Here we are—the movie people love to hate.
Let me preface this review by saying I’m both a fan of Rob Zombie films and the classic The Munsters television show. Because of these facts, I have been excited to watch Rob Zombie’s The Munsters from the beginning.
I must admit, Rob Zombie’s other movies—especially House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects—will get more long term love out of me. But, I also must admit, I actually enjoyed this new take on The Munsters quite a bit.
Probably most impressive is the set design. From beginning to end you feel like you’re in a nostalgic childhood dream of Halloween. Like you’re starring in an R.L. Stine or Ray Bradbury novel. All the greens, oranges, and purples. The glowing neon lights amongst the shadows and artificial fog. They’re operating in a wonderland of spookiness, a place any child with a taste for the dark side yearns for in their most wild imaginings. I’m not overstating this. The atmosphere is incredible.
Obviously, the complaints about the film are not about the set design though. The complaints are about the silliness, the acting, and, of course, the use of Sheri Moon Zombie as the lead. First off, if you weren’t expecting The Munsters to be goofy and dumb and slapstick from beginning to end, then you aren’t familiar with the original show. It is also a dumb, slapstick presentation. Regarding the acting, is the new cast as good as the old? No, probably not. Certainly Jeff Daniel Phillips can’t compete with Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster. But they all do a fair job, even Sheri Moon, who I think played the role of Lily quite well. A little goofier than Yvonne De Carlo would have done it, but I’m okay with that.
Other things I liked before saying what I didn’t like: The scenes with Count Orlock were hilarious. Cassandra Peterson making an appearance was gold. And the wardrobe folks deserve as much credit as the set design folks.
What wasn’t good. . .was the story itself. There just wasn’t much to it. There were loose ends that were never made right and almost a complete lack of conflict. One could say this was frequently the case in the TV show, but in a feature length movie, you need more conflict, not less. I think the rambling, plotless nature of the film likely drove away some people.
But, frankly, I think a good many people hate the movie simply because it’s popular to hate. It’s been popular on social media to hate Rob Zombie movies for a while now, similar to how everyone on the planet now says Nickelback sucks. They sure sold a lot of albums if everyone thinks they suck. It’s fashionable hatred, in part.
PC3’s Horror and Exploitation Movie Scale of Awesomeness!
Gore - 0
Special Effects - 6
Nudity/Sexuality - 0
Wow Factor - 5
Acting - 4
Fear Factor - 0
Story/Plot/Originality - 2
Cinematography/Atmosphere - 10
Sound/Music - 7
Fun Factor - 6
So there you have it. The Munsters receives a 40 on the PHEMSA. Look, if you don’t like dumb horror comedies, you will not like this movie. If you don’t like Rob Zombie movies, this film won’t do much to sway those feelings. But I had fun. Petal, my wife, who had never seen the original show, liked it as well. She thought Herman was a little too silly, but she loved the color of the sets. We didn’t watch it with the kids, but I imagine pre-teens might find it quite fun. You can see it on Netflix!