Goofy Ghosts and a Treasure Hunt: Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers (1987)

Goofy Ghosts and a Treasure Hunt

So every year I review an animated film, and here we are with Scooby-Doo and the Boo Brothers.

This was the first of three Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy stand alone films. It followed The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo which featured a smaller number of the Scooby crew with Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby-Doo, and Scrappy-Doo.

This however, is my least favorite of all the Scooby-Doo films. It was followed by Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School and Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf (both of which I think are far superior). Really the reason I don’t like this is because of the second half of the title, the Boo Brothers. The Boo Brothers are fashioned after The Three Stooges, and while I liked them (espechially as a kid), I don’t like the Boo Brothers.

So annoying

I also remember there being this weird girl that bothers Shaggy.

So annoying

I do remember there being a pretty good treasure hunt that involved all these riddles to find where the treasure was hidden. I really enjoyed that part and I wish they had included more of it-or just featured it and cut out the Boo Brothers.

Shaggy’s uncle, Colonel Beauregard has passed away and left his house and all his belongings to Shaggy. Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy head down to the South.

They run into Sheriff Rufus Buzby who warns them of a curse on the property, and leaves when he gets a call about a derailed circus train and an ape that got out. Of course Scooby and Shaggy are scared but Scrappy urges them on.

When they do get to the property they are attacked by a headless horseman, ghost wolf, and ghost colonel.

Ghosts are bad, but the one that’s cursed,
Is the Headless Horseman; he’s the worst!

They also meet the creepy manservant Farquard who lets them know that there is a fortune buried on the estate.

This sounds so familiar…

Hmmm…

A distant relative leaving someone their spooky house, a creepy housekeeper/butler, buried treasure somewhere on the large estate, an escaped “creature” chasing them on the property…

This is The Cat and the Canary!

This is basically the same film except they threw in the three stooges ghostbrothers.

Shaggy wants to leave but can’t as his truck is stuck in mud, so they have to spend the night there. To get rid of the ghosts they call some ghostbusters, (not the Ghostbusters). Why didn’t he just call a tow truck?

Seriously

Surprise, surprise they are the most annoying things ever. This movie isn’t that bad, it’s just the Boo Brothers are really annoying and dumb. The film would be better without them.

Basically they stink at their job and just do a lot of dumb things that are supposed to be funny.

Ugh…

Sadie Mae Scroggins comes calling and falls for Shaggy, and her brother threatens him as the Scroggins and Beauregards (Shaggy’s uncle) have a terrible feud.

The guys are starving, as always, and do what they always love to do, eat. They make a sandwich and bite into a clue.

Dear Shaggy, knowing your appetite I thought this would be the best place to hide this message and this jewel. It’s only one of many in my fortune, which I hid to keep them away from my enemies. To find the next clue to their hiding place, go outside. Then look for the part of the house with its knee out.

This leads them to the Chimney where they find a diamond. This is the interesting part of the film.

You’re nearer the family jewels than before. A broken key unlocks the next door. – Piano

Look for a relative who is quite old, whose face cannot look, and whose hands cannot hold. – Grandfather Clock

There is no pendulum in this clock. So, what does it lack besides a tock? – Attic

For the next clue, don’t look any higher. Think what you are when you’re not the buyer. – Cellar

The next clue you seek is large and flat. It’s the kind of stone you use as a hat. – Colonel Beauregard’s headstone in cemetery

You’re nearing the end of this obstacle course, so if you go buggy, you won’t need a horse. – Barn

To get to the bottom of things is the trick. Think how you’re feeling when you are not sick. – Well

At the end of this tunnel, are many more pearls but on the way, many more perils. – Basement

There’s no mystery about this clue. Inside Bear Cave, the jewels are in plain view.- Bear Cave

Go to a place that covers the tide. To find the last clue, just “pier” inside. – Boathouse

As they continue the Boo Brothers have crazy antics that don’t help at all, the gorilla keeps coming, the Scroggins are driving Shaggy crazy, and multiple ghosts are attacking them,

They go to the last place and find the final clue.

No more riddles, here ends the chase. The treasure’s in the fireplace. – Fireplace

They go for the treasure but the Ghost holds them at gunpoint, the real ghosts finally come in handy-all are saved and unmask the ghost to be the Sheriff-who is unmasked as the Sherif’s twin brother who wanted the money.

