Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster

'Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster' is a live action television film directed by Brian Levant for Cartoon Network and based on the Saturday morning cartoon series Scooby-Doo by Hanna-Barbera. It is the fourth and final (chronologically, the second) installment in the Scooby-Doo live-action film series, a prequel to the first two films and a direct sequel to the 2009 film Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins, whose cast reprise their roles again here. The film was shot in Santa Clarita, California and Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California and premiered on October 16, 2010.

Plot
School has just ended for the summer. Velma (Hayley Kiyoko), Shaggy (Nick Palatas), and Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker) meet up with Fred (Robbie Amell) and Daphne (Kate Melton) so they can go to meet Daphne's uncle, Thornton "Thorny" Blake V, who has given them summer jobs at his country club in Erie Point.

That night at the club's opening party, a huge frog-like monster suddenly appears and wreaks havoc. The gang decides to solve the mystery. They decide to investigate the only person who has ever taken a picture of the lake monster, Mr. Uggins, the lighthouse keeper. He then tells them the story of the lake monster: how when people were first settling Erie Point, an old woman named Wanda Grubwort warned them not to come onto her land. They paid no attention to her, so she used her magic staff - which used moonstones as the source of her power - to turn a frog into a horrible monster that attacked the villagers. Wanda was later tried for witchery and burnt at the stake.

The next day, Velma shows the others security footage of the lake monster's attack at the party, and it shows the lake monster meeting a mysteriously masked figure on the beach. They begin to zoom in on the figure to see its face, but Velma accidentally spills her green tea on the computer and destroys the footage.

The next morning, they find Velma unconscious on the beach. She says she was out walking when the fog rolled in. Shaggy begins to tell her that he was very worried, but stops when he notices warts on her hand. Velma looks surprised, but guiltily assures them that it's nothing. After they fill her in on the latest monster attack, Daphne says that she saw purple paint on the figure's cloak, and suggests they check out a boat that they saw on the way to Erie Point.

Shaggy asks Velma out on a date. Things go well until he lights a match to light some candles. Velma flings herself back in terror, though she is unsure why. Shaggy calls out the waiter, who turns out to be Scooby Doo, who is angry at Shaggy for ignoring him lately and is trying to ruin the date. Scooby bites Shaggy, causing Shaggy to knock over the table and drop the moonstone on the ground that he was going to give to Velma as a surprise. Fred and Daphne go to see the boat. On the boat they discover that the moonstones in Wanda's staff were scattered and buried many years ago, and that she had some children which were found in the caves that she lived in.

When Fred and Daphne get back to Shaggy's and share what they found out. They drive to the home of the woman who is Wanda's descendant. They see the witch's figure through the windows, which is he a very warty Velma. However, she claims to not be Velma and attacks the gang, knocking them out for a moment. The gang wakes up later and find Mrs. Grubwort, who says that her evil ancestor has possessed Velma.

The gang realizes that they missed all the little signs - the warts, Velma's fear of fire, her love of moonstones, and how she spilled the tea on the video of the witch because it was going to show her face - that should have proved Velma was up to something. The woman says that Wanda probably would have gone to the underwater caves. They arrive in the cave and Shaggy bursts out of hiding and commands Velma to stop. Wanda sets her monsters on the gang, and while Scooby, Fred and Daphne run for their lives, Shaggy stays back and tries to help Velma fight the witch.

Meanwhile, Fred and Daphne reach a dead end. The lake monsters then burst through the wall. At the same time, Shaggy tries to save Velma by singing her favorite song. Velma joins in, and manages to break free of the witch's control. The ghost of Wanda tries to grab her staff, but Scooby Doo arrives just in time and smashes it into a rock, destroying Wanda. Fred and Daphne, who are about to be killed and are clutching one another for dear life, see the monsters turn back into frogs. They run back to Shaggy, who is confessing how much he really likes Velma. Velma and Shaggy kiss, but afterwards both agree that they didn't feel a single spark, and it's better if they're just friends and they all agree as they do a group hug.

Cast

 * Robbie Amell as Fred Jones
 * Kate Melton as Daphne Blake
 * Hayley Kiyoko as Velma Dinkley
 * Nick Palatas as Norville "Shaggy" Rogers
 * Frank Welker as Scooby-Doo (voice)
 * Ted McGinley as Thornton "Thorny" Blake V
 * Richard Moll as Elmer Uggins
 * Marion Ross as Hilda Trowburg
 * Beverly Sanders as Wanda Grubwort

Trailer
A short trailer of the film was shown on Cartoon Network on August 1, 2010, depicting Scooby and Shaggy at the beach.

Ratings
The television premiere drew 5.1 million viewers.

The movie received mixed reviews.

Home media
The film was released on DVD through Warner Home Video on March 1, 2011. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment distributed the film on Blu-ray Disc.