I'm not jumping on the bandwagon of defaming writer/director Rob Zombie's The Munsters just because the snobby mob finds it cool to do so. I'm not ashamed to admit (or take heat for) getting this retelling's gist for all its colorful, cartooned shtick. Yeah, that's right. I frickin' dig the movie.
Sure, it would have played real well in black and white, but in color it's a whole other kind of homage and as such holds its own with other Munsters revivals (including an X-rated installment that many of the know-it-alls don't know about at all). It even grazes such inspired knockoffs as The Groovie Goolies and The Hilarious House of Frightenstein. And if you don't recall those, you're sure as hell no fan of monster-homage comedy.
As it stands, Zombie's Munsters could never hope to emulate all aspects of the 1960s classic series, since it has (like other revisions over the years) a different cast. Even so, that cast is still good in its own right and in various ways, the gang proves comparable to those who made the television series (and Munster, Go Home!/Munsters' Revenge) so favorable.
For this "remake", which is in truth the prelude of how Herman was stitched together and more importantly, how Lily met Herman, along with how the Count, aka Grandpa, was opposed to having his daughter hitch up with such a big boob, we get Jeff Daniel Phillips as Herman; Sheri Moon Zombie as Lily; Daniel Roebuck as the Count (and does he ever do an uncanny job channeling Al Lewis!); Richard Brake as Dr. Henry August Wolfgang and the on-the-make Orlok; Jorge Garcia as Floop; Sylvester McCoy as the for-the-most-part non-batty Igor; Tomas Boykin as Brother Lester; Richard Hale as Zombo; Renata Kiss as Uncle Gilbert; Cassandra Peterson as Barbara Carr; Catherine Schell as Zoya Krupp; and in the cameoing, voiceover category, Butch Patrick, Pat Priest and Dee Wallace. (Oh, and almost forget, cuddly Spot plays himself in wee, Frenchie form.)
(On a side note, for those who say Zombie reuses the same cast members to a fault, and one will surely recognize a few of them above, I can only indicate how Universal and Hammer recycled their ensembles in much the same way. As for Ms. Zombie, she's versatile enough to hold her own in any production [The Lords of Salem being her crowning achievement], not merely as a scream queen, but as a worthy, genre catalyst in the vein of Barbara Steele, Ingrid Pit, Jamie Lee Curtis and Eva Green. She's also a first-class looker, which contrary to what the hypocritical highbrows may say, counts for something, so stick that in your ear, you party-poopin' haters.)
Storywise, Zombie allows his Munsters to perform as it should, layering on all the Strickfaden/Universal trimmings and family-friendly humor he can, each bit ignited by Zoran Popovic's excellent, Creepshow'ed hues. On a larger scale, Zombie's script preaches tolerance and not only when it comes to average humans accepting Transylvanian outcasts (or vice versa), but with the Count accepting a bumbling oaf as his pretty decent son-in-law. (Hey, we all deserve a chance to hold our own, no matter how goofy we may be.)
Beyond its noble message, the new Munsters is great, nostalgic fun. No matter how one shakes it (and even when it bleeds punkish psychedelia), it's the product we grew up with, which means I'm pleased as Punch that this flick surfaced. If anything, it's kicked off my Halloween season to a swell. screw-the-establishment start. Thank you, Mr. Zombie, for granting me the chance to champion your maligned-in-advance creation. God knows we need more counterculture movies of this sort to piss off those who (in vain) keep us rebels down. (Say, just to tick 'em off all the further, how 'bout releasing that reputed three-hour cut?!)
