Apart from a Batman Supervillain and a Decent Car Chase Sequence, There's Nothing Else of Note in 'Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo!'

Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! is the 31^st direct-to-video Scooby-Doo! animated movie, and also completes a trilogy with the last two movies – Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13^th Ghost and Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island.  Set during Halloween (duh), the movie kicks off with the Scooby Gang clashing with and defeating Jonathan Crane a.k.a. the Scarecrow – yep, the Batman supervillain (note: Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold established a share universe).  However, as it turns out, their night’s work is only beginning.  Before long, flying zombie jack-o-lanterns, arising from the nearby pumpkin patch, attack the town.  With the help of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, and Bill Nye the Science Guy, the Scooby Gang must figure out a way to stop their terror spree.

Unlike the previous two direct-to-video installments, Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! doesn’t revisit an old Scooby-Doo! storyline – which is a shame, since being direct follow-ups to three different classic Scooby-Doo! adventures would have been a cool motif for this trilogy.  Nevertheless, it makes gratuitous references to elements or events from past Scooby-Doo! storylines, which when added to the odd inclusion of Scarecrow to its plot, further reinforces the primary impression that the previous two direct-to-video installments were keen of stressing – the Scooby-Doo! TV shows and movies are interconnected.

Objectively, Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! is utterly dumb.  Though I understand that it’s one of those properties that shouldn’t be taken seriously, I was still frustrated with the inconsistencies of its logic.  For example (SPOILER), the jack-o-lanterns were initially thought to have been brought to life by a combination of toxic waste and Scarecrow’s fear gas.  But, as what the Scooby Gang uncovered, the jack-o-lanterns were actually high-tech drones.   This reveal is actually contradictory to events occurring prior it (e.g. the jack-o-lanterns behaved like living creatures; whenever the jack-o-lanterns were destroyed, there were no mechanical parts in the wreckage, but just pure pumpkin; etc.), but worse than that, it didn’t “ground” the mystery at all.  It’s not only because the actual explanation turned out being as absurd as the original hypothesis, but more critically, it’s because they are both absurd in the same nature.  The original hypothesis – product of toxic waste and fear gas – is science fiction in nature; the actual explanation – high-tech drones – is also science fiction in nature.  Hence, there is no real contrast, simulating some sense of believability.  It would have been more effective if the mystery was initially seemingly supernatural, but turned out having a science fiction solution.

That being said, I still prefer this over the big-budget Scoob!, since it at least feels like an actual Scooby-Doo! story.  I got some chuckles from it, and I found it moderately engaging.  I particularly enjoyed the long car chase sequence in the second act, which contains some pretty decent thrills and humor.

In the end, Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! may be campy fun, but it’s still disposable diversion at best.  And only those like me who’ve become regular followers of Scooby-Doo! direct-to-video movies will obtain some degree of satisfaction from expending time on it.