Today has been a big day for fans of The Munsters. Filmmaker Rob Zombie finally unveiled a teaser for his remake of the classic 1960s television show (which you can check out here) and it did not disappoint. While dropping the first look was a wonderful start, Zombie also sat down with Entertainment Weekly to talk about all things related to his family-friendly, PG rated reboot. There, he dropped several of his thoughts behind his retelling of the tightly-knit family of monsters and the others making up the cast.
The biggest difference between Zombie’s reimagining and the original series is the color scheme. And for those who’ve already tuned into the trailer, they’ll know that after the classic intro, the picture cuts to a very vibrantly colorized depiction of the three main characters: Herman Munster (Jeff Daniel Phillips), Lily Munster (Sheri Moon Zombie), and Grandpa Munster (Daniel Roebuck) seated on their couch and not-so-patiently awaiting their next move. During his interview with EW, Zombie revealed that he understood the fate of the movie lay on him crafting it in color and leaving the black and white version in the ‘60s. As he puts it, “I knew that if I went in and demanded ‘This movie’s going to be in black and white or forget it!’ we would not be talking about the Munsters right now, because it would have never happened,” adding a classic Zombie “I guaran-f---ing-tee it,” to drive the point home.
But Zombie didn’t allow this slight setback to stifle his creativity and stop him from putting his own twist on the feature. Instead, he decided to make it overly colorful in a way that he describes as making the colors “hyper-real.” He knew his plan was working when he saw the actors strolling around the set in between takes commenting, “they looked like cartoon characters come to life. They were just so insanely colorful.” From there, the seasoned horror filmmaker knew it was up to him to bring the eye-catching colors full circle. Realizing that he would need to “light the movie in the same fashion,” the director set out to give the flick a “live action cartoon” feel, something that absolutely comes through in the couch scene at the end of the teaser.
With the first trailer dropped, greedy fans everywhere (myself included!) are waiting for more where that came from. The feature is absolutely packed with a long line of A-list talent from Zombie’s previous projects and some who we haven’t seen grace our screens in quite some time, including the Mistress of the Dark herself, Elvira (Cassandra Peterson). As for his collaboration with Peterson, Zombie dropped our favorite fact of the week — that he and his wife and Munsters star, Moon Zombie, have been close friends with Peterson “for at least 25 years,” adding that the actress attended both the couple’s wedding and “Sheri’s shower.” With the first Munsters teaser rolling out, we can’t wait to see the full ensemble in their costumes and ghoulish looks sometime soon. As of right now, no specific release date has been set, but we know the film will be dropped sometime this year - hopefully around the Halloween season!