[Movie] Rob Zombie’s ‘The Munsters’

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Jun 08, 2022 3:58 pm

I was surprised there wasn't a thread, so here we are.

The Munsters is set to be released in 2022 by Universal Pictures theatrically while simultaneously being streamed on the streaming service Peacock.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Jun 08, 2022 4:07 pm

I love Rob Zombie...but I'm still not sold on him as a filmmaker. The Halloween movies were just awful.

Hrothgar · Post by **Hrothgar** » Wed Jun 08, 2022 4:09 pm

On the one hand, a Munsters movie should probably be PG. On the other, a Rob Zombie film probably shouldn't be.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Jun 08, 2022 4:14 pm

About 10 years or so ago, Bryan Fuller (maker of insanely great shows such as Pushing Daisies and Hannibal) had a pilot aired called Mockingbird Lane that was a re imagining of The Munsters. It was really, really good...but apparently it didn't hit the right taste clusters (thanks Barry) and never went to series. This attempt by Zombie just looks...uninspired, by comparison.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Jun 08, 2022 4:21 pm

Has Rob Zombie done comedy?

Is this a comedy?

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Jun 08, 2022 4:27 pm

It's being called a "horror/comedy". I expect the horror part to just be gore (if past Zombie productions are to be held up as an example).

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Wed Jun 08, 2022 4:48 pm

hepcat wrote: ↑Wed Jun 08, 2022 4:14 pm About 10 years or so ago, Bryan Fuller (maker of insanely great shows such as Pushing Daisies and Hannibal) had a pilot aired called Mockingbird Lane that was a re imagining of The Munsters. It was really, really good...but apparently it didn't hit the right taste clusters (thanks Barry) and never went to series. This attempt by Zombie just looks...uninspired, by comparison.

It looks like the Mockingbird Lane pilot is available to stream on Amazon in the US. Sadly, not so much here in Austranada.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Wed Jun 08, 2022 9:49 pm

Rob Zombie's hit or miss for me. I love his music, his personality, and his whole love of grindhouse horror. I loved House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. I loathed his Halloween films and was indifferent to 31 and Lords of Salem. I also hate that he casts Sheri Moon in every film. The guy loves his wife, that's great, but at some point if you want me to take you seriously as a filmmaker, you need to make adult choices like not putting your freaking spouse in every movie.

I honestly don't know what to think of this. On the plus side, Zombie is a HUGE Munsters fan, he's great friends with Butch Patrick, so I'm hoping that fandom will translate faithfully to the big screen. On the other hand, Rob Zombie already screwed up one great IP by putting his touch on it so the track record's not there for me.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Thu Jun 09, 2022 10:53 pm

Wouldn't Butch Patrick make a great Grandpa Munster these days?

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Fri Jun 10, 2022 9:52 am

Echoing others mostly agreeing that the Halloween experience makes me skeptical. On top that teaser above is clearly meant to look cheap but it comes off as amateurish cheap. Maybe that's the schtick but danger ahead if it reflects the final product.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Fri Jun 10, 2022 10:22 am

The reason I posted it was because I was generally confused by it. I get the impression he's genuinely a fan of the show and while this might not be his usual film/content wheelhouse, he's creating it from a position of love. How that impacts the end product, I guess we'll see. Like so many others, I'm highly, highly skeptical but I've been surprised before.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Sat Jun 11, 2022 12:29 pm

hepcat wrote:About 10 years or so ago, Bryan Fuller (maker of insanely great shows such as Pushing Daisies and Hannibal) had a pilot aired called Mockingbird Lane that was a re imagining of The Munsters. It was really, really good...but apparently it didn't hit the right taste clusters (thanks Barry) and never went to series. This attempt by Zombie just looks...uninspired, by comparison.

I loved this pilot. Man, I wish they had picked it up.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 5:54 pm

An actual trailer has been released.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 6:01 pm

It's even worse than I imagined. The production value looks cringe, the trailer is an absolute mess. I just.....any optimism I had is now shot.

About the best thing I can say is that Grandpa Munster is pretty damn good. Everything else.....gah.....

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 6:08 pm

That trailer made me want to go back and watch the old show. It did nothing to make me want to see the movie.

Lawn... Off...

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 7:24 pm

They're trying for What We Do in the Shadows with the writers and stage crew from a 9th grade drama class.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 10:00 pm

Do we know yet whether it will have a theatrical release or go straight to streaming? I'll watch it if it shows up on Netflix.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 10:29 pm

Sounds like it will be streaming.

The film will be released this fall by Universal 1440 Entertainment, a production arm of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group that develops and produces films for worldwide distribution across all non-theatrical platforms.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Jul 13, 2022 11:40 pm

Ah, good. I bought 100,000 shares at $1 on HSX and sold at $5.50. If it's streaming-only it's probably at $.01 now.

