A Monster Race: Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf (1988)

Ah but soon there will be a new monster inside, the moon is moving quickly into position…we must turn Shaggy into a werewolf!

Like I mentioned Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School, this is a movie I used to watch all the time as a kid; and still do as my nieces and nephew are always bugging me to watch it with them. We’re all big Scooby fans.

They used to show this all the time in October on Cartoon Network, during their Saturday night Creature Double Feature.  They would also show Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School, Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers, Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase, Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders, and Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost. My sister and I used to watch these all the time.

So the story starts out with Dracula getting ready for his grand monster race. He has a multitude of monsters assembked; Frankenstein and his wife Repulsa, The Mummy, The Witch Sisters, Mr. Bonejangles the skeleton, Dr. Jackal/Mr. Synde (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), The Swamp Thing, and Dreadonia. The only person missing is the Wolf Man. It turns out that he retired and is vacationing in Florida.

“Dracula: What I want to know is, where’s my werewolf?

They can’t have a monster race without all the monsters present.

Everything seems hopeless until Vanna Pira (Vanna White/Vampira), asks why they can’t just get a new one. So Dracula pulls out his book of possible people to become monsters, and finds that the next person who can become a werewolf is none other than Shaggy. Dracula sends his henchmen, the Hunch Bunch, to go and make sure he turns into one. They have three days to do it.

We switch to Shaggy and the gang, who at this point is Scooby-Doo, Scrappy, and Shaggy’s girlfriend Googy. This suprised me as Shaggy has never had a girlfriend in the series/movies before, and after this video, we never see her again.

Anyways, so in this movie they are no longer P.E. instructors but are race car drivers. Shaggy and Scooby are actually really good and have a cool car that is all tricked out. They struggle through the race for a bit, but are able to defeat the other teams and win. They are happily celebrating, not knowing what is about to occur.

The next day Shaggy and Scooby are hanging out at home trying to watch a monster movie when the Hunch Bunch arrive. Only Scooby sees them, and he tries to tell Shaggy and Scrappy but neither of them believe him.

“Shaggy: Monsters through the roof, huh? 
Scooby- Doo: That’s right. 
Shaggy: Okay so then where’s the hole? 
Scooby- Doo: [points up] Up there. 
Shaggy: Where? 
Scooby- Doo: Right up… [looks up and sees the ceiling in one piece] Huh? 
Scrappy Doo: Don’t worry Uncle Scooby, we still love ya, even if ya are a wacko.”

The Hunch Bunch are foiled in their plan tonight, but eagerly await the next day to try again. This time the Doos and Shaggy are at the supermarket; and once again the Hunch Bunch Brothers fail, but both Shaggy and Scrappy think that Scooby is crazy.

The next night, Shaggy and Googie are on a date at the drive-in. Scooby and Scrappy also came along.

“Scrappy Doo: Thanks for taking us on your date with Googie to the drive-in, Shag. 
Shaggy: Confidentially I didn’t want to leave your Uncle Scooby home alone, you know how he’s been seeing things that aren’t there lately?” 

Meanwhile, the Hunch Bunch twins are finally sucessful, positioning Shaggy just right so that he becomes a werewolf!

The only problem is, Shaggy has the hiccups! Everytime he hiccups he switches from human to werewolf. 

No one notices that he is a werewolf, but he leaves to get something from the snack bar to settle his stomach. He ends up scaring everyone there, as they all  start trying to chase him down. He finally gets set as a werewolf, and realizes that he is the one everyone is after. At first his friends don’t believe him, but he is finally able to convince them he’s Shaggy. Dracula & Co come after them, spraying them with knockout spray and whisking them away to Dracula’s castle.

Here in the castle, Drac wakes them up and introduces them to the crew.

They are of course freaked out and try to get away. Shaggy tries to get Dracula to change him back, but Dracula doesn’t want to. Eventually they strike a deal where if Shaggy races and wins then he can be human again.

Of course Dracula wants Shaggy to fail, so first he tries to get them to spend all night at the pre-race party. When that doesn’t work he sends the Hunch Bunch to keep him up all night. That also fails and Dracula decides to wreck the Wolfmobile.

All of Dracula’s attempts fail as Shaggy and Scooby are able to fix everything.

“Dracula: I thought I told you to fix that werewolf car so that he couldn’t win the race. 
Brunch: Ah yes master, but Shaggy unfixed it. 
Dracula: Well then you un-unfix it. “

The race ensues with everyone cheating to win. Each car has tricks up their sleeves and they use them Throughout the film many cars crash and are totaled, but in the next scene they will show up as good as new.

Ah! If only I was a cartoon

Throughout the whole race Dracula does everything in his power to try and stop Shaggy, but everything fails. Googy and Scrappy really lend a hand in helping him out, even bringing him a spare engine. At one point Dracula sends Genghis Kong their way, but they are even able to get out of that mess!

Everyone: A nightmare called Genghis Kong!
Scrappy: He’s got uncle Scooby. You let go of my uncle, or I’m going to ring your gong, Kong.

Eventually the best racer, Shaggy, wins!

He demands that Dracula changes him back, but he doesn’t want to. He tells Shaggy there is no way to change back, but Vanna Pira reveals that the Book of Grim has the words that can change him into a human.

They gang has to defeat Dracula and then Shaggy is turned back into a human.

Shaggy: Oogly boogly wobbly wye, no more a werewolf am i, I’m [gulp] going to be a normal guy.

Everything is back to normal and the gang returns home.

They are just hanging out watching a scary movie when Shaggy starts eating too fast and getting the hiccups again. Googy warns him that he might become a werewolf again, but Shaggy is sure that they won’t go through any of that again.

“Shaggy: Oh, come on Googy, lighten up. Believe me, we’re through with those werewolves and vampires and monsters forever.

Dracula: That’s what he thinks.

Dracula and the Hunch Bunch: [In Chorus] ♪♪ We’re Back!♪♪”

To start Horrorfest from the beginning, go to I Don’t Belong in the World

 To go to the previous film, go to Grimwood Ghoul’s Gym Teacher

For more on monster movies, go to Universal’s Classic Monster Movies

For more on Dracula, go to I Bid You Welcome

To purchase a copy of this film, click on the image below: