre Scooby 
Doo flicks on the 
market, this one finds 

Scooby and Shaggy 
caught up on Hal-
loween night in the 
evil plot of the Goblin 

 6. “Scooby Doo 
Goes Hollywood!”

Scooby and Shaggy 

ditch the TV series to 
become Hollywood 
executives! This movie 
is a raucous send-up of 
late ‘70-s cinema and 

TV, so I would recom-
mend it to anyone who 
enjoys picking out 
references to obscure 
media from yester-
year.

5. “Scooby Doo/

Scooby Doo 
2: Monsters 
Unleashed”

The live action 

Scooby Doo movies 
from the early 2000’s 
are objectively terrible, 
but people of a certain 
age will still find them 
strangely appealing in 
a nostalgic way if noth-
ing else. They’re silly 
and funny and feature 
a young Isla Fisher 

and Alicia Silverstone 
in minor roles. The 
quality degrades sig-
nificantly in the sec-
ond one so it’s really 
no surprise they never 
made a third. And, 
for the record, Linda 
Cardellini as Velma is 
absolutely genius cast-
ing.

4. “Scooby Doo 
and the Alien 

Invasion”

This film from the 

late ‘90-s features 
fake aliens and real 
aliens alike. Recom-
mended for those 
with a sci-fi yearn-

ing, not recommend-
ed for those who 
like happy endings, 
as this story has a 
pretty sad ending for 
Shaggy’s love life.

3. “Scooby Doo 

and the Monster of 

Mexico”

This one’s just a 

classic. The gang 
travels to Mexico 
to visit a friend of 
Fred’s only to dis-
cover a monster is 
terrorizing his town. 

There are some great 
side characters to be 
found here as well as 
the most surprising 
villain reveal of any 
movie on this list.

2. “Scooby Doo on 

Zombie Island”

This movie is gen-

uinely terrifying. My 
brother and I never 
finished watching it 
when we were kids 
because of how scary 
this thing is. There’s 
no playing around 

here, these are real 
zombies after our 
beloved gang, no 
masks, no tricks and 
no treats. Do not 
watch with children. 
Do not watch after 
midnight.

1. “Scooby Doo and 
the Cyber Chase”

Ask anyone what 

his or her favorite 
Scooby Doo movie 
is and this inevita-
bly gets the prize. 
There’s just some-
thing fantastic about 
the mystery gang 
getting sucked into 
a video game rendi-
tion of their lives 
and being forced to 
beat the game or lose 
it all. It’s a classic 
cartoon set-up that 
still provides lots 

of laughs, thrills, 
and a great villain / 
monster to boot. This 
is the movie that 
everyone remembers 
from when they were 
kids and this is the 
Scooby Doo movie 
everyone wants to 
watch again today. 
However, be pre-
pared to feel old 
when you recognize 
how hilariously 
dated the technology 
in this movie is. 

King, who plans to use 
the “Goblin Scepter” 
to control Halloween 
and therefore take 
over the earth. It’s a 

ludicrous plot, and I 
imagine it would be a 
hilarious way to kick 
back after a long night 
out this Halloween.

Freeform

Freeform’s ‘13 Nights of 
Halloween’ sucks (really)

In their network switchup, Freeform forgot the series’ true purpose

When ABC Family transformed 

itself into Freeform in a total 
rebranding 
of 
the 
network 

during the winter of 2015, the 
newly minted title aimed to draw 
what the company called the 
“Becomers” — the generation 
who grew up with ABC Family or, 
more specifically, the millennial 
generation. In a way, breaking 
with ABC Family was an ingenious 
idea that could allow Freeform the 
freedom to add series and movies 
which may not have aligned with 
their previous branding, which 
was aimed primarily at younger 

viewers and families. People enjoy 
continuity in their lives and to 
have an entire network follow 
you as you navigate life is pretty 
damn cool. Too bad Freeform isn’t 
taking advantage of this. 

