The Munsters is an American comedy film produced, written and directed by Rob Zombie. Based on the 1960s family sitcom of the same title, the story takes place prior to the events previously adapted in the series, serving as an origin of the characters.

The film stars Jeff Daniel Phillips, Sheri Moon Zombie, and Daniel Roebuck as the titular family, with Richard Brake, Sylvester McCoy, Dan Roebuck, Jorge Garcia, Catherine Schell, Dee Wallace, Pat Priest, Butch Patrick and Cassandra (Elvira) Peterson.

The Munsters is a co-production of Universal 1440 Entertainment and Spookshow International Films.

From writer/director Rob Zombie comes the strangest love story ever told. Lily is just your typical 150-year-old, lovelorn vampire looking for the man of her nightmares that is until she lays eyes on Herman, a seven-foot-tall, green experiment with a heart of gold. It’s love at first shock as these two ghouls fall fangs over feet in this crazy Transylvanian romance. Unfortunately, it’s not all smooth sailing in the cemetery as Lily’s father The Count has other plans for his beloved daughter’s future, and they don’t involve her bumbling beau Herman. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll howl at the moon as The Munsters make their way to Mockingbird Lane!

It was a bit of a shock when Rob Zombie was confirmed to be directing The Munsters reboot as it is a somewhat different property to his previous films, however it perhaps makes more sense if you know Zombie is said to be a long time fan on The Munsters TV show.

Sadly there is little here to please fans of the series except a few fun callbacks and easter egg references to the shows history such as Igor The Bat and Spot The Dragon. It is doubtful this will spark a new generation of Munster fans either as it doesn’t have any of the charm of the original series.

The film falls completely flat tonally as Zombie takes a step back from his more edgier and gore filled roots and instead leans into the comic and Kooky; and whilst the film does have some good one-liners they are few and far between.

This lacks both the laugh-a-minute comedy and charm of the original series and none of the grittiness and edge we have to come to expect from Zombie either; much of the charm of his earlier work was the ability to balance gore with comedy. The overly colourful and surreal visual style combined with occasional animated sequences and wacky montages feels like an attempt to make the film stand out but instead feels dated and out of place.

Most of the casting fails to hit the mark compared to the original actors – although there are some fun performances including Sylvester McCoy as a characteristically witty and wise-cracking Igor, Cassandra Peterson as a kooky real-estate agent and Catherine Schell as the witchingly evil Zoya.

1/5 – A poor attempt to reinvent a classic.

The Munsters will be released on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD and will also be available to stream on Netflix September 27, 2022.

Pre-order your copy of The Munsters (Blu-ray) Amazon USA Now.

Pre-order your copy of The Munsters (DVD) on Amazon USA Now.

Pre-order your copy of The Munsters (Blu-ray) on Amazon UK Now.

If you want to revisit the original series – get your copy of The Munsters: The Closed Casket Collection – The Complete Series on Amazon now.