Rob Zombie's The Munsters

[MonsterBaker666]

Saw it.  P U.

Lots of problems with it, but the main one is it's a comedy...that isn't funny.

Daniel Roebuck is good as The Count.  The rest of the cast...forgettable.  Some cameos by other celebs of the past, but they too are just forgettable after the "oh...that's...what's her name!"  wears off.  I can see rob Zombie was going for a look in the film with all the bright colors and such, but for me that was kind of distracting.  I'm not sure who he's aiming this movie at - it doesn't feel like the old TV show, and doesn't really look like it yet he keeps throwing in references to it.  It's also way too long.  I kept hoping it would be over soon enough. 

There's always a problem with these remakes - you just can't catch lightning in a bottle.  The original was a great show - it fit with the old universal monster movies - B&W, scary looking sets, good characters and the actors all fit the part.  This movie just misses ever mark.  We really didn't need a back story to the show.  And this back story just doesn't work. 

[batgirly]

I just watched this. I really enjoyed it. Like a PG House of 1000 Corpses (which is my favorite Zombie flick).
Great for Halloween time, good fun.

[zombiehorror]

We really didn't need a back story to the show.  And this back story just doesn't work.

It isn't a backstory to the Munsters series since it doesn't even follow established lore/canon; this is RZ's own take on an origina story for his version of the Munsters. In the show Herman was created by Dr. Frankenstein (he also created Charlie and Johann) and Grandpa was friends with Dr. Frankenstein and present during Herman's creation. Also Herman fought for the U.S. in WWII meaning he at least had to have moved to the U.S. and become a U.S. citizen prior to 1945.

[Anton Phibes]

As a kid....I never got into the Munsters. I know, I know...blasphemy. I didn't "get it" at the time.

I thought they were making fun of the classic Universal Monsters.

My grandmother and my father taught me to treat those films as if they were a artistic masterpieces. So I did.  I still do.

Over the years, I have warmed up a tad to The Munsters.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Dan again. He treated my wife and I as if we were the celebrities. He was the reason I watched RZ's Munsters.

If I closed my eyes, I could believe it was Al Lewis. Dan is amazing in his love letter to this show.

No matter your feelings on the finished product, it's obvious everyone involved was very enthusiastic, and believed in what they were doing.

It's obviously a loving homage to the classic show.

I also liked the fact that we finally get a reason why Eddie is a werewolf. It's a recessive gene that runs in the family on Lily's side,lol. Poor Lester.

[Rex fury]

Watching it this afternoon, the show put a nice cap on a perfect Fall day. Some of the scenes were fun and I got a good laugh or two. Some other scenes didn't really work for me. I agree that the actor playing Grandpa nailed the role.  He really sounded and acted like I remember Al Lewis in the part. Zombie's daughter did a nice job as Lily, and the actor playing Herman also turned in a few good performances. The use of day glow color worked great in places, but was distracting in others. Nice to see Uncle Gilbert again and I liked the idea that he watches himself in the old CFTBL films.
That said, I dosed off in a few parts of the movie. No doubt the Octoberfest IPA I consumed played a part in that. However, combining this new Munsters project, a sunny warm day and some Fall foliage I really felt the day was a great kick start to my favorite time of year.
RF

[zombiehorror]

Zombie's daughter did a nice job as Lily,

Just a head's up, that's Rob Zombie's wife.

[zombiehorror]

I also liked the fact that we finally get a reason why Eddie is a werewolf. It's a recessive gene that runs in the family on Lily's side,lol. Poor Lester.

That's pretty much been fan theory since forever given that Ly's brother was a werewolf; I don't believe it was ever mentioned in the original series though.

[Mike Scott]

I agree that the actor playing Grandpa nailed the role. 

The actor is Dan Roebuck, the UMA's very own "gracebuster". 

[Anton Phibes]

I don't believe it was ever mentioned in the original series though.

Which is exactly why I didn't know it, as it was never fleshed out or bothered with. Now it has been.

[marsattacks666]

I feel Zombie wanted to actually film this in B/W

[zombiehorror]

I feel Zombie wanted to actually film this in B/W

Someone said on Facebook that Zombie did an interview and stated he did want to do it in b/w but Universal wouldn't greenlight that so if he had to do color he was going to crank up the pallette.

I just got done watching the movie; didn't hate it but didn't love it either. The beginning could use some re-editing and while some scenes had a classic Munster feel they were few and far between; for the most part it felt like RZ used the 60's Batman series as the template for this. Daniel Roebuck was great. I did end up mostly liking Jeff Daniel Phillips take on Herman but sometimes it bordered on parody. Sheri Moon Zombie was passable as Lily.

[Universalrocks]

Lukewarm here. Didn't really hate it, but didn't love it either. As several have mentioned, Dan did a spectacular job as Grandpa. I thought the color lighting might have been paying homage to Basil Gogos. But after hearing what Rob Zombie said in his interview, guess I can't go in that direction. Would have been cool if that was his thought.

Sent from my SM-G781U using Tapatalk

[zombiehorror]

I think this is the interview the Facebook poster was talking about but it doesn't appear that RZ even brought up shooting the film in b/w to Universal and just figured it would be a no from them.

https://collider.com/the-munsters-reboot-rob-zombie-color-film-comments/

[Haunted hearse]

That's pretty much been fan theory since forever given that Ly's brother was a werewolf; I don't believe it was ever mentioned in the original series though.

Lester made an appearance on the original Munsters series in the series in the episode "Herman's Rival" Herman made him a loan. He appears at the end of the episode, in the Gypsy Tea Room, where Lily has taken a job.

[aura of foreboding]

Thoughts:

It got better as it went along.  I did not like the beginning, and actually wanted to turn it off a few times, but I warmed up to it as it went along.  I chuckled a few times, mostly at Dan as Grandpa, but there were two times Herman made me laugh, and once with Lily at the very end.  Most of the humor didn't hit the mark, but there were times it worked. 

I have to say the color and depth were fixed from the trailer, but there was this weird gradient, almost pixelation -- as if from improper chromakeying -- that appeared on the actors' faces in a lot of this film, especially in the Transylvania scenes. 

A lot of people have complained about the ending.  I understood the ending, but it definitely could have been executed better.  Odd. 

There were so many anachronistic things in this film, and it really took me out of it.  This was clearly supposed to be set in the late '50s or early '60s, so why the weird anachronisms? 

I liked the origin stories for Spot and Igor.

I think zombiehorror kind of hit the nail on the head that this was not the Munsters and was definitely Batman-inspired.  Grandpa even did this:
https://youtu.be/RsYA8Gr5NTY?t=115 

I don't hate this film.  Would I watch it again?  Probably not.  Was it offensive to the Munsters?  No.  Was it worse than any of the Munsters projects since the original series went off the air?  I don't think so.  What made Munster, Go Home and Munsters Revenge so watchable was seeing the original cast.  Would this film have been better with Fred Gwynne and Yvonne De Carlo?  Undoubtedly.  Would it have changed how I view it?  Undoubtedly.  Would I watch it again and again with them?  Probably.  That's the interesting thing about The Munsters.  It was the chemistry of the original cast that made it work, even when it didn't.  It was Fred Gwynne that made Herman so lovable, even when the scripts weren't very good.  Could we ever get any actors to fill the shoes of Gwynne and De Carlo?  I don't know.  Dan did a phenomenal job as Grandpa, so possibly.  But this is the film we got.  And it doesn't deserve the hate it's probably going to get.