Tag: Rob Zombie

October Challenge – Day 2

I’m going horror adjacent with todays October review. There is definitely horror here, just more for the viewer than the characters. This is a difficult franchise to do in the modern day, but with Rob Zombie helming it, most had already written this off and assumed it was just going to be a self indulgent mess that mostly existed to showcase his wife Sherri Moon-Zombie. When the cast was announced and Sherri was as expected playing Lilly Munster, I think most horror fans knew what way it the wind was blowing.

Still, I decided to give the film a chance. In the 1980’s in the UK a lot of 60’s shows were regularly being re-run at around 5/6pm. The timing was about right for schoolkids like myself as the regular kids programming ended around 5pm and we always wanted more to watch (We were the MTV generation after all, we did a lot of TV). Amongst those shows was The Munsters, so I am well acquainted with the eccentricities and humour style of the TV.

Dead and Kicking.

To me it’s clear that Rob Zombie was trying to reproduce that style as true to the original as possible, but the fact is it doesn’t really work in the present day. Perhaps had he gone all the way and made the film in black and white it may have felt more authentic and perhaps some of the cheesier moments may have felt more charming than cheap. As it is, the style doesn’t really work. Anyone that hasn’t grown up watching The Munsters probably won’t even get what they are going for and just mark the entire movie down as just cheap and amateur.

Part of that problem may be due to the fact that many of the actors just aren’t that good. While they may be trying to act like characters performing for a sit com in front of a live audience, they always feel like they are trying a bit too hard. Over acting is abundant and while it’s clear that is meant to be part of the joke, it is also clear Rob Zombie doesn’t have the skills necessary to stop his actors slipping from soundstage sitcom and going full on pantomime.

Memoirs of an Invisible Plot

The second huge problem is the plot. Specifically, that there isn’t one. The entire film is basically set up as a prequel to The Munsters as we know them. Most of the film is set in a comedy version of Transylvania with them only arriving in America in the last twenty minutes. There is no real antagonist, just a vague plot involving a Lester, a Werewolf cousin and his debts to a loan shark Gypsy. Neither Lester nor the Gypsy are in the movie for probably more than 5 minutes and exist only to facilitate the move to the US in a way that is about as smooth as a truck drivers gear shift.

The film focuses on the romance between Lilly and Herman. Because this is a prequel, the kids have not even been born yet so the “Family” is literally just them and Grandpa. Daniel Roebuck incidentally is the highlight of the film in the role of Grandpa, but is a long way from being good enough to salvage this mess. At the least though, I respect the casting on that one. I also didn’t mind Sylvester McCoy as Igor. His tendency for over acting meant the former Doctor Who fit this movie like a glove.

Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun

Unsurprisingly the focus is on Sherri Moon-Zombie as Lilly, and her performance is probably the weakest of the film. Yvonne De Carlo is no doubt turning in her grave [Insert Vampire Joke Here]. Honestly though it’s hard to say if the problem is her acting or her husbands directing. There are fleeting moments of charm but not enough to make the performance passable. The romance between Herman and Lilly is not at all interesting or romantic and the whole time through I was just waiting for them to get past that bit and move on to the actual movie. But they never did.

The entire film feels like a first act, when they move to America it feels like we are entering the second act and the film is about to really get going. But then you realise we only have 20 minutes left. Enough time for a Cassandra Peterson cameo (Though not as Elvira) and not much else. After waiting the entire film for them to get to their iconic home, we are treated to about 10 seconds of the Munsters theme before the credits roll and switch to a new song, presumably written by Zombie. That’s it.

Conclusion (or possibly Concussion)

I don’t really understand who this film is for. Fans of the series will feel cheated by the prequel nature of it (I know I did) while people that aren’t fans will write it off as cheap, badly acted garbage. As far as I can tell the only audience for this film is Rob Zombie and Sherri Moon Zombie. I don’t know if The Munsters can still work in the modern day in live action, but it definitely can’t work with Rob Zombie directing. This film is a waste of time. I’m giving it a very generous 4/10. The movie tries hard but fails miserably.