The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo: To All the Ghouls I've Loved Before (1985)

 

Note: The review will contain spoilers as this episode sets up the entire premise of the series. 

A delightful beginning to one of my favorite Scooby series. 

As this episode begins, we see two ghosts, these two ghosts wish to open a chest full of the 13 most powerful and evil ghosts to ever exist. They feel that if they open it, the ghost will consider them heroes and reward them greatly. However the chest can only be opened by the living. When they sense that some mortals who they could trick into opening the chest are coming, they decide that this is just what they need. When then see Scooby, Shaggy, Daphne and Scrappy aboard their plane, The Mystery Flying Machine. The ghosts cause the plane to crash in a nearby town in the Himalayas. We then see a young con-man kid named Flim-Flam (subtle name isn't it). The townspeople have had enough of this little con artist and try to run him out of town. When the plane runs by Flim Flam grabs ahold of it and gets away. A police officer comes by and arrests our heroes. When they see the judge, he demands they leave town before sunset. Flim-Flam suggests that the gang visits his friend the mystic Vincent Van Ghoul (based off of and voiced by the one and only Vincent Price). Vincent warns the gang that this town has a terrible secret, after moon fall, the townsfolk become werewolves. The townsfolk learning that the gang knows their secret decides they can't leave and tries to keep them there. They even turn Daphne into a werewolf. Luckily the gang escapes and Flim-Flam's Lottsa Luck Joy Juice actually works and turn Daphne back into herself. The gang runs to an old, abandoned temple where the ghosts are keeping their plane. The townsfolk follow them there. Flim Flam turns them back to normal with his tonic and they tell Daphne, Scrappy and Flim-Flam how they trapped the 13 ghosts in the chest but before it was locked the 13 ghosts put a curse on the town. However Daphne realizes that Scooby and Shaggy aren't with them. They try to catch them before the duo is tricked into opening the chest, but they are too late. Scooby has opened the chest and the ghosts are now free. Vincent tells the gang that only the ones who opened the chest can put the ghosts back in it. So the gang (with the help of Flim-Flam) have to search for and capture the ghosts themselves.

This episode may in many ways be just set-up (for the first Scooby series with an overarching storyline), but it is excellent set-up. This episode perfectly establishes what will be the overarching story. Though we don't get to see any of the individual ghosts, this episode sets up that these are huge threats to our heroes and something much more serious than the bad guys in costumes they had gone after in previous series. Though some may not like the idea of the gang going after real ghosts, I think it is important for a franchise to always try out new things and this series is a delightful change of pace. This episode also a wonderful creepy atmosphere and a sense of real dread. The franchise has not been this effectively creepy since the best episodes of Scooby-Doo! Where Are You! The design of Daphne as a werewolf is especially delightfully creepy. This episode also has a lot of story and characters. Yet the story never feels rushed, even in a half hour episode, and the main characters each get their chance to shine. 

I will admit the humor in this episode is not as great as it will be in future episodes. Because of the amount of story that needs to be told, there are not that many good laughs here. Though the jokes that are here aren't bad, they pale in comparison to the great humor that will be in future episodes of this show.  

This is one of my favorite Scooby shows and I am so excited to re-watch and review it. This episode is certainly a great start.