{"id":1661884,"date":"2022-09-28T08:00:49","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T12:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1661884"},"modified":"2022-09-28T08:00:56","modified_gmt":"2022-09-28T12:00:56","slug":"rob-zombies-the-munsters-is-d-o-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rob-zombies-the-munsters-is-d-o-a\/","title":{"rendered":"Rob Zombie\u2019s \u201cThe Munsters\u201d Is D.O.A."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frob-zombies-the-munsters-is-d-o-a%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1661884&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p><strong>Rob Zombie\u2019s 2007 \u201cHalloween\u201d reboot removed the mystique behind Michael Myers.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Instead of a mysterious \u201cshape\u201d who killed out of rage, Myers became a mistreated lad with a penchant for William Shatner masks.<\/p>\n<p>The writer\/director\u2019s \u201cMunsters\u201d reboot performs a similar service. The original series contrasted the ghoulish family with its Normal Rockwell neighbors, and hilarity ensued.<\/p>\n<p>You won\u2019t find much hilarity in \u201cThe Munsters,\u201d now on Blu-ray and Netflix. The reboot, technically a prequel, drowns in creative flop sweat while ignoring the source material\u2019s comedic template.<\/p>\n<p>Rarely have so many performers burned so many calories for zero laughs. Less than zero, to be more accurate.<\/p>\n<p>Jeff Daniel Phillips stars as Herman Munster, created by a mad scientist fusing disparate human parts together. He\u2019s freshly revived when he has a prophetic date with Lily (Sheri Moon Zombie, the director\u2019s muse).<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s love at first sight, which rankles Lily\u2019s grandfather, the Count (Daniel Roebuck stepping in for Al Lewis\u2019 iconic ghoul).<\/p>\n<p>Will Grandpa find a way to separate these lovebirds? Will Lester the werewolf (Tomas Boykin) trick Herman into a deal he\u2019ll quickly regret? Can characters introduced in the first act disappear without a trace?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Munsters\u201d storyline feels like several sitcom episodes cobbled together, with no particular plot emerging as vital to our interests. Yes, Grandpa loathes Herman at first, but it\u2019s hardly enough to carry a film.<\/p>\n<p>The emergence of Grandpa\u2019s vengeful ex is similarly wan and hardly worth our while.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CVLXGDXpznC\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The film\u2019s saving grace? Phillips and Sheri Moon Zombie share an odd, undeniably chemistry as two lovestruck Munsters. Their infectious spirit holds some sections of the film together, even when it\u2019s clear the material is pure filler that screams for an editor\u2019s blow torch.<\/p>\n<p>Zombie chose to bathe nearly every scene in ugly neon light, ensuring nothing on screen is frightening or film worthy. That yields a PG-rated romp, but it also makes the entire production look like a straight-to-video affair, at best.<\/p>\n<p>The content hardly helps.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll sit, stone-faced, waiting for that first, elusive laugh. Zombie and co. try everything to make us grin, from silly fades to fast-action snippets and animated segues.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing works.<\/p>\n<p>The film shoves its micro budget in our faces. In many ways, it feels like a product of another age \u2013 even before the \u201960s-era inspiration. The comedy is Borscht Belt crude, the musical cues so bald you\u2019ll swear it came from a silent movie screening.<\/p>\n<p>The film traffics in a few black-and-white montages, but they add nothing to the laugh quotient or storyline.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s still hard to get grumpy about Zombie\u2019s \u201cMunsters\u201d misfire. The cast is so game, so eager to do anything for their director, that to pile on the production feels cruel. It\u2019s literally punching down.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/childs-play-2019-review\/\"><strong>RELATED: \u2018CHILD\u2019S PLAY\u2019 REBOOT IS A DEBACLE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Phillips nails Fred Gwynne\u2019s signature laugh and foot stomps, while Sheri Moon Zombie flutters across the screen like her predecessor, Yvonne De Carlo. It\u2019s all for naught, as the story barely moves forward, and the screenplay delivers one groaner atop another.<\/p>\n<p>Some gags are meant to be old and dusty, of the wink-wink, nudge-nudge variety. It\u2019s hard to distinguish them from the \u201cfresh\u201d pile.<\/p>\n<p>We get the usual array of Easter eggs, from Phillips name-checking \u201cCar 54, Where Are You?\u201d (Gwynne\u2019s previous sitcom hit) to minor characters from the show\u2019s original run dropping by for a visit.<\/p>\n<p>Keen-eyed types will notice original \u201cMunster\u201d Pat Priest and made the cut, as did the voice of Butch Patrick AKA Eddie Munster.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Munsters\u201d feels like a robust high school production, one given ample space and a serious makeup budget (by scholastic standards). Even the best backdrops and monster goop, though, is reduced to trash by Zombie\u2019s lighting scheme.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">On this day in 1964, the Munsters first aired!<br \/>Here\u2019s one of the best scenes from the show and the lesson still applies today! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YHv3UVqvRJ\">pic.twitter.com\/YHv3UVqvRJ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Scooby-Doo History (@scoobyhistory) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/scoobyhistory\/status\/1573668684375248897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 24, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The director behind \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Rejects\u201d and \u201c31\u201d isn\u2019t known for humor, and \u201cThe Munsters\u201d won\u2019t move the needle on that assumption. He stomps all over the mildly clever lines, either with the boisterous soundtrack or ham-fisted direction.<\/p>\n<p>At least he didn\u2019t trod down a woke path or discard the show\u2019s PG roots. You\u2019ll hear a gay sex joke but it should sail above the kiddies\u2019 heads.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, children are the best audience for the reboot, eager to see garish colors, monstrous costumes and \u201cBarney\u201d-level yuks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Munsters\u201d doesn\u2019t directly tease a sequel or series extension, but the final moments suggest such a scenario. Now, that\u2019s frightening.<\/p>\n<p>The Blu-ray edition features audio commentary from Rob Zombie plus an hour-long featurette \u201cThe Munsters: Return to Mockingbird Lane.\u201d The latter lets the writer\/director do a deep dive into his creative process.<\/p>\n<p><strong>HiT or Miss:<\/strong> The first trailer for \u201cThe Munsters\u201d hinted at a debacle in the making. The actual film does nothing to counter those thoughts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rob Zombie\u2019s 2007 \u201cHalloween\u201d reboot removed the mystique behind Michael Myers. Instead of a mysterious \u201cshape\u201d who killed out of rage, Myers became a mistreated lad with a penchant for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1661886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1661884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1661884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1661884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1661884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1661886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1661884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1661884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1661884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}