It’s no secret that Rob Zombie has always been a fan of monsters. They’ve been incorporated into the music of White Zombie and his solo career. His love of horror and the macabre fueled his desires to try his hand at film making. From House of 1000 Corpses in 2003, The Devil’s Rejects in 2005 and 3 From Hell in 2019 to round out the trilogy of the Firefly family; to putting his spin on the Halloween franchise with two films in 2007 and 2009.
Now, Rob is going back to his childhood by creating a new film based off one of his favorite TV shows. In July, Zombie announced plans for the as yet untitled film about The Munsters, a dream he’s “been chasing for 20 years.” You knew this was coming – just look at the video he made for “Dragula“, he’s driving Herman’s car!
The Munsters, of course, was a big television hit on ABC in the 60’s even though it was competing for air time against another monster family, The Addams Family, over on CBS.
Rob’s dream is becoming a reality with frequent teases and updates on his social media. Those included photos of clay sculptures that will shape character makeup and blueprints for the construction of the Munsters house. Yes, Rob has constructed, from the ground up, what he calls “the most perfect Munsters house since 1964.” Which means, 1313 Mockingbird Lane now exists in reality. No movie lots here.
I’m unsure at this point if Zombie intends to stick with the campy comedy that the Munsters brought to black and white television, or if he plans to get gory with it and turn it into a horror movie in a way that only he can. He has however, graced us with another social media update to announce three castings in the film.
Jeff Daniel Phillips will play Herman. Phillips had roles in previous Zombie films including Lords of Salem, 3 From Hell and Halloween II.
Dan Roebuck is Grandpa Munster. This man has an extensive television career, including a recurring role on Lost and The Man in the High Castle, but also appeared in The Devil’s Rejects, Halloween II and Lords of Salem.
Safe to say, Zombie likes his actors. That also means it’s no surprise that the role of Lily Munster will be played by Zombie’s wife, Sheri Moon Zombie, who’s been in every film he’s every done, as well as music videos and on stage with live performances.
This is the photo that accompanied the announcement on Monday.
My guess is it will be 2022 before we see the film and rumors are saying that it might wind up directly on the Peacock streaming service. All I know is, I’m excited for it. He might not be the best at making movies, but I still watch them and enjoy it. And as someone who watched The Munsters growing up, I think this will be a lot of fun. Or scary and gross. Depending on what direction he runs with it.
