The Munsters Movie Review: A Disjointed Mess

The Munsters was an American sitcom that ran from 1964 to 1966. The original show is enjoyable and still has fans to this day. Filled with quirky characters week after week, watchers couldn’t wait to see the latest misadventures of this unique family. Now, almost sixty years later, musician Rob Zombie has given us the film adaptation of The Munsters. Is it any good?

No. No, it isn’t.

The film decides to give us an origin story about how Herman and Lilly met and fell in love. This isn’t a bad idea at all, but nothing interesting is done with it. The two meet and go on some dates and… that is kind of it. There is a lack of a villain, a lack of stakes, and a lack of story.

There is not really a plot at all. Just a disjointed mess of random things that happen. This could possibly work if the characters or dialogue were interesting but they just simply aren’t. The jokes are painfully unfunny and the pacing seemed off as well. I thought the movie had to be almost over, but when I checked there were still forty minutes left. All this time spent with no story just to end on such an abrupt note.

Who is This Movie For?

The performances are all pretty bad. Perhaps this is intentional. Zombie wanted to get the feel of the original and honor its legacy but the biggest problem with the film is the tone of the whole thing. The audience for this film is unclear. Zombie tries to blend the original series with so-called edgy humor that does not work at all.

Some could say the movie was made for fans of the original show, The original show had a certain charm to it though. This movie is just loud with performances that don’t match the original.

Some could say it is made for family and kids to watch together during the spooky season as an introduction to The Munsters. Really? Do kids today know names like Bobby Darrin, Sonny and Cher, and John Wayne? Maybe the kids would get a kick out of such dialogue as “eat my sh*t”. I know what families would really like. After some slapstick, there was a joke about having sex with a pool boy and that pool boy being a “bottom”. The movie is all over the place.

Dark humor could work for sure, We have seen successful movies do it well such as The Addams Family and The Brady Bunch Movie. The difference was that in those movies, the humor matched the tone. The Addams Family disturbs the locals. People thought the Bradys were dorks. Greg Brady never did the Hokey Pokey and then immediately stab Cindy.

Those movies took risks by taking the original source material and doing something different with it. Adding characters to play off the main characters in different situations. The Munsters don’t do this. Everyone is just the same. Annoying and unfunny. Zombie doesn’t take any risks. Well, besides that pool boy joke.

On a Positive Note

The sets are beautiful to look at. If only there was more of a focus on them. Instead, they are pushed to the background in exchange for terrible performances. I do have to give Zombie credit that it does seem he made the movie he wanted. He is obviously a huge fan of the series. The Munsters have a vehicle named Dragula which is one of Rob Zombies’ songs.

There is something inspiring about someone being passionate and making what they want, the way they want no matter what. It is just a shame that the end product turned out to be an incoherent unfunny mess.

The Munsters is now available on Blu-Ray and VOD as well as on Netflix.

 


About Martin Maruri

Martin Maruri is an avid fan of pop culture and movie trivia. In his spare time, Martin loves to watch horror movies, watch baseball and spend time with his lovely girlfriend. P.S...He also loves spending time with his French Bulldog named Tobin.

View all posts by Martin Maruri

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