To start out with, I can't stand Zombie's movies. I have tried to give a number of them a chance, but they never work. But even the worst of them, the absolute vomit-fest that is "The Devil's Rejects"--which appeals only to true morons--had flashes of good filmmaking within it. There were even a few parts that I liked--the very beginning and the very end. But I tried to clear all of that out of my head to give this film a chance.
I grew up with the Munsters. I absolutely loved Herman and Grandpa, and the dialogs between them. There was charm in that old show. And part of that charm was the timing and comedic talent of the stars, including--surprisingly--that of Yvonne De Carlo. What helped the whole thing along was the brilliant talent of producers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, who knew how to tell stories with their backgrounds of creating and writing "Leave it to Beaver" and prior radio work for decades. And they selected actors that they knew could pull it off.
None of these wonderful dynamics are in play here. This is a colorful, but lackluster affair that just always seems like things are undercooked. At times, it reminds me of older cheesy Saturday morning live action TV shows for kids. The actors involved just don't have the chops to pull this off, and the direction is dull. The story in uninvolving. The only actor that feels like he is giving an actual performance is the individual playing the Grandpa role. Somehow he found the place in between making the character is own and tipping his hat to the old show. The others do not. Moon Zombie tries to imitate De Carlo, but she is really only 1/2 way there. Herman is the real problem. The original character is warm, funny, affectionate to his family, often behaves as a child, loses his temper, and is afraid of a lot of things! Fred Gwynne pulled all that off perfectly, and hilariously. This Herman likes to flail around and moves his arms, like someone in junior high trying to do an impression of him. It stalls the whole show, not that there is much to stall here.
In the original, the entire family wasn't scared of other people. They just thought others outside were a little homely. The laughs also came from people's reactions to the Munsters; some treated them with absolutely no considerations for their looks, some flipped out. You never knew. The kids that played with Eddie didn't have a problem with how he looked, and thought the house was cool--not a bad nod to how little kids don't have preformed ideas of prejudice.
Some of the sets in this new version are not bad at all, but they seem to be lit in a music video fashion--so it made the feel less of a feature film and gave it, for lack of a better word, a sort of tinny feel. There is no richness in the environments at all.
In summary, poor to only fair acting for the most part, indifferent direction, no story, and nothing interesting going on. Fans of the original series won't find much here, and I can't imagine younger audiences finding anything to enjoy either. You've got to have a crew like those that put together the Addams Family movies. This crew is many levels below that competency.
I grew up with the Munsters. I absolutely loved Herman and Grandpa, and the dialogs between them. There was charm in that old show. And part of that charm was the timing and comedic talent of the stars, including--surprisingly--that of Yvonne De Carlo. What helped the whole thing along was the brilliant talent of producers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, who knew how to tell stories with their backgrounds of creating and writing "Leave it to Beaver" and prior radio work for decades. And they selected actors that they knew could pull it off.
None of these wonderful dynamics are in play here. This is a colorful, but lackluster affair that just always seems like things are undercooked. At times, it reminds me of older cheesy Saturday morning live action TV shows for kids. The actors involved just don't have the chops to pull this off, and the direction is dull. The story in uninvolving. The only actor that feels like he is giving an actual performance is the individual playing the Grandpa role. Somehow he found the place in between making the character is own and tipping his hat to the old show. The others do not. Moon Zombie tries to imitate De Carlo, but she is really only 1/2 way there. Herman is the real problem. The original character is warm, funny, affectionate to his family, often behaves as a child, loses his temper, and is afraid of a lot of things! Fred Gwynne pulled all that off perfectly, and hilariously. This Herman likes to flail around and moves his arms, like someone in junior high trying to do an impression of him. It stalls the whole show, not that there is much to stall here.
In the original, the entire family wasn't scared of other people. They just thought others outside were a little homely. The laughs also came from people's reactions to the Munsters; some treated them with absolutely no considerations for their looks, some flipped out. You never knew. The kids that played with Eddie didn't have a problem with how he looked, and thought the house was cool--not a bad nod to how little kids don't have preformed ideas of prejudice.
Some of the sets in this new version are not bad at all, but they seem to be lit in a music video fashion--so it made the feel less of a feature film and gave it, for lack of a better word, a sort of tinny feel. There is no richness in the environments at all.
In summary, poor to only fair acting for the most part, indifferent direction, no story, and nothing interesting going on. Fans of the original series won't find much here, and I can't imagine younger audiences finding anything to enjoy either. You've got to have a crew like those that put together the Addams Family movies. This crew is many levels below that competency.