The Rotten Tomatoes Page For Rob Zombie's The Munsters Is An Actual House Of Horrors

Rob Zombie is definitely known for his penchant for the macabre. Besides his persona and career as a hard-rocking musician, Zombie has also branched off into film directing, including "Grindhouse," "The Devil's Rejects," "The Zombie Horror Picture Show," "Halloween," and "House of 1000 Corpses." This highlights exactly what kind of genre and vibe Zombie tends to curate, and it should come as no surprise that he has now tried his hand at a "Munsters" film for Netflix. However, as illustrated by the film's trailer, this movie is tonally quite different from Zombie's previous forays.

In a 2012 interview with Pop Matters, Zombie brought up his 2007 remake of "Halloween," claiming, "No one wants to make original movies anymore. And even when a movie comes out that you think is an original movie, it's usually a remake of some foreign film you've never heard of. I don't know what the fear of original material is but studios just don't want to do it, so it becomes a necessary evil to do remakes but I'm not that particularly that [sic] into it. I'd rather create brand[-]new stuff that people have never seen before." So how is "The Munsters" looking over on Rotten Tomatoes? Does Zombie have a hit on his hands, or is the movie dead on arrival?

Inspired by the 1960s television show, which was canceled in 1966, Rob Zombie's "The Munsters" aimed to be a loving homage to the original. This new movie focuses on the beginning of the relationship between Herman (Jeff Daniel Phillips) and Lily Munster (Sheri Moon Zombie), so it appears to be somewhat of a prequel. Unfortunately, it has not been received very well, or at least not according to Rotten Tomatoes. At the time of publication, it's holding around a 40% audience score as well, and the professional reviewers do not have anything particularly kind to say.

Brian Orndorf of Blu-ray.com said of the film, "'The Munsters' doesn't end up quite that interesting, offering more of a trainwreck viewing experience, with [Zombie's] motivation for such a project one of the great moviegoing mysteries of 2022." Orlando Weekly's Steve Schneider shared a similar sentiment, taking issue with Zombie's ability to craft a story and complaining that the lead actors of "The Munsters" are nearly unwatchable. Likewise, the review from Indie Mac User said, "Sadly there is little here to please fans of the series except a few fun callbacks and [E]aster egg references to the show[']s history such as Igor [t]he Bat and Spot [t]The Dragon. It is doubtful this will spark a new generation of 'Munster' fans either as it doesn't have any of the charm of the original series."

Checking out the user-submitted reviews of "The Munsters" on Rotten Tomatoes is not much better. James W. said, "I couldn't even sit through the whole movie. It's a disaster. Completely disjointed, unfunny, and utterly lacking in plot. I hate to say it, because Zombie has made some fantastic films ('House [o]f 1000 Corpses,' 'Devil's Rejects' come to mind) but this was one of the absolute worst films I have ever seen." Daniel S. agreed, claiming that "The Munsters" is the worst film he has ever watched. Wayne P. took things a step further, calling the movie "literally unwatchable." Yowch.

However, not all user submissions savaged "The Munsters." C.J. M. determined that the film represents a couple of hours of people loving what they do, calling it "a blast." Omar F. said that the movie "feels like a love letter" and believes that it could have a cult following one day. In other words, it seems as if Zombie has yet another divisive film in his repertoire, and while some have enjoyed it, most believe it to be a total misfire.