Shaggy decides to give the mansion to the Boo Brothers, give the money to orphans, and takes off. His next plan is to be a gym teacher at a girl’s school, but you know Shaggy-he doesn’t always pay attention.

So yeah, it was okay. I liked half of it, but the Boo Brothers killed it for me.

For more Scooby-Doo, go to  To All the Ghouls I’ve Loved Before: The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo (1985)

For more ’80s films, go to Holy Smokes! Your Mom’s a Werewolf!: My Mom’s a Werewolf (1989)

For more animated films, go to In the Spa House of the Spirits: Spirited Away (2001)

For more hidden treasure, go to Trapped in a Mansion in the Middle of Nowhere with a Psycho: The Cat and the Canary (1939)

For more ghosts, go to A Psychic Arrives and a Ghost Haunts the Ship: High Seas Season Two (2019)

It was a Horseman, a Dead One. Headless: Sleepy Hollow (1999)

It was a headless horseman… But it was a headless horseman…you must believe me. It was a horseman, a dead one. Headless.

I saw this years ago with my sister. She probably shouldn’t have shown it to me as I was too young to be watching an “R” rated film, and all I mostly remember is being confused.

Ichabod Crane was detective not a teacher?

What?

The horseman didn’t follow the correct rules of not being allowed to cross over the bridge. That made me so mad as I had read the book!

And there were these weird flashbacks of Ichabod; lots of witchcraft; and the worst performance of Christopher Walken…I don’t know it didn’t make a lot of sense to me.

So whenever I do Horrorfest, I always plan out ahead of time the things I will review and then because of life when I actually do the reviews, half the things I choose end up not making it into Horrorfest, but are changed out with other films. This film, however, was not one of those. From the beginning of Horrorfest I had wanted to review it.

You see I had decided it was time to do a Tim Burton film, and choose Sleepy Hollow. I then ended up adding Corpse Bride into the mix as that film I just happened to see. So with Corpse Bride filling that quota, did I need to review Sleepy Hollow?

Well , yes. You see I decided this year I am going to go through my old posts and do films I mention in them, along with remakes and sequels. Tying the old to the new. As I reviewed Disney’s Sleepy Hollow during the original Horrorfest, I decided to bring it back.

Ghosts are bad, but the one that’s cursed,
Is the Headless Horseman; he’s the worst!

So now as an adult, older I decided to watch it. And what did I think?

You as in the film

I thought it was horrible. First let’s look at Johnny Depp’s character Ichabod Crane. In New York he is “forward thinking” and “ahead of his time”.

as always

Tim Burton really needs to move on from that theme it is boring to see it in every film he does. Anyway, Ichabod is a constable, police officer, but America didn’t have a police force until 1838, and New York didn’t have it until 1845. If the film takes place in 1779, he couldn’t be a police officer.

Does Burton do any historical research?

Or do anything

So he’s all advanced that no one understands him.

He gives a powerful speech, but is sent to Dutch area of Sleepy Hollow to solve their murders.

Now when he gets there he turns into the wimpiest person ever. He faints at everything, everything turns him into a shudder; he is brave enough to go into the forbidden woods but too afraid of a Legend. You can’t have him a scaredy-cat and super brave at the same time. It just makes no sense.

Then we have this whole storyline that witches are good, the church is bad. Ichabod’s mother was a witch, or excuse me “a child of earth and nature” killed by his father the minister. Katrina Van Tassel, is a witch and they go on and on that witches are good, pure, kind, etc.

Young Masbath: A strange sort of witch, with a kind and loving heart. How can you think [her guilty]?

But then the villain of the film is a Witch! You constantly go on about witches being good and misunderstood, and end with your crazy, vengeful, psychopath villain being the thing you are defending.

And more importantly WHAT DOES WITCHES HAVE TO DO WITH THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN????!!!!

But it isn’t really the films fault per say. You know how everyone is obsessed with zombies? Well I know you thought the ’90s were only obsessed with dinosaurs and ninjas, but we also had a witches craze. There was The Witches, The Craft, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Hocus Pocus, The Crucible, The Blair Witch Project, Practical Magic, Halloweentown, and even Scooby-Doo got in the act with Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost.

So it doesn’t surprise me. I just think it is stupid that they can “control” the horseman and provide better barriers than “holy ground” or THE BRIDGE HE ISN’T SUPPOSED TO CROSS!!!