For those of us who didn’t 

grow up watching the network, 
ABC Family was well-known 
for 
its 
marathon 
specials, 

specifically around Halloween 
and Christmas, aptly titled the 
“13 Nights of Halloween” and the 
“25 Days of Christmas.” During 
those 13 nights, there was never 
a shortage of spooky airings 
that walked the line between 
terrifying 
and 
family-friendly; 

the perfect addition to a brisk 
October 
evening. 
Airings 
of 

staples such as “Hocus Pocus” and 
the Tim Burton films have never 
failed to draw in a large viewer 
base, adult and child alike, and 
the continuous showing of these 
films provide a nice reminiscence 
for those of us who grew up on 
the franchises. In many ways, 
Freeform 
has 
succeeded 
in 

keeping with the early 2000s 
programming, accomplishing its 
mission of keeping the classics 
in the lineup. However, it fails 
in truly incorporating movies 
which would appeal to this same 
generation.

Maybe things were scarier 

when I was 11, but ever since 
the switch to Freeform, the 
channel that’s running is not at 

all reminiscent of the original “13 
Nights.” I guess one could argue 
that “Monster’s University” is 
scary for some — monsters for 
the kids, crippling college debt 
for the adults — but then again, 
it’s a little far-fetched to replace 
Burton classics such as “The 
Corpse Bride” with an airing of 
the “Twilight” saga. While it’s 
easy to understand the reasoning 
there (vampires = Halloween), it’s 
hardly a replacement for classic 
thrillers.

Again, we could argue that 

some of the Halloween movies 
Freeform has been running might 
have been considered frightening 
to our younger selves, but in 
looking at the lineup, it’s clearly 
not the case here, as “Charlie and 
the Chocolate Factory” has been 
added to this year’s “13 Nights,” 
and the only thing remotely scary 
about that movie is Johnny Depp. 
The lack of scare is odd, since 
the conception of the network 
was built around the idea of 
appealing to an older audience. 
Given this premise, it would only 
make sense to air movies which 
were special to our generation 
at different times in our lives. 
Flicks such as “Halloweentown” 
and “Hocus Pocus” would give 
us that old sense of nostalgia 
while newer horror flicks such 
as “Paranormal Activity” or 
“The Conjuring” would appeal 

to the older audience Freeform is 
attempting to target.

In the early 2000s, we were 

graced with the peak years of 
the “13 Nights” promotion. Not 
only were the “Halloweentown” 
movies running constantly, but 
so were scarier films, such as 
“Poltergeist” and “Stephen King’s 
‘It’.” Given the network’s recent 

additions to “13 Nights,” it’s 
almost shocking to see Freeform 
moving in reverse and giving rise 
to more family-friendly films that 
barely pass as Halloween movies. 
With the recent passing of 
Debbie Reynolds, now feels like 
the opportune time to have run 
the “Halloweentown” movies, 
especially 
because 
the 
cast 

recently reunited to honor the 

late-great Reynolds. This isn’t an 
isolated event, though, as recent 
remakes of Halloween originals 
(see: “It” (2017)) also feel like 
missed opportunities.

When “Hocus Pocus” aired 

sporadically last year, much to 
the disappointment of viewers, 
Freeform 
rethought 
their 

strategy. This Halloween, the 
’90s comedy masterpiece will run 
for 24 hours straight, marathon 
style and not unlike TBS’s 24 
hour airing of “A Christmas 
Story” on Christmas Eve. In 
keeping 
with 
the 
Freeform 

tendencies to air theme-specific 
weekend 
marathons, 
a 
Tim 

Burton 
marathon 
will 
also 

run this year — sans “Corpse 
Bride,” 
unfortunately. 
Still, 

these marathons act neither as 
a replacement nor an exception 
for Freeform’s shortcomings in 
providing a lineup which is true 
to its network mission.

Even though some of the 

original “13 Nights” films have 
admittedly fallen away into the 
ABC Family graveyard, what is 
ultimately lost is the purpose of 
switching over to Freeform in the 
first place. That, and we can’t help 
but miss “Halloweentown” and 
Disney’s “Under Wraps.” Because 
who wouldn’t love a mummy (Bill 
Fagerbakke, “Blackish”) dancing 
alone to “All by Myself”? Same, 
mummy. Same.

MEGAN MITCHELL

Daily Arts Writer

TV NOTEBOOK

These marathons 

act neither as a 
replacement nor 

an exception 
for Freeform’s 
shortcomings