TheMix · Post by **TheMix** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 12:17 pm

YellowKing wrote: ↑Wed Jul 13, 2022 6:01 pm It's even worse than I imagined. The production value looks cringe, the trailer is an absolute mess. I just.....any optimism I had is now shot.

About the best thing I can say is that Grandpa Munster is pretty damn good. Everything else.....gah.....

It looks like a bad TV show.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 12:38 pm

I have to wonder if he's going "meta" with it in some way.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Thu Jul 14, 2022 1:23 pm

How many yutes are in it?

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jul 18, 2022 9:09 pm

Kraken wrote: ↑Wed Jul 13, 2022 10:00 pm Do we know yet whether it will have a theatrical release or go straight to streaming? I'll watch it if it shows up on Netflix.

It’s been announced it will premiere on Netflix this fall. I’m guessing they lost a bet with HBO Max and Hulu.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 1:47 pm

The A.V. club rated it as a B-, which genuinely surprised me.

But for all this messiness, the sheer amount of charm that Zombie and his crew have injected into this little film feels palpable. As a vehicle for a pastiche of ’60s sitcom comedy, it’s a gold mine, with Zombie’s writing being shockingly funny in exactly the hokey, earnest way one would expect from an actual episode of The Munsters. Very few concessions have been made to update the material for modernity, as the soundtrack accompanies punning line reads and goofily macabre sight gags with slide whistles and cartoon sound effects—so much so, that one wonders if Zombie ever considered a studio audience laugh track. Even the set, shot in color as one of the few stylistic updates to the source material, is populated by cheap props lit in artificial neon like a particularly intricate Spirit Halloween display, which only adds to the charming artificiality of the whole affair.

It's out now.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 1:48 pm

Well crap, now I have to watch it.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 3:13 pm

Being between series right now I was thinking of watching some random movie tonight. This one will do.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 8:40 pm

I made it to 12 minutes. Can anyone beat my score?

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:02 pm

I haven't watched it at all. Why do I feel that this constitutes beating your score...

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:11 pm

This is a contest of physical endurance. Not one of mental greatness.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:18 pm

Is it on Netflix? I don't see it there, so maybe Canadastralia has been spared for now. The only option I can find is to rent/buy it on Amazon Video, and I'm not so curious about it that I'm willing to pay for the privilege.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:41 pm

hepcat wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:11 pm This is a contest of physical endurance. Not one of mental greatness.

So far the only movie that's been completely unwatchable for me has been Battlefield Earth. I think I've tried half a dozen times and never make it beyond ~45 minutes. 12 minutes for the Munsters? Challenge accepted.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:45 pm

Battlefield Earth is a drinking game, not a movie. I usually pass out around 20 minutes into the film because you have to down a shot after someone says “leverage”.

By the way, I know she’s his wife, but good lord Sheri Moon is an awful actress. And in this you realize she’s an even worse comic actress.

Max Peck wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:18 pm Is it on Netflix? I don't see it there, so maybe Canadastralia has been spared for now.

Search for “Munsters, eh”.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:50 pm

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:41 pm
hepcat wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:11 pm This is a contest of physical endurance. Not one of mental greatness.
So far the only movie that's been completely unwatchable for me has been Battlefield Earth. I think I've tried half a dozen times and never make it beyond ~45 minutes. 12 minutes for the Munsters? Challenge accepted.

I lasted an hour, but only because I hoped to see Cassandra Peterson. Which I didn't, unless she was unrecognizable. Sorry, Elvira.

Poor Sylvester McCoy. And Hurley. At least they probably got a bigger paycheck than I'll ever see.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:52 pm

Kraken wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:50 pm
I lasted an hour,

You can’t count the time spent unconscious.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:56 pm

hepcat wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:52 pm
Kraken wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:50 pm
I lasted an hour,
You can’t count the time spent unconscious.

Or the time it took me to log into Netflix. WTF? I know they're trying to crack down on account-sharing, but it took me 15 minutes to guess the right email/password combo.

The most charitable thing I can say about this movie is that it's colorful. Garishly so.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 10:10 pm

Kraken wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:50 pm
Smoove_B wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:41 pm
hepcat wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 9:11 pm This is a contest of physical endurance. Not one of mental greatness.
So far the only movie that's been completely unwatchable for me has been Battlefield Earth. I think I've tried half a dozen times and never make it beyond ~45 minutes. 12 minutes for the Munsters? Challenge accepted.
I lasted an hour, but only because I hoped to see Cassandra Peterson. Which I didn't, unless she was unrecognizable. Sorry, Elvira.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:17 pm

Her scene was either after I bailed or while I zoned out, but thanks for that.

The only career move worse than being in a shitty movie is being in the part of the shitty movie that no one makes it to.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:20 pm

Well, I hope things work out better for her career in the long term.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:26 pm

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:20 pm Well, I hope things work out better for her career in the long term.

What is she, 70-something now? The long term is behind her; Elvira had two great talents, and acting wasn't either of them. But good on her for still making paychecks.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Sep 27, 2022 11:30 pm

Just turned 71.