To say Rob Zombie’s The Munsters is campy, garish, overlit, corny, and cheap would make the shockmeister blush and say thanks. That’s exactly what he was going for… and it makes this movie a hell of a thing to judge.

I’m not a huge fan of The Munsters old tv show. I know I watched it as a kid and could pick the characters out of a lineup, but I don’t remember it very well. I am more of a fan of Rob Zombie though… his movies are uneven and his songs are dumb and a total bop. I saw a documentary about him once where he was happily walking his pug named Dracula. That’s adorable. Watch any of his music videos and you’ll see his love for classic horror movies. The dude’s the real deal.

So I totally believe he loves The Munsters and was making a forthright, unironic homage to them. We’ve seen enough of his gritty, angry, ugly R rated horror movies to know that he’s a capable director… so anything he’s doing in this movie is with intent.

I suspect many people won’t get it or care to get it. And it took a lot of effort for me to power my way through it. There’s a reason the tv show was a half hour sitcom and no good reason why this movie is over ninety minutes. That’s entirely too long for the diaphanous, almost non-existent plot.

As far as the look goes, yeah, it’s all those things mentioned. Poppy, bright, over-lit, gaudy, garish, and cheap (but not, it should be noted for legal reasons, all-together ooky). It’s a choice and the use of Dutch angels, pop-art inserts, bright green accent lights, and more is all for the effect of emulating a cheap 1960s era tv program.

The comedy is too. Campy, cheesy, corny, goofy, broad, groan-worthy, and a bunch of other words that many would consider a negative and others a total positive. I laughed out loud a few times early on, but the movie just ground me to dust with its length and I stopped being amused.

So, yeah, this is Rob Zombie doing something different. And I’m happy it’s not full of dirty, angry, cussin’ red-neck stereotypes. That has its place, but it isn’t in this pop-art kid film.

Score: 70