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The Munsters' Revenge
USA 1981
produced by Edward Montagne (executive) for Universal/NBC
directed by Don Weis
starring Fred Gwynne, Al Lewis, Yvonne De Carlo, K.C. Martel, Jo McDonnell, Bob Hastings, Peter Fox, Herb Voland, Charles Macaulay, Colby Chester, Joseph Ruskin, Sid Caesar, Howard Morris, Ezra Stone, Michael McManus, Sandy Champion, Gary Vinson, Billy Sands, Barry Pearl, Al White, Thomas Newman, Anita Dangler, Dolores Mann, Hillary Horan, Kenny Rhodes, Read Morgan, Mickey Deems
written by Arthur Alsberg, Don Nelson, format developed by Allan Burns, Chris Hayward, characters created by Norm Liebmann, Ed Haas, music by Vic Mizzy, special effects coordinator: Johnny Borgese
The Munsters, The Munsters (classic series), Phantom of the Opera
review by Mike Haberfelner
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A bunch of people are robbed by Herman (Fred Gwynne) and Grandpa
Munster (Al Lewis) - or rather by robots in their exact likeness. But
since both Herman and Grandpa look quite unique they're taken in. Once in
jail, they soon figure out the robots must hide in Doctor Diablo's (Sid
Caesar) wax museum - but who's to believe them. So Herman and Grandpa
break out to investigate the museum, posing as their own robots, and soon
find out that Diablo's planning a big heist using the robots in their
likeness as well as a lot of other monster robots from his wax collection.
Herman and Grandpa can't go to the police with their knowledge though as
they're still fugitives from the law, but fortunately detective Glen
(Peter Fox), son of the chief of police (Herb Voland), has taken a liking
to cousin Marilyn (Jo McDonnell) and tries to work in their favour - but
rather bumblingly so. After much to and fro that also involves Herman and
Grandpa working at a pizza parlor as waitresses and a trip to
Transylvania, the finale's set at the opening of the great Egypt
exhibition at the local museum, where Diablo, an ancient Egyptian himself,
wants to steal the royal amulet off the mummy of his brother with the help
of his monster robots, but Herman, Grandpa and Marilyn foil his plans. Yvonne
De Carlo as Lily Munster gets disappointingly little to do in this one
while Bob Hastings as the Phantom of the Opera at least gets to save
Marilyn and Glen. When Fred Gwynne, Al Lewis, and an underused
Yvonne De Carlo do their shtick, they prove they still got it, and some of
their stuff is just hilarious. In all though, The Munsters' revenge above
all proves though that it's not necessarily a good idea to stretch a(n
admittedly ingenious) sitcom concept from 30 minute episodes to feature
film length - and that's even before factoring in that not everything that
worked in the mid-1960s still works in the early 80s. However, this
becomes particularly apparent when the script lacks stringency, feels like
a to-and-fro for most of the time, and the premise wears itself out too
soon. That all said, it's still fun to see the old gang again - even if
with a new Marilyn (Joe McDonnell) and Eddie (K.C. Martel) -, and one
simply can't claim this doesn't have its fun moments, too.
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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