Lily (Sheri Moon Zombie) meets Herman (Jeff Daniel Phillips) and they fall in love and get married against Lily’s father’s (Daniel Roebuck) wishes. It shows their time in Transylvania and coming to America.
Director: Rob Zombie
Cast: Sherri Moon Zombie, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Daniel Roebuck, Richard Brake, Sylvester McCoy, Cassandra Peterson. Jorge Garcia
MPAA Rating: PG for language, scary images, macabre & suggestive material
Run Time: 1hr 49min
Fun Fact: Rob Zombie is a huge fan of The Munsters. One of his most well know songs is called Dragula, the car in the television.
Once again, I found out about The Munsters television series through my dad. We were watching television one Saturday morning and on one of the local stations had it airing, and we just ended up watching the hour it was on. I remember liking the show but didn’t make sure I was in front of the television whenever it was on. Rob Zombie on the other hand is a mega fan of it.
Say what you want about Rob Zombie and his directing career. I have seen people absolutely love what he does, and other people down right hate it. Some like me have been mixed on his work and when I heard he was taking up on this project I was curious at what he was going to do. Some thought he was going to take the source material and make a darker version of it. When it was announced that the film would be rated PG, it got me really curious, and Rob Zombie did say that it wasn’t his intention to make a film that he usually does with this one.
What we get is an over the top, campy, colorful, and at times a laugh out loud movie and I loved ever minute of it. Off the bat the production values are top notch. The colors are bright and stand out. It’s the complete opposite of what Zombie usually does in the production department. I follow Zombie on social media, and he posted photos of the sets being built and it all looked fantastic. It felt like being in a Halloween theme park with all the characters. I’m a die-hard horror fan so it was awesome to see all the tributes to classic monster characters through the ages. Speaking of the characters the make up work on them is great as well. You could tell that the budget was distributed well on the technical aspects of the film.
As for casting you couldn’t pick anyone more perfect for this film. The whole cast has great chemistry with each other. People like to hammer on Sheri Moon Zombie’s acting and the fact she only gets the roles because of her husband. In this film she delivered a great performance as Lily. She relies on her mannerisms that make the character unique. Jeff Daniel Phillips portrays Herman, and he has some great moments. He gives us his own version of Herman and its also a tribute to Fred Gwynn as well. Daniel Roebuck as Grandpa has some of the funniest moments in the film. It had me laughing pretty good at times and there is a scene between him and Jeff Daniel Phillips when they first meet that was my favorite of the whole film. Richard Brake, who is one of my favorite actors (and a really awesome person when I met him a few years ago at a convention) is the mad scientist Dr. Henry Augustus Wolfgang. Brake is having the time of his life with the role. He also plays another character while on the smaller side was just as fun to see. The whole cast is having a great time and it feels like it a passion project for them as well.
While the story is basic, for a film like this it doesn’t need to be anything more than that. This is a prequel to set up these characters and to introduce them to newer audiences. This is what a true reboot should be. When it comes to passion projects they can be hit and miss, and you can see the love that Rob Zombie has for the source material. He respects it and wants to make it available for everyone. It’s refreshing to see something like this from him because honestly some of his films felt like he kept recycling certain things over and over again. To me this is his best film in quite sometime and I hope he makes more films like this in the future.
Overall, The Munsters is what a true reboot should be. We get a colorful and funny film that is different than what we are used to when it comes to a Rob Zombie film. You can see his love and passion for the source material, and it shines. The whole cast is on the same page as Zombie is and it shows in their performances. The film is something for the whole family to enjoy because it has a bit of everything for everyone. Hey Netflix, Rob Zombie, and Universal Studios, I really hope you make more of this because I want to see more. Either it be more movies or even a series that would be awesome.
Verdict: Hit
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