A tuba farts in the background while a comic fool speaks lazily, “Certainly changed his life unnecessarily with such name as Uranus.” The subsequent sentence in the writing is followed by a slide whistle on the soundtrack. Surprisingly enough, Rob Zombie’s new movie defines this terrible and bad thing at its best. Yes, indeed, he who has made numerous movies that frightened and fascinated gore-hounds globally to enjoy exploitation horror films have come up with perhaps this year’s most stupid comedy film ever- The Munsters.
Technically speaking, just ‘WTF’ would be the ultimate review for this movie like most of zombie fans said when they watched it’s original trailer. However, it deserves more thoughtful approach due to the obvious hard work and attention put into the making of Munsters; it is also why it feels like tragedy because Zombie along with his cast and crew are all wholeheartedly committed people who seem to care so much about not only their source material but also their collective vision. Producing The Munsters was a labour of love (and the extreme detail paid to visual minutiae is its sole redeeming aspect) that shows how sometimes affection alone does not suffice.
The Munsters was an old American TV show which depicted funny versions of traditional monsters (vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein’s monster etc.) trying to live as normal family in modern society. It fell within a strange era in television history being one among a first wave of horror comedies including The Addams Family and Scooby-Doo!, supernatural comedies such as Bewitched , I Dreamed of Jeannie and even soap operas got on board with Dark Shadows. In comparison to its contemporary sister programme ‘The Addams Family’, this ancient serial was quite popular.
Comedy and horror materials are often categorized as those genres that age too fast or dependently than any other genre(s), hence they usually get outdated over time. What used to be funny and/or scary in the mid-1960s is rarely so today, which is why it is so amazing that Zombie’s real PG Munsters movie has exactly all the same tired jokes as the one from long ago on TV. “A horse walks into a bar; bartender says ‘Why the long face?” Herman Munster ‘jokes’ without irony. It has no story, but is mostly just long and awkward attempts at comedy like when Lily (Sherry Moon Zombie) and Herman (Jeff Daniel Phillips) meet and fall in love much to Grandpa’s (Dan Roebuck) annoyance.
In the future, I believe that humor in The Munsters will be defined by the word ‘cringe’ presently popular. It is very unfunny and hurts in the way that would make you pity the joker. This is a tragedy of The Munsters as stated before. They are all at such great pains to try hard with their over-acting, their puns and jokes flow without end but every minute of this film feels like listening to a six-year-old who read from a joke book that was printed back in 1950s. It might appeal to very young children, which is fine if they like it; unfortunately, it’s probably too slow, weird, and spooky for kids under nine (assuming that’s its demographic). Then who is this movie for? Too dumb for grown-ups or too bizarre for pre-K crowd, The Munsters looks like no one wants to watch it.
Except the ones responsible for costumes and set designs maybe. The good thing about The Munsters however cringe-worthy it may be when watched is its beauty. Actually there could be another better film made out of it had someone chosen to put on mute while watching (maybe also play Rob Zombie album as well). That exaggeration in lighting during various scenes echoes expressionsim used in most areas elsewhere in the movie. At times wonderful parts of Frankenstein-green wash through blood-red into some sections while light particles often twinkle over clouds of fog and mist.
The design of sets throughout this movie is superior with Grandpa’s gigantic gothic styled castle as well as beautifully worn down house beside gorgeously recreated suburban fantasy world called Mockingbird Lane where Munsters live now positioned side by side in their new neighborhood. And then we get here after what seems like five hours (or an hour twenty-five minutes approximately) only to have Mazeppa Avenue remain undeveloped forevermore. For example Zombie constructed an enormous exquisitely designed set in Budapest where most of the film was shot, and the neighborhood of Mockingbird Lane and the house are among its visual gems.
The make-up is equally good from Wayne Toth’s shop Ex Mortis. The characters’ design is lovely enough that it could carry away all of the weight brought by costuming and make-up effects on behalf of actors. Again, It’d be best to watch with sound off as their look tells so much more than what the audience can hear them say. But I mean really there is no way you could do anything with this script however ‘good’ or ‘bad’ these actors may be (Roebuck is delightful many times over here but Sheri Moon Zombie who was so amazing in The Devil’s Rejects is atrocious in this movie). They just come off as hollow caricatures filled with bad jokes like rotten candies inside a piñata.
There is no way that anyone who watches The Munsters movie will become a Zombie fan, and even if they did during Halloween, his other movies are much more disturbing often disgusting to make someone stop being a fan in the shortest time. Conversely, there is nothing else in this movie for any of its enthusiasts apart from the visuals which take his already heightened style and magnify it by 1000%. Most Rob Zombie films have a dark, warped sense of humor but there’s none of that here in the Munsters. It will not turn anybody into a fan of this series; these people who love Munsters so much would hate it.
Obviously, after realizing all this Universal Pictures decided against wasting time on releasing the film in theaters but to go straight to DVD or Blu-ray. It is tragic because its intentions and effort were genuine and sincere. How Netflix paid for it is an astonishing thing; after all the end credits of this film are better than anything else it has.
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