History YMMV / ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland

* FirstInstallmentWins: Oodles of direct-to-video ''Scooby-Doo'' films followed the success of this one, but few if any of them earned as much acclaim.

%%* SignatureScene: The "Terror Time" chase sequence and the build-up to it (a zombie's head falling off and then it putting it back on before more zombies emerge from the swamp).

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Considering that [[spoiler:there are actual mentions of people dying, the gang themselves almost die several times, the monsters suffer {{Cruel And Unusual Death}}s, and the overall darker atmosphere]], yes, some may find it difficult to consider this a film for kids.

** Whilst the two main villains' backstory concerning their descent into evil is undeniably tragic, they're over the line once it's revealed that, after they took their revenge [[spoiler:on Moonscar and his crew]], they started making more [[spoiler:restlessly undead]] victims out of innocent people [[spoiler:just to maintain their immortality]], amassing a body count which is surely in at least the hundreds [[spoiler:by the present day]].
** The above villains' collaborator [[spoiler:Jacques]] is also over the line once it's revealed that he joined them, [[spoiler:accepted the werecat curse]], and has been setting their annual victims up for their deaths [[spoiler:and eternal undeath]] ever since, all of his own free will. [[spoiler:Unlike Lena and Simone, who initially only brought the curse on themselves out of righteous vengeance and genuinely didn't know what they were getting themselves into until it was too late; Jacques has no tragic backstory, and by Simone's account, he signed up with Team Werecat simply because he craved immortality and feared death]].

* AssPull: While that twist is well-explained and developed after it's revealed, there was little to no foreshadowing about the [[spoiler:existence of a cat god]] prior to TheReveal. Although, it should be noted that this started life as an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SwatKatsTheRadicalSquadron'', explaining things.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Younger viewers watching the movie decades after the 90s might wonder what the big deal about this movie was since there have been numerous ''Scooby-Doo'' animated movies since this one was released, many that have built significantly upon the foundation laid by this film, not to mention the numerous ''Scooby-Doo'' television shows. It's hard to remember now that when this movie came out, the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise was essentially dead in the water, good only for reruns and schedule filler. The shot in the arm this movie gave the franchise simply ''cannot'' be understated.

* DracoInLeatherPants: [[spoiler:Lena and Simone, despite the atrocious nature of their AxCrazy actions and horrific fates given to their victims after draining them, are given this treatment by some fans due to their tragic WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds backstories as well as their [[EvilIsSexy beautiful character designs]], especially Lena, as she was the least evil of the three villains. You ''will'' want to give Lena a big hug after hearing her and Simone's StartOfDarkness. Simone to a lesser extent, only because she'd likely claw your eyes out if you tried. Plus, their frightening deaths are something of an AlasPoorVillain moment for them as as tragic as their motives, they get to receive {{Cruel and Unusual Death}}s, although also [[AssholeVictim deserving given what they did to their victims]]. However, all this can't whitewash the fact that they killed innocent people who had nothing to do with their plight [[ImmortalityImmorality in order to continue living forever]].]]

* EvilIsCool: [[spoiler:Simone Lenoir and Lena Dupree]], despite being one-shot villains, are quite popular for being the first enemies in the franchise to be treated as a serious threat, being both [[EvilIsSexy appealing in human form]] and outright scary in monster form, having a tragic backstory, and for suffering a FamilyUnfriendlyDeath that would give child fans of the franchise nightmares.
* EvilIsSexy: [[spoiler:Lena and Simone, before their transformations into cat creatures.]]

* ToughActToFollow: While future installments attempted to continue riding the "Monsters are Real" wave, none of them have quite been able to capture the admiration of this film. ''[[WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheWitchsGhost Witch's Ghost]]'' likely came the closest, and that was more due to the Hex Girls inadvertently tapping into the [[GothGirlsKnowMagic Hot Goth]] fandom than anything. The [[WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooReturnToZombieIsland direct sequel]] produced [[DistantSequel several decades later]] was met with such middling reception, especially due to the zombies in it ending up actually just being people in costumes, that it's basically been relegated to FanonDiscontinuity.

* AssPull: While that twist is well-explained and developed after it's revealed, there was little to no foreshadowing about the [[spoiler:existence of a cat god]] prior to TheReveal.

** There is a misconception that this movie is the first time in the Scooby Doo franchise that the monsters are real instead of just being a hoax. This mostly stems from the commercial that only said "this time the monsters are real", which of course was true but doesn't actually mean it's the first time. It was actually just the first time that the original five are there with real monsters as the main antagonists [[note]] ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooAndScrappyDooShow'' was the first time real supernatural things happened, but only featured Scooby and Shaggy (with Scrappy); ''WesternAnimation/The13GhostsOfScoobyDoo'' was the first time the series used real monsters as antagonists, but only with Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby (plus Scrappy and Flim-Flam); and ''WesternAnimation/APupNamedScoobyDoo'' was the first to feature the original gang with a real ghost in a HalloweenEpisode, but the gang were SpinOffBabies and the ghost was not the antagonist.[[/note]]

** The later DVD release back crawl played with words to a silly level that lets them use the tagline but make it technically true with "for the first time in their lives, these ghouls might actually be real".

** There is a misconception that this movie is the first time in the Scooby Doo franchise that the monsters are real instead of just being a hoax. This mostly stems from the commercial that only said "this time the monsters are real", which of course was true but doesn't actually mean it's the first time. What it actually would be the first time is only that the original five are there with real monsters as the main antagonists.

** The villains themselves are some of the most intimidating in series history because they're a genuine set of [[SerialKiller persistent murderers.]] But all of that intimidation flies out the window when they consistently move to [[JustHitHim pester and grab the heroes]] rather than do anything bad to them because it's still a relative children's film. This reaches its peak with the climax, where [[spoiler:Lena and Simone opt to intimidate, exposit, and effectively {{Troll}} the captured gang (and Beau) at their mercy, when they're ''on a time limit that will finally kill them'', which gets enough time for Scooby and Shaggy [[BigDamnHeroes to accidentally interfere]] and ends up undoing the duo and Jacques.]] It becomes NarmCharm for some because it's exactly the kind of thing a Scooby villain would do, but really undermines how grim the threat is supposed to be.

** [[spoiler:Jacques crossed by [[LesCollaborateurs accepting the curse willingly, and then setting victims up for their deaths not out of need for life-force but because he]] ''[[LesCollaborateurs enjoys]]'' [[LesCollaborateurs his work]]]].
** [[spoiler:Simone and Lena crossed it when they decide to abuse the powers granted by their god, draining innocent people of their life force in order to attain immortality]].

* AngstWhatAngst: The gang [[spoiler:and Beau]] walk away surprisingly okay from their nightmarish hell of an adventure that involved them almost dying numerous times.

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:[[BitchInSheepsClothing Jacques]] stands out as a stark contrast with his two [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds co-conspirators]]. While his partners had no idea that praying to their cat god for help in their pursuit of vengeance would lead to their transformation into monsters, Jacques was a normal man who [[ImmortalityImmorality willingly became a monster to become immortal]]. For years, he's been using his ferry to escort people to Moonscar Island, only for him and his partners to [[LifeDrinker drain the life from them]]. Afterwards, their victims are left to wander the island as zombies, [[AndIMustScream aware but unable to move on to the afterlife]]]].