The Munsters (2022)
Who dug this out of the grave and said, “Yeah, let’s release it”?
Let’s start by showing y’all the trailers, shall we? 🎥
“Why This Still Counts as a Frankenstein Story”
Now before anyone asks why this movie/show qualifies as a Frankenstein adaptation, let me explain: every version of this myth boils down to three boxes — (1) born in a lab, (2) learning to be human, and (3) forcing us to ask what even makes us human? If it checks all three, congratulations, you’re in the Frankenstein Club.
So yeah, Poor Things counts because Bella literally gets zapped to life in a lab and spends the whole movie rediscovering the world like a newborn on a bender. Edward Scissorhands counts because Edward was built by a lonely inventor, dropped into suburbia, and instantly becomes society’s favorite art project until they all panic at the sight of him. And The Munsters (2022)—as cursed as that film is—technically qualifies because Herman is a stitched-together experiment who’s trying (and failing) to fit into the human world.
Basically, every one of these stories takes Mary Shelley’s “man plays God” idea and asks, what if the monster wasn’t the problem—what if humanity was? The results range from heartfelt (Edward Scissorhands), to horny (Poor Things), to Halloween-store tragic (The Munsters).
Lets call this for what it is, its an interpretation of the novel.
—
🧟 Non-Spoiler Plot Overview
Oh boy… where do I even begin with this?
Who asked for The Munsters remake? Who woke up one morning and said, “You know what the kids today need? A reboot of a black-and-white 1960s sitcom that nobody under fifty remembers!”
And to make things weirder, it’s directed by Rob Zombie.
Yes. Rob Zombie. The man behind The Devil’s Rejects and House of 1000 Corpses—now making a PG family movie. Because when I think family-friendly, I totally think Rob Zombie, right?
The movie tries to act as an origin story for Herman and Lily Munster. Lily (Sheri Moon Zombie) is lonely and wants love, Grandpa (Daniel Roebuck) wants her to marry rich, and somehow we get a subplot about a mad scientist (Richard Brake) trying to build a new man out of corpses. Except his Igor accidentally grabs a jar labeled “STUPID BRAIN.” No, really. It literally says that.
The experiment works—sort of—and thus Herman Munster (Jeff Daniel Phillips) is born. He’s a walking corpse with a bad haircut, worse jokes, and the voice of a man whose puberty never finished. Lily sees him perform terrible stand-up comedy, falls instantly in love, and the rest is awkward sitcom history.
They get married, her werewolf brother scams them out of their castle, they move to Hollywood, and… the movie just ends. Abruptly. No resolution, no climax—just Herman shouting “I’m rich!” and everyone jumping up and down like this is a middle-school play.
—
🧛 Character Rundown
Herman Munster (Jeff Daniel Phillips) – Annoying doesn’t even begin to cover it. His voice sounds like a helium-addicted Shaggy from Scooby-Doo doing dad jokes.
Lily Munster (Sheri Moon Zombie) – Basically just flirts, blinks a lot, and calls Herman “darling” every five seconds.
Grandpa Munster (Daniel Roebuck) – The only redeemable one here. Feels like he’s trying his best while drowning in a pool of cheap neon lighting.
Dr. Wolfgang (Richard Brake) – Oh boy. So this guy… Richard Brake is a serious horror actor. He’s played terrifying, sadistic killers in 31, Mandy, Doom, you name it. So what’s he doing in a slapstick parody? It’s like casting Anthony Hopkins as the wacky neighbor in Full House. He looks completely out of place—like Rob Zombie called in a favor and just said, “Hey, can you act stupid for 10 minutes?”
—
⏳ Pacing / Episode Flow
This movie doesn’t feel like a film. It feels like someone stretched a five-minute YouTube sketch into an hour and forty-nine minutes. Every scene drags, the jokes are mistimed, and the transitions look like something out of Windows Movie Maker.
The editing is choppy, the pacing nonsensical, and the entire thing looks like an overly long Halloween commercial.
—
🌈 Pros
It’s short. That’s literally all I’ve got.
Okay, fine, I’ll give it one more: Grandpa Munster delivers a couple of lines that almost feel like actual jokes.
Oh, and I guess the colors are vibrant—like a Lisa Frank binder on acid.
—
💀 Cons
Where do I begin…
The production design looks cheaper than a Spirit Halloween clearance aisle.
The lighting is so overexposed you can practically see the set walls sweating.
Comedy? Nonexistent. The “funny” moments feel like rejected SNL skits.
Herman’s jokes: imagine a dad trying stand-up for the first time while a laugh track refuses to play. Example: he walks into a club, tells jokes nobody laughs at, and then just keeps yelling his punchlines louder, as if that helps.
The ending comes out of nowhere. One second they’re broke, the next they’re rich, then roll credits.
—
🧠 Final Thoughts
This movie makes no sense tonally. It’s too childish for adults and too creepy-looking for kids.
Rob Zombie tried to blend Frankenstein, The Addams Family, and a 1970s cereal commercial, and the result is a fluorescent disaster.
It’s also a bizarre attempt at a Frankenstein story — Herman is technically the creature brought to life in a lab, but instead of exploring what it means to be human, the film goes, “What does it mean to date?” That’s the entire moral.
And that’s fine for parody, but the humor never commits—it just kind of exists, awkwardly flailing between “goofy” and “try-hard cringe.”
—
⭐ Rating
–5/10
One of the worst reboots I’ve ever seen. It looks like it was filmed on a phone, written by AI, and lit by a rave glowstick.
—
⚠️ Spoiler Warning
Spoilers ahead (though honestly, the movie spoils itself by existing).
—
☠️ Spoilers
Lily Munster falls for Herman after one terrible comedy show. Grandpa hates him, then doesn’t. A werewolf brother scams them out of their castle. They move to Hollywood. They think everyone in costumes are monsters. Then—boom—they realize it’s Halloween, freak out, and the movie ends with “I’m rich!”
That’s not a story. That’s an unfinished sketch.
It’s awkward, cheap, tonally confused, and absolutely unnecessary.
If Frankenstein’s monster could talk, even he’d say, “Please—stop bringing this back to life.”
