That does sound cheesy and a bit of a cliche, but that's how good "That's Monstertainment" is. It was when watching 'The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo' for the first time the episode that introduced me to the show, and it immediately made me eager to see the other twelve. Loved its creepiness, the fun, the way it was animated and Zomba and being already someone who loved Universal and Gothic horror the references and such were not lost on me.
On all my re-watches of 'The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo', "That's Monstertainment" has always been my favourite episode and the only one considered faultless by me. A massive improvement over the previous episode "Reflections in a Ghoulish Eye", which has always been one of my least favourites of the show. It has the most unique and cleverest concept of the thirteen episodes which it clearly had a ball with. It stands out visually. It has one of the best villains. It is the episode that felt truest to the show's premise and the inspired homaging of Universal horror and the Frankenstein story was quite an ingenious set up. And "That's Monstertainment" is also one of only two episodes, with this getting the edge, where Flim Flam is tolerable.
It is the best looking episode of 'The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo' and in style it does stand out for being different, no other episode for the episode looked like "That's Monstertainment". The Gothic black and white visuals when trapped inside the film are both beautiful and eerie, full of atmosphere, and while they may not be ambitious they are not simplistic. The music is more haunting than usual in how it is used and placed, the familiar themes for the show are here but used in a way that makes them more haunting, more ominous without feeling repetitive. It is especially good in the first scene when stuck in the film. The theme tune and opening titles sequence are still absolutely great.
Zomba is one of the best villains of 'The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo', my favourite being between her and Maldor. She is absolutely hilarious but she is also sinister. The voice acting is right on, especially Vincent Price whose experience in horror and Edgar Allan Poe is put to magnificent use in how he delivers his lines. Susan Blu was clearly having a ball as Zomba. There are some funny moments, the best lines going to Shaggy and their encounters with the monster and Zomba are reminiscent of encounters with ghosts in previous incarnations in terms of humour type while not being too coincidental. The comic moments in the house are wonderfully silly but never overdone, there was never a scene before or since for any of the show's villains that is funnier than when Zomba is caught in the alarm system trap.
Vincent's dialogue has plenty of intrigue and with a masterful Gothic horror quality. He and Flim Flim have great chemistry together and it was great to see them work the way they do. The story is creepy and entertaining, with the atmosphere of the genre and the 'Frankenstein' story nailed. It is an ingenious premise that suits Scooby Doo perfectly, the franchise and the Frankenstein story mix together like fine wine and fresh cheese (a harmonious combination). While the character reenactment subplot is a little more interesting than Vincent and Flim Flam's, both work beautifully and gel more than coherently. All the Scooby Doo characters fit their respective 'Frankenstein' roles perfectly, especially Scooby (or should that be Frankenscoob?). The monster is both scary and oddly cute.
Climax is a lot of fun and exciting, the outcome is not in doubt but how it's done is not predictable. This, and to a lesser extent "It's a Wonderful Scoob", is also the only episode where Flim Flam is tolerable and adds anything, loved his chemistry with Vincent, his arrogance and over-zealousness is played down rather than exaggerated, none of the already repetitive running jokes are here or over-played and his telling off of the monster is one of the few times where he was funny.
In conclusion, absolutely brilliant. 10/10.
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