Rob Zombie may not understand why parents are excited to have their kids watch his latest flick, The Munsters, but the director is happy nonetheless. In a recent interview with Variety, Zombie, whose latest feature dropped on Netflix, Blu-ray and digital earlier this week, revealed that a growing number of adults have been approaching him with praise after his new movie earned a PG rating. “A lot of people have said to me: ‘Finally, I can watch one of your movies with my kids,’” he begins, “which I don’t have kids so that’s meaningless to me. But that’s nice!”
And, while Zombie may not get it, for those longtime fans who’ve been into watching the master of gore and shock over the last two decades drop features including House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects, 31, and even his own take on the story of Michael Myers with 2007’s Halloween, the director’s latest release may be his biggest jaw-dropper yet. With its colorful characters (and we do mean literally) and wholesome, fun-for-the-whole-family storyline, The Munsters is allowing an entirely new generation to see the 3 From Hell director’s work for the first time.
Although his statement leads one to wonder if Zombie initially dreamt up his version of The Munsters to include some R-rated moments, he goes on to say that his hope was to draw more youngsters into the horror genre through the easy going, funny monsters. “This is how I got into everything as a kid,” he says, “This is for the next wave of monster fans coming our way.” Rounding out his comments on the matter, Zombie referred to the feature as, “the gateway drug for more hardcore horror.”
A self-proclaimed The Munsters superfan, Zombie was just the right person for the job in recreating the classic 1960s CBS sitcom with a twist. From bringing in some of the show’s original stars, to including the incredibly niche character Zombo, his love for the franchise shines through in his reimagining. Rather than pick up somewhere on the series’ timeline, Zombie takes things all the way back to the origin story of Lily (Sheri Moon Zombie) and Herman’s (Jeff Daniel Philips) love. The feature shows the initial meeting and courtship between the two as well as the desperate lengths The Count (Dan Roebuck) goes to in hopes of bringing the relationship to an end.
It’s clear that Zombie has poured his entire heart into the project as he not only went full steam ahead with the vibrant reimagining, but also created an entire in-universe collection of vinyl albums centered around Zombo, Herman and Lily, and, of course, an original soundtrack.
If you’re a horror fan looking to spend some time with your kids this weekend, cueing up The Munsters is the perfect way to usher them into the world of Zombie. But, be careful - one day it’s Herman, Lily and Grandpa, and the next it’s Otis, Baby, and Spaulding. They grow up so fast. You can check out the film's trailer below.