Yes I am still angry about it.

And Christopher Walken…

I love this man but he was a horrible Headless Horseman. He WASN’T scary! Not at all. All he did was go rah, rah. BORING! Now the Disney one, that was SCARY!

AAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This one:

I don’t recommend it. Visually it is beautiful but that isn’t enough for me.

To start Horrorfest V from the beginning, go to Who You Gonna Call?: Ghostbusters (1984)

For the previous post, go to Dracula. Not Myth, Nor Ravings of a Mad Irish Novelist, Oh No, He’s Real: Dracula 2000 (2000)

For more on Sleepy Hollow, go to A Fright on Halloween Night: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1949)

For more witches, go to A Book Considered Too Dangerous to Keep: The Magician’s Nephew, Midsomer Murders (2008)

For more Tim Burton films, go to He’s Married to a Corpse. He Has A Corpse Bride!: Corpse Bride (2005)

For more Johnny Depp, go to Whatever You Do Don’t Fall Asleep: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

For more Christina Ricci, go to Someone Very Special: The Addam’s Family Values (1993)

For more films based on books, go to I Came Upon a Shattered Glass Jar and Four Baby Turtles Crawling into a Strange Glowing Ooze: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

I’m No Warrior, I’m an Assistant Pig-Keeper: The Black Cauldron (1985)

I’m no warrior…I’m an assistant pig-keeper

So I was never allowed to watch this film as a kid. My mother thought it would scare me. I grew up liking the author Lloyd Alexander, as I have read his book Time Cat. This year I decided that I would finally read The Chronicles of Prydain series, of which The Black Cauldron is a part of. The book series was really good except I wish the Horned King was in more of it and as the series wraps itself up, the books don’t hold up to the beginning ones.

So the film The Black Cauldron is a compilation of the first two books in the series; The Book of Three and The Black Cauldron. I thought the film was okay. Some parts of the film were good; while others a tad corny. I do recommend it to everyone as the end was really good.

Taran was perfect! They made him in that awkward age of when a boy wants to be a man, but hasn’t quite reached the right age of maturity. They depicted his superior side, as he thinks he’s better than Eilonwy; along with showing him leaving behind his immature side and becoming a real man.

As he makes the right decision of giving up his magic sword to get the black cauldron and destroy it.

Eilonwy was also fantastic. They captured her attitude of trying to do everything and being extremely brave; but at the same time not always listening to others or doing what needs to be done. She can be really impulsive and imagine slights that aren’t there. She is also kind; along with not only helping Taran, but leading him as well.

Fflewddur Fflam was also perfect. He was older than I imagined him; but captured the boasting, brave, singer. I loved him at the end. He was hilarious as he tries to bargain with the witches.

Gurgi was adorable, I actually had a toy figure of him that I got from McDonalds, but I never knew who he was until I watched the film. They captured his constant hunger and good heart; but he was unfortunately much more cowardly than he was ever in the book. When he sacrifices himself, it was so sad. It made you feel guilty for originally thinking him annoying. This was never how I saw Gurgi, as I always imagined him more like this pokemon:

For some reason he always brought the image of a monkey-like creature to my mind.

Sorry, this is the only pic I could find of Doli. I thought they captured his character so well. He was a grumpy, complaining, elf. The only thing I wish they had done was make him a bit bigger and have him turn invisible.

The witches were also good. I did notice that Orddu resembles Madame Medusa from The Rescuers. I wish I had a better pic of it, but I couldn’t find one. If you watch the film you will notice the resemblance.

Of course there was the pièce de résistance. the Horned King!

He was extremely creepy! I loved it. He probably would have freaked me out as a kid. He is on par with the Headless Horseman. He was so creepy and scary!

Check out the trailer!

So that’s today’s frightful Friday. More posts to come.

Here’s a cover page/poster I made for my facebook as part of my countdown to Halloween

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

To go to the previous post, go to A Halloween Hello from the Austen Men

For more on The Black Cauldron, go to A Hidden Wonder

For more Disney Animated Film, go to A Fright on Halloween Night

For more films based on books, go to I Bid You Welcome

For more ’80s film, go to Boom Box of Love

For more on Emma, go to Bad Penny

For more on Lloyd Alexander, go to Pot o’ Gold

A Fright on Halloween Night: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1949)

You can’t reason with a headless man.

