When people think of scary but family friendly horror families they usually only think of The Addams Family and for good reason. Yet not alot of them no that around the same time as that show was starting another family of monsters was just starting out The Munsters and while they aren't as well known today as they were back in the day with even there latest film being that god awful Rob Zombie movie it doesn't change the fact that they did have one theatrically released movie starring alot of the TV actors and it's that very film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today and so then join me as I review the film that sees The Munsters appear in color with the film in question being called simply just "Munster, Go Home!" enjoy.
The plot of this film Herman finds himself becoming the lord of a town in England and along with his entire family have to stop a counterfeiting ring taking place in there new home. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. While this films plot is a cheesy plot given the fact that this film was meant to serve as the final episode of the show and the show itself was pretty cheesy in all of the best ways possible it does make sense that this film would have a plot that is just as cheesy. Heck one could even make the point that it's the fact that this films plot is as cheesy as it is that it makes it alot of fun to watch as by all rights this films plot shouldn't have worked and while it could be argued that it still doesn't work it's the fact that it does have this cheesy almost sitcom like plot to it that does make fun and campy and heck even the fact that the film reverts back to the status quo of the show at the end is something that does hit home the fact that this is a sitcom style plot but here's the thing while having a plot like this works well for the show for the movie you do want something a little more grander and while having the family go to a different country does work in this regard the plot it self does need to reflect this by being more of a plot that could only work in a movie as this films plot as good as it is feels like an extended episode of the show with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. To be frank if your expecting this film to have OSCAR worthy acting in it then more fool you as whilst this films acting is indeed really good it's also the kind of good acting that you would expect to find in a sitcom which for this film does oddly work as that's where the characters started life with of course the four retuning actors having a huge advantage in this regard as they would all know how best to portray there respective characters and while the new actors do there best in this film it doesn't hold a candle to what the TV actors do in this film. With the best actor in this film being Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster which might be a cliche thing to say but it is true as he really does nail the character of Herman down perfectly with him giving us a performance that does suit the character and while the doesn't go to child like with his performance like alot of the other actors do that play this character he takes it far enough that it almost feels like a performance that's worthy of being on the big screen with him brining this likable energy to the role that really does come through in his performance. With the acting that's in this very film really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.
Whilst the characters from the TV show are written how they usually are in the show it's the newer characters that aren't that well written. As the films new characters are written very much as being these over the top characters and while again this is something that would work in an episode of the show for the movie tho you do expect them to be better written as there really isn't all that much to this films new characters outside of the film just straight up telling us which characters we should like and which others we should hate and that's really it and even that doesn't work as the film doesn't give us a reason to care for for the characters that are meant to like and we feel indifferent about the ones that we are meant to hate. With the main Munster family being the better written of the films characters and even that is more die to the fact that the writers of this film had the expirence of writing for these characters in the show and even then some characters from the show do get the short end of the stick as both Lily and Eddie get nothing to do in the plot of the film with Herman and Grandpa being involved in the main plot and Marilyn being involved in a subplot and while one of the shows characters was always bound to get the short end of the stick when it comes to doing things in the film it feels weird that the makers of this film allowed it to happen to two characters that the fans of the show do love with the pair of them not really getting alot of time to show of just why there character was as beloved as they were in the show all for seemingly no reason as it's a very common thing with all of the live action Munsters movies, yet both Herman and Grandpa are given a chance to show of just why they were liked as characters in the show with them oddly enough getting alot the more better scenes in the film with Marilyn just kind of being there which does make as she was never really given alot to do in the show either.
Speaking of the show believe it or not this is the last time that the actors playing Eddie , Herman , Lily and Grandpa would all appear in a Munsters project together. With the only missing actor from the show being Pat Priest as she for some unknown reason was replaced by Debbie Watson with the only reason being that I can think of for her casting being the fact that she had a contract with Universal Pictures and that's really it and even then that doesn't make her casting right as Pat Priest was the more well known actor as Marilyn as even tho she took over the role from Beverly Owen she was the longest serving person to play that role and was more well known to the fans of the show as that character therefor it does seem weird that for the movie and for quite literally alot of the live action Munsters movies they would just recast the character over and over again. With the real only reason to go and see this film is to see the characters in color as up until this point in the time the characters had only been seen in black and whit and to be frank this film would have worked all the more better if it was a black and white movie as that would make it visually look more like the show but in all fairness to the film it was fun to see these characters in color and while they do get a few things wrong like for example making Herman's green skin now appear to be blue and making things perhaps a bit to colorful it was still fun to see these characters in color as the only time there had been coloured version of The Munsters was in one of the failed pilots for the original show which again like this movie had Herman's skin coloured blue, heck if this film was done as a black and white film then it could have been done more as a parody of the Hammer horror films of the time think Carry On Screaming but American and you'll get the idea.
