Munster, go Home!

Rating:
Summary: NO SIGN OF SERIES IN SIGHT
Review: And thats a shame.The movie,very enjoyable.My gripes are minor. The opening theme music was incredibly boring. I've gotten used to it,but it makes a bad first impression.Not casting Pat Priest. I'll never know why or how anyone could be so stupid,but after several viewings they did Pat a favor. For some reason Marilyn went backwards in time and became about 6 years younger and the family didn't seem to notice.Plus she is portrayed as a naive whiney contemptiple brat.These are the reasons I dropped the rating from 5 stars to 4.No extras on the DVD and even though it was filmed in the same dimensions as tv I believe if they pulled back far enough we would get at least 12.5 percent more picture. This drops my rating again, now to 3 stars. Sept 2004 is only 6 months away and there's no sign the series will be released on DVD and this is a shame not to commemerate the 40th anniversarry of this great show.Even though I'm a Munsters maniac and they are my first choice of family fright I also like the Addams Family series,to a lesser extent but I do like them. And since they both premiered in 1964 a dvd release of both series season one at the same time would be one of the greatest events to ever happen since whatever your favorite event is.Sept 21,2004 would be the most sensible time,3 days after the Addams 64 debut and 3 days before the Munsters debut.Plus its a Tuesday the infamous day most new CDs,video tapes,and DVDs are released.I really,really,REALLY wish someone who had the power to make this happen was reading this,but... unfortunately I feel that they're are not.If you can get past these little complaints enjoy this fun movie.

Rating:
Summary: Those were the days!
Review: Despite alot of Munsters items out there that are bad quality, its still better that they are out there than if they weren't. These days it's hard to come by Munsters videos/books/dvd's, nearly anything, I miss them and I really hope the series comes out on dvd, but it is not likely, they will never be forgotten, they are legends in classic horror, the funniest family to ever grace a tv will never be matched, this film only raised their status, a must have for fans of the Munsters, fantastic!

Rating:
Summary: At last, we got to see the Munster family in color
Review: Entertaing and funny film for any fan of the short-running (two seasons on network TV), but popular comedy series. This shot-in-color film shows everyone the quality and sophistication of the make-up which was not fully revealed in the black and white television series.

Rating:
Summary: A Munster Mash!
Review: Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo, Al Lewis & Butch Patrick return as the first family of fright in "Munster, Go Home" Herman (Gwynne) inherits an English mansion & all the wealth thereof. However, he is confronted by his cousin Fred Munster (Terry-Thomas) who'll stop at nothing to get the wealth for himself. Fun to watch.

Rating:
Summary: Feature Length Treat With the Lovable First Family Of Fright
Review: I cannot recall a time in my life when I haven't been a fan of "The Munsters", television series that first ran for two seasons from 1964 to 1966. Only years later did I have the opportunity to see their feature length movie "Munster, Go Home" made directly after the second and sadly final season of the series in 1966. It is really a feature length continuation of all that was remarkable in the original series, outstanding makeup for all the characters who were based on the old Universal Studios classic monsters, the terrific comic chemistry between actors Fred Gwynne as Herman and Al Lewis as Grandpa and enough social commentary hidden in among the laughs to entertain adults as well as children. The only departure that the "Munster, Go Home", movie takes from the series is that for some inexplicable reason the powers that be saw it as a supposedly good move to recast the role of Marilyn, the Munster's "unfortunate" niece. The lovely Pat Priest had played Marilyn Munster for all but the first 13 episodes of the series (Three actresses ended up playing Marilyn during the run of the series and this movie), but the producers went for the younger Debbie Watson over the protests of the other Munster cast members. Apart from that however "Munster, Go Home", is a treat for fans of the series as we see our beloved family of spooks travel to England to claim a title and encounter many adventures along the way.

