The Munsters

I'll be honest, the second i saw the obviously out of place title card - my heart sank a little. I interpreted it as a sign of things to come, and i wasn't entirely wrong.

While i did enjoy some aspects of this film, it felt so tonally off, and it wasn't helped by certain cinematic choices. It feels like it tries too hard with the visual humour when the strong suit of The Munsters has always been subtle humour with an alternate take on modern life, but Rob Zombie's choice to structure the film as a cartoon come to life just feels like an unnecessary step to take since you're dealing with what're essentially Universal horror monsters. The transitions are incredibly jarring and they really take you out of the moment, and since they're so frequently spaced throughout the film and get worse with each one it really feels like the film never even has a chance to get going. Which is only made worse but the strange pacing of the plot and and a very sudden ending that comes out of nowhere.

As for the cinematic choices, not concerning transitions, the green lighting is so disheartening. It's unbelievably overused and it takes so much away from some of the more beautifully detailed sets. I can't really think of why it's used so much, other than perhaps as an homage to the green skin of the black and white characters that was always hinted to in the sixties show, but when you have actors caked in colourful makeup the lighting just comes across as another unnecessary presentation choice.

It's not always pleasant to look at and the jokes don't always land, but it does have it's enjoyable moments - such as Richard Brake's overly campy performance channelling Vincent Price from his B movie performances in the Roger Corman 'Poe' movies - yet it's hard to justify the film's existence on that basis since it doesn't have much to offer fans of the source material, and i honestly can't see this depiction of the characters appealing to a new generation of fans.

There have been numerous attempts to reboot this series since the 1960s (and not to doom this movie to failure just yet), but none of them have been successful in their attempt at rebooting the property. However, it still feels as though it has been done better, and on more than one occasion. In 1995, Fox's Halloween TV special "Here Come the Munsters," was a delightful reiteration of The Munsters which provided the family an origin and was effective in spawning another sequel and being as close to the original series as you could get. And more recently the Halloween special in 2012, "Mockingbird Lane," provided the family with a much darker edge that they desperately needed to settle into a new century, and sadly this reboot did fail. But in comparison - especially as Tim Burton's "Wednesday" series is soon to be released - i do think a more serious and darker take on The Munsters is what would have been needed in 2022 instead of a rehash of the original show which just exists as a queer vanity project for a hardcore fan of the show.

I am a huge fan of The Munsters and Rob Zombie's but sadly this just felt a little off to me. And maybe it's just because i really wanted to like it, but can't avoid it's abundantly obvious flaws.

I will give it another chance, since it does have a certain appeal, and i may bump it up to three stars depending on how i like the film when i watch it in black and white. Nevertheless, on a first watch for a big fan, I'm completely split down the middle.

When I first heard about this being made I was excited but worried at the same time. Since the original the straight to DVD/TV movies were just horrible. The only Munster related show that was any good was canceled and that was "Mockingbird Lane". When I read that Rob Zombie was making a movie about the Munsters I thought to myself, he was a big fan of the TV show he will probably do this justice.. Well.. Not quite what I expected.

When I first heard that his wife was going to be playing Lily, I didn't have high hopes for that character. I will have to say I think she did a great job. I have no complaints when it comes to the actors in this movie. But when it comes to the story it is just a mess. I don't think we needed a backstory to this movie. Everyone knows the story of Frankenstein. I think all it needed was a short 20-30 minute backstory and then jump right into them living at 1313 Mockingbird Ln. The story needed to be about them adapting to where they are now living. Instead we just got a small piece of that at the very end.. The set that they built for the movie (The Munster House) Looked amazing. It looked and felt very much like the old TV show. But the sad part is we got very little time spent there. It almost felt like it was a waste to build that house if you were only going to use it at the very end of the movie.

At the end of the day I really hope people and fans see the potential of this movie. I really believe it would make a good TV show with this cast rather than a stand alone movie.. but with someone else writing the scripts. I know Rob Zombie has been complaining that the budget was slim but after seeing this movie I don't think it was the budget that hurt the movie in the end. I believe the lack of storytelling and moving the story along is where the movie fell flat.

I'd give this a 5.7 out of 10.

The Munsters (2022) is a movie my wife and I watched on Netflix last night. The storyline follows a legacy Transylvanian family that's daughter is up for marriage but is struggling to find a worthwhile suitor. However, a recently created monster, named Hermann Munster, is making the local news and rise in the underground rock arena and appears bound to be a star. When he meets the daughter looking for a husband it may be the spark to stardom for both of them.

This movie is directed by Rob Zombie (House of 1,000 Corpses) and stars Sheri Moon Zombie (The Lords of Salem), Jeff Daniel Phillips (Westworld), Richard Brake (Barbarian), Jorge Garcia (Cooties) and Daniel Roebuck (The Fugitive).

The look and feel of this movie had so much potential. The makeup, lighting, sets, attire, props and cinematography is magnificent. This is a fun movie to watch...if you shut the volume off. The writing is absolutely horrendous. The storyline, jokes, one liners and all of the humor was a huge miss. I did enjoy the transition and depiction of America and the ending setup for a television series/sequel spinoff. But getting through this movie was brutal.

Overall, this had everything it needed for success but solid writing. I would score this a 4/10 and try seeing it once.

So, just to start off, I am a Rob Zombie fan. I don't like all his films, but I respect when he swings for the fences and gets a win. Some hits and some misses.

I went into this wanting Rob Zombie to pull a rabbit out of his hat and blow everyone away.

Pros: the sets are really cool. Whoever designed them and anyone that worked on it should feel proud. They look awesome. I'm kinda jealous. If I ever made a movie, I'd love to use them. The lighting was cool too. I know the garish green and purple highlighting will bother some people, but I kinda dig that sort of stuff. And the acting actually wasn't bad either. Everyone was trying really hard with their respective performances and trying to be campy.

Cons: there is something really off about the movie I can't put my finger on. The editing feels "slow" or "delayed" maybe? I can't explain it but maybe some tightening up was in order. The music (or sound effects rather) are trying to imitate the old 60's show. And it doesn't work. They could've hired someone to compose a memorable score and it would've been a lot better. And finally... the film is boring. It feels like it's three hours long. It's really not funny. Rob should have hired another writer to polish things up. Play to your strengths.

There are things that could've been enhanced and the movie would work soooo much better. I'm afraid to say, I think this one's a miss.

The Munsters is a strange one. The first hour is completely abysmal and is verging on one star territory. The second half picks up and once they become a family and the movie more resembles the tv show, it is a lot better.

All the stuff with Dr. Wolfgang & Floop is played so over the top (like all the movie) it becomes a distraction and takes you out of it. Richard Brake's performance is definitely the worst in the film. The early scenes with 'Nosferatu' were also a bad choice.

The last half hour when the Munsters move into their new home is well done and is almost like a confined episode in itself. I wish the whole movie was like this and not the excruciating first hour we are treated to. It would have been good to see Eddie at least for a little bit or even hint at the idea of him towards the end.

The Munsters is ultimately a frustrating failure as Rob Zombie shows flashes of promise and clearly has a love for the project but the first hour of the movie really is unforgivable.