As a kid I remember that this movie used to scare the bejeezus out of me. The headless horseman was so creepy.

Ghosts are bad, but the one that’s cursed,
Is the Headless Horseman; he’s the worst!

But the film is amazing!

One reason why it was so fantastic was that they had the very charming Bing Crosby be the both the narrator and singer.

I love this man!

He doesn’t even have to show his face, just listening to his voice is enough for me.

With this film, Disney actually manages to do an extremely good job at creating a fun, but still creepy children’s film. They also managed to keep it very similar to the short story, in fact taking pieces from the actual text and placing it in the film.

🚨FYI Spoiler Alert🚨 

So the cartoon starts out with the classic Disney opening:

All fairy tales or films based on short stories and novels used to open with the pages of a book. I miss that opening and wish they portrayed it in more films. I know they brought it back for Enchanted, but I still wish there was more of it.

The first person we are introduced to is Brom Bones

I never liked Brom. He always seemed like a jerk to me. He was big and brawny, “handsome” to some; but a mean bully. He reminds me of a lesser cool Gaston. (Gaston, is one of those villains you love to hate and enjoy seeing on the sceen. Plus his song is awesome)

Brom is shocked at the appearance of a new man in town. In fact this stranger suprises everyone. It’s Ichabod, Ichabod Crane, the school teacher.

“Debonair and devil-may-care
It’s the new schoolmaster
What’s his name
Ichabod!
Ichabod Crane!”

He’s tall, rail thin, is well-read, and also loves to eat. He goes to his student’s homes to partake in their food, making it a complete part of his lifestyle.

Even though Ichabod isn’t really a what many would call a “looker” he still has all the girls in town’s hearts a flutter.

With a voice like Bing Crosby’s who could blame them?

This of course upsets Brom, who tries his best to prank Ichabod and make him seem dumb.

Next to enter the scene is the lovely Katrina Van Tassel. Not only is she the prettiest in the town, but her father is the richest man.

“Narrator: Oh, Katrina, my love. Who can resist your grace, your charm? And who can resist your father’s farm? Boy, what a set-up! There’s gold in them acres…Dear Katrina, my love, my treasure. Treasure? Ah, that barn’s a gold mine. How I’d love to hit the jackpot. Sweet Katrina, Papa’s only child. Papa? Well, the old goat can’t take it with him, and when he cuts out, that’s where I cut in.” 

Every guy in town wants to get with Katrina, Ichabod included. The only problem is that Brom is interested in Katrina, in fact he is planning on marrying her. Katrina however is enjoying the attention of Ichabod. She likes the fact that he is so different from anyone she’s ever met.

Ichabod is also able to to best Brom in every way, by using his brain over brawn.

However, while Ichabod has a lot of great qualities he is also a very superstitous person. We saw in the song describing him how he doesn’t like black cats, walking under ladders, puts salt over the shoulder, etc.

Brom catches on to this and tells a horrific story about the Headless Horseman.

“Brom Bones: [singing] When the ghosts have a midnight jamboree, they break it up with fiendish glee. Ghosts are bad, but the one that’s cursed, is the Headless Horseman; he’s the worst! 
Chorus: [singing] That’s right, he’s a fright on Halloween night! 
Brom Bones: When he goes a-jogging across the land, holding his noggin in his hand, demons take one look and groan, and they hit the road for parts unknown!…I’m telling you, brother, it’s a frightful sight for what goes on Halloween night.” 

Its midnight and Halloween, and after hearing the story, Ichabod is doubly freaked out on his walk home.

Of course on his way home he runs into THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN!

 “Next morning, Ichabod’s hat was found, and close beside it, a shattered pumpkin, but there was no trace of the schoolmaster. It was shortly thereafter that Brom Bones led the fair Katrina to the altar. Now, rumors persisted that Ichabod was still alive, married to a wealthy widow in a distant county. But of course, the settlers refused to believe such nonsense, for they knew the schoolmaster had been spirited away by the Headless Horseman.”

I always thought that the horseman was Brom and not a ghost, but I like how they end it so that you can draw your own conculsion as to what has really happened.

Hope you enjoyed this hair-raising tale. More to come!

Here is a cover page I made for my facebook for my Halloween countdown

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

For the previous post, go to They’re Here