Much like with all of The Munsters films in which she appears in Marilyn is given the same plot line in this film where she falls in love with someone who is tied to the main plot in some very loose way. While this is something that does get repeated alot in all of the other live action Munsters movies that feature Marilyn as a character this was the first film to really do that with her when it comes to the movies therefor this film does get a little bit of slack as they did have to give us a love interest somewhere in the film for one of the characters and it can't be any of the adults and Eddie is to young therefor by default it had to be Marilyn but this was also something that they did alot of the time on the show as well and it's something that does do more harm to her character then it does good. As while giving her that kind of a plot is fine for one maybe two episodes of the show for the film you do want to give her something different as your not going to have countless other episodes in which to fall back on should this plot line have failed and this is something that the nineties made for TV Munsters films did try to do as while they did give her a love interest it was someone that actively tried to help her family out, yet here in this film this plot line does feel played out as the makers of the film do nothing with it when they really could have taken the time to create something truly romantic with those scenes and yet they don't do it which does make those scenes with Marilyn feel forced as the character plays no part in the films main plot outside of having a love interest that Herman has to race against in the films third act and that's and that's not really something that justifies her being given a love interest as you very easily could have said that Roger was was her pen pal or something like that and it still would have worked as nothing about the films plot would be affected by it heck even it's own subplot wouldn't be affected by it.
To be fair to this film it's villains even tho they are badly done as characters are still really entertaining to watch in the film. As all the four them want is for Freddie to named Lord Munster which does involve the having to find ways to rid of Herman and yet every time they do Freddie throws a tantrum which is always funny to see as it does add to the over top almost cartoon like nature of this villains and yet alot of them aren't really given much screen time with alot of it going to Freddie and his mother with his sister Grace being more of an afterthought as while she does year appear in the film quite alot and even takes part in one of the families schemes to scare Herman and his family away outside of that one scene she doesn't really do anything to help to further there end goal rather she just fades away into the background while her mother and brother take the centre stage. With this not really being helped by the fact that the film does try to have a mystery over who this person telling hem how to do these things is as they only know them by The Griffin and that's it this is something that could have worked if the makers of this film had given us clues as to who The Griffin was in the first place therefor allowing for us the audience to work it out for ourselfs which does make the big reveal of it being the barmaid all the more of a let down as it literally comes out of nowhere with it making no sense be it from a character point of view or the point of the view of the movie and heck it would have given us the audience a reason to rewatch the film if there was clues sprinkled all throughout the film like for example one of the characters mentions her knowing a little to much about cars for a barmaid that would have made for a great clue to have in the film and yet we aren't given it rather we are given nothing interms of who The Griffin could be as we don't even get any sort of Red Herrings for whom the character could be either.
Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and thirty six minuets and nineteen seconds. Which again to be fair to this film is pretty much the exact grand total running time that you would expect a film like this one to gave and the film does need that long of a running time to tell it's story as while you could very easily tell this films plot in a two part episode of the show if you cut out all of the padded scene in the film this is still a plot that does work well on the big screen with the films running time reflecting as while alot of sitcom to movie adaptations would feel like sketches from a sketch comedy show just loosely edited together this film does feel like exactly that a film and while yes the film doe have obvious padding with the sequence with the characters on the boat last for far two long there's no denying the fact that this running time is solid for this film with the film even having enough plot there t cover that amount of running time in the first place. Yet even so this film really doesn't use its running time all that wisely as the film doesn't take the time to fully develop it's plot with the film just not being bothered to add things to the plot that help to make the plot feel more developed with this adding to the feeling that this is just a sitcom style plot only now instead of being twenty two minuets it's at a feature length running time with the makers of this film being more focused on giving us over the top villains then they were in giving us a well developed plot. This is something that does also effect the films character development as while normally you could make the case for all of the tv show Munster family getting there character development in the show and therefor don't need it in the movie given the fact that the characters started out live on a sitcom that resets itself every week that was never going to happen therefor if they did stand a chance of getting character development it would have been in this movie and that's the one thing that both they and the films newer characters don't get with the makers of this film being more focused on making sure that we knew that this was the first time that we seeing these characters in color then they were in giving them character development but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy thats actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally tought / felt tat the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. The fact that we do have some good comedy in this film does make alot of sense as the films characters especially the villains are portrayed as being these over the top cartoons that it does make it easy for the makers of the film to craft jokes for them as they can go over the top with the jokes and that it would work and its something that does work with the TV show characters as well as they whilst there not as over the top as the villains are they are still wacky enough that they do still work. With the films best joke not really being one joke as its a running joke where alot of the people that first see the TV show Munsters are afraid of them and run of in over the top and dramatic ways which is something that whilst it is over played in the film and is a bit cheesy it does add to the films almost sitcom like nature as that is the kind of joke thar they do on an episode of the show and it's one that does still work in this film as of course these people would run of in fear as to them The Munsters are monsters and whilst The Addams Family would lean in to the fact that they are this creepy family the thing that makes this joke work not only in the show but also in this film is the fact that The Munsters think that they are normal looking people with the rest of the films jokes being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall it doesn't need saying but its going to be said anyway but this film is easily better then the 2022 The Munsters film as this film does ta the very least make an attempt to not only recapture the spirit of the the original show but also adapt for a the feature length format whilst also doin it's own thing as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very revie and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 6 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally sued in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . Uk , Tenor , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images from this film being Google Images simply because Google Images actually has images from this film really are up and on Google Images and plus pretty much much all of the images that I personally found on Google Images were all really very fairly high quality and as well as being as really very fairly high definition as well and so then horror fans we end this review as we always do with really our one and true goddess Elvira wishing us all some really very unpleasant dreams.