As the story opens we find Herman arriving back home after a hard day at the funeral Parlour to be greeted by wife Lily (Yvonne De Carlo), with a letter which states that Herman's great Uncle has died leaving him the sole beneficiary of his estate, Munster Hall in Shroudshire, England. Assuming the title of Lord Munster Herman packs up his family that includes wife Lily, his father in law Count Dracula affectionately called Grandpa by everyone, his wolf boy son Eddie (Butch Patrick) and Lily's unfortunate "plain Jane", niece Marilyn (Debbie Watson), and sets sail for England. Unfortunately the Munster's are not guaranteed a warm reception in England as some members of the family have been passed over in the will including lady Effigie Munster (Hermione Gingold) and her tantrum throwing son Eddie (Terry Thomas). On the boat over to England Marilyn has a shipboard romance with a young English gentleman named Roger Moresby (Robert Pine) who keeps seeing nighmarish monsters on board which are actually Marilyn's family! Once arrived at Munster Hall the family, after failing to be scared off by Lady Effigie's become the targets for far more deadly plans initiated by a mysterious person known only as the Griffin. Herman and Grandpa however begin to suspect that something strange is happening and when investigating the cellers come across a counterfeiting operation thus unlocking the "Secret of Munster Hall". Meanwhile the annual Shroudshire motor race is coming up and when Herman enters their car to uphold the family honour the English Munsters see a way to rid themselves of their hated American cousin for good. Knocking out Roger who is participating in the race the English Munsters replace him with a mysterious driver dressed the same so that a murder charge will be put onto him. After a hazardous race during which Herman is almost killed he ends up winning the race and exposing who actually the mysterious Griffin is and why they are out to kill him . Lady Effigie trying to escape with her butler Cruikshank (John Carradine), is apprehended by Lily when she dresses as the family chaffeur and proceeds to drive her straight to the police! All ends happily for the family with Herman donating Munster Hall to the township and Marilyn and Roger settling their differences that arose from the centuries old rivalry between the Munsters and the Moresbys.

"Munster, Go Home", would never win any awards but for long term fans of the series like myself this movie will always hold a special place in their hearts. One great benefit of this movie was that it was shot in colour unlike the original series so we get to see the sensational makeup and costumes for the actors in vivid colour. The main cast members of course were already well known and loved when this movie came about and each actor has forever after been identified with their character. Fred Gwynne and Yvonne De Carlo both already had long Hollywood careers when they took on the roles of Herman and Lily Munster and both are perfectly cast with Herman having a delightfully childish demeanour and Lily being the sensible more assertive one of the pair making an interesting variation on most husband and wives combinations in the 1960's. Al Lewis is the comic heart of the group as the lovable old vampire Grandpa and his screen chemistry with Fred Gwynne is magical in both the series and this movie. The pair had a long experience working in comedy together having both already starred in the earlier comedy series "Car 54 Where are you?". "Munster, Go Home", is really enhanced by the presense of several legendary supporting performers in english actors Hermione Gingold, Terry Thomas and also in veteran John Carradine who appeared in "The Munsters" series as Herman's boss but here plays the manservant, Cruikshank. These excellent veteran performers bring all their years of experience to their roles and make even the smaller parts most interesting.

"For fans only"???? Perhaps thats how you could describe "Munster, Go Home". I'd like to think it is humour from an earlier time that is great to revisit on occasion. The great effort and attention to detail that went into creating "The Munsters", was worlds removed from most of todays rushed television efforts and of course the highly likeable cast made the Munsters live on forever in viewers minds. Seeing the Munsters take on the class consious English in this effort is a treat and because it was made when the series had only recently finished ensured it was not a pale successor to the unique original effort. Spend some time soon with the first family of fright when they travel to England to claim a title and uncover a puzzling mystery.

Rating:
Summary: Debbie Watson rules!
Review: I love the auburn haired beauty playing Marilyn in this film. That's one Debbie Watson. Not to belittle very comely Pat Priest's performance in most of the original series but Watson really steals the movie with her great beauty, surprisingly deep characterization, and genuine wholesomeness.

Rating:
Summary: The Munsters are now in the movies and in Technicolor!!!
Review: I love THE MUNSTERS, but I always wondered what they would look like in color. I was hoping the show would last another season so it would be in color. Unfortunately, the show was canceled in the second season. But later that year, MUNSTER, GO HOME was released in Technicolor, giving us a chance to see the world's first family of fright in color. Debbie Watson replaced Pat Priest as Marilyn Munster, as did Pat Priest do Beverly Owen on the series. The rest of the original cast stars as their rolls.

Rating:
Summary: no goodtimes video for me
Review: I love this movie, but not the dvd. I buy dvd's for it's original screen format and the extra's this video has neither. Goodtimes video has formatted the movie strait from the vhs version.

Rating:
Summary: no goodtimes video for me
Review: I love this movie, but not the dvd. I buy dvd's for it's original screen format and the extra's this video has neither. Goodtimes video has formatted the movie strait from the vhs version. There is however,a MCA dvd version that is very hard to get. I'm suprised Amazon would carry such a inferrior version as goodtimes supplies.

Rating:
Summary: no goodtimes video for me
Review: I love this movie, but not the dvd. I buy dvd's for it's original screen format and the extra's this video has neither. The video has formatted the movie strait from the vhs version.