The Munsters(TMDB) is a prequel movie to the classic 60’s sitcom, written and directed by Rob Zombie.
Lily is a typical 150-year-old lovelorn vampire who’s looking for the man of her nightmares – until she lays her eyes on Herman, a 7-foot-tall green experiment with a heart of gold. It’s love at first shock as these two ghouls fall fangs over feet for each other in a Transylvanian romance. Unfortunately, it’s not all smooth sailing in the cemetery as Lily’s father has other plans for his beloved daughter’s future, and they don’t involve her new bumbling beau.
From the moment this movie was announced the fans were split. Not without reason, The Munsters is a much loved sitcom and not everybody is a fan of Rob Zombie, known for some pretty disturbing horror movies.
I, however, am a fan of RZ. Both his music and his movies have been much loved for a couple of decades ever since I first heard Dragula (yup, like the drag racer in the episode “Hot Rod Herman”).
After the announcement I was excited, albeit with doubts. If anybody could do the show justice it has to be life long fan RZ.
Seeing the cast announcements and the stills from filming got me quite enthused, so much effort went into costume and set design (and it was well worth it).
Finally the movie was released. It took a couple of weeks before I could watch it because being an adult and a parent really eats into my media consuming time.
When I did get time to watch it I enjoyed it, more than I thought but less than I hoped.
From the very start the colour palette is vivid, for want of a better word. When I saw the trailer and images I was a bit put off but seeing the whole movie I actually liked it. RZ made it work really well with the story and about half way through I remember thinking how much I enjoyed the colour of the whole thing.
I have since found out that the studio wouldn’t let him do it in black & white so he went the complete opposite and saturated it with colour.
The opening introduces us to Richard Brake’s Dr Wolfgang and his assistant Floop played by Jorge Garcia. An okay start, but I felt the jokes landed a bit soft. The chemistry between these two in later scenes is very enjoyable though.
The Count (not Grandpa, he has no Grandson yet) is the first of the main three we meet. I have to say, Daniel Roebuck did an excellent job. Probably my favourite of the three main cast. Not trying to copy Al Lewis, nevertheless bringing the same personality and humour to the character.
Then we meet Igor, who is not a bat. Played by Sylvester McCoy and is as great as you would expect throughout the movie.
Now Lily. Lily, Lily. I was dubious about Sherri Moon Zombie playing this character. I think she is good in RZ’s other movies, but she was always playing original characters. With Lily, Yvonne De Carlo had set a pretty high bar.
At first I was a bit meh about the character. My expectations were met. Over the course of the movie, however, I actually felt she did a decent job. After the first 20 minutes or so it felt like Sherri had found what she was going for and settled into the role which made it really easy to enjoy.
Lily’s first scene is on a date with Orlock, also played by Brake. An awesome character, looks as evil and nasty as possible yet is really goofy. Brake is an excellent actor.
We are also introduced to Lester, Lily’s scheming older brother, played by Tomas Boykin. I didn’t care for the character in his first scene although his subsequent scenes were pretty good.
A lot of well played, colourful characters are met throughout the movie including none other than Elvira herself, Cassandra Peterson, playing real estate agent Barbara Carr.
The big one is of course Herman. I thought Jeff Daniel Phillips did a decent job with the mannerisms and that goofy laugh. The makeup was excellent as well. The only part that threw me was his voice. It sounded like Lonny Ross’ character from 30 Rock, and as much as I tried that comparison could not be unheard. It did put me off a bit but his constant puns made up for it, some absolute gems in there.
Despite the fact I didn’t like Herman’s voice, I want to watch it again to see if I can enjoy it more now that I will be expecting it.
As with all of RZ’s movies the soundtrack is solid. No surprise he has a good ear for music really.
Overall it is a fun, family friendly, good movie. You certainly feel the passion from RZ, I think he did a good job at doing the characters justice while still bringing something original.