Rating: **
Review Date: 1/24/26
Cast: Frank Welker, Mindy Cohn, Grey DeLisle, Matthew Lillard
"Vampires don't sleep in coffins anymore. They sleep in Seattle."
Monster hunting is getting on everyone's nerves, so Velma (Mindy Cohn) decides that the gang deserves a vacation. Of course, Velma's idea of a vacation is going to Louisiana for a vampire convention, which is being held at Vincent Van Helsing's estate. Unfortunately, a troupe of actors end up resurrecting a thousand year-old vampire and it has its eyes on Daphne (Grey DeLisle) as his immortal bride. While Daphne gets kidnapped, Fred (Frank Welker) works on an automatic stake launcher, and Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) and Scooby get lost in a swamp for a considerable portion of the film. There's also a weird side plot about a shifty politician that goes nowhere. But the strangest aspect of the show is that it's a musical, which is cringy and makes it fall flat.
The film is clearly riding the "Twilight" wave which was just starting to cool down, and the core theme is traditional vampires vs. modern vampires. Even Velma and Daphne aren't immune to the romantic charms of the popular modern vampire craze, while Fred and Shaggy simply don't get it. And once again, Daphne falls for a hunky air-headed poser, which makes Fred jealous. I have to give props to Velma when she bitterly proclaims, "I'm innocent and pure of heart. Why doesn't anyone ever kidnap me?" That might actually make a good story...
While the animation is top-notch and looks great, the story is uneven and the awkward musical numbers feel like filler material that distract from the plot. The voice acting is great and the character models are on-point, so it has a wonderful "classic" feel. However, it's unusual that Velma does all of the driving this time, which may be the only time that I've seen her drive the Mystery Machine, at least for an extended duration. Overall, it's a marginally entertaining adventure and the villain is pretty obvious early on. Daphne and Velma get a fair amount of screen time, which kept me engaged, while the singing made me wince and reach for the fast-forward button.