HERE COME THE MUNSTERS (1995)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *comedy*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *sociological*

Though I didn't have a clear memory from my 1995 viewing of the TV-movie HERE COME THE MUNSTERS, this time around I found it far more satisfying than the last two iterations. This time the three scripters did a fair job of translating the formulaic appeal of the original series, even though they like the previous writers were largely just journeymen based on their IMDB histories. Director Robert Ginty himself has a degree of celebrity, but mostly as an actor, while it's at least of interest that an executive producer was horror-maven John Landis.

HERE offers a soft reboot of the franchise. This time the four "monstrous Munsters"-- Herman (Edward Herrmann), Lily (Veronica Hamel), Eddie (Mathew Botuchis) and Grandpa (Robert Morse)-- start out in Transylvania in the 1990s, but decide to emigrate to America thanks to the latest assault by angry local villagers. They just happen to have received a letter from their niece Marilyn Hyde, the daughter of Herman's sister Elsa (who looks like the Bride of Frankenstein) and brother-in-law Norman Hyde. The four Munsters think they've been invited to take up residence with the Hydes, so they pack up their belongings and their pet dragon Spot in order to emigrate to the New World. As they enter the country (where it just happens to be Halloween, so everyone thinks they're just costumed oddballs), they're told they must have a sponsor to stay in the country.

Trouble is, once they meet Marilyn (Christine Taylor), the emigrants find out that their potential sponsors won't be able to testify on the family's behalf (not that this becomes a major plot matter). Norman has been missing for months-- which is the main reason Marilyn wrote her relatives-- and in reaction Elsa has fallen into a "Transylvanian trance." Nosy neighbors call the cops on the freaky newcomers, but though the Munsters aren't charged with anything, this underscores that the law is monitoring them. The only good thing about the law's intrusion is that a handsome young cop begins chatting up Marilyn. Still, the Munsters must figure out What Became of Norman, whose restoration will also revive Elsa.

Since none of them are detectives, the script feeds them clues until they make the correct conclusion. Norman Hyde hoped to cure the "homely" appearance of his daughter, so he created a transformation potion but foolishly sampled it himself. His "normal" grotty appearance was altered into that of a handsome go-getter, and thanks to a conniving politician Hyde takes on the identity of Brent Jekyll. The script definitely hits the viewer over the head politically by making Jekyll an anti-immigration ideologue, but the script manages to keep enough silly jokes flowing to distract from the "moral of the story."

Like the TV show, HERE is nothing more than competently executed formula, but the performers are all attractive and poised, and even Eddie gets a subplot about adjusting to an American middle school. It's possible that the success of the ADDAMS FAMILY of the 1990s influenced this project, for there are a few more gruesome (albeit playful) jokes than one saw on the sixties teleseries. For instance, early on Herman remarks on Spot's unfortunate habit of "burying mailmen," and for the first time, vampiress Lily is seen to bite someone, albeit very bloodlessly, just to get that someone out of the way.

Eventually Jekyll's mean-spirited political campaign is cancelled when he reverts to Norman, making it possible for Elsa to be revived as well. Norman and Elsa then conveniently fly the coop, so that the telefilm ends with the expected monstrous Munsters and their "homely" cousin Marilyn ensconced at 1313 Mockingbird Lane. I don't know if the producers hoped for a reborn series, but all that resulted was one more TV-movie the next year, more or less in the same continuity but with a wholly new cast. This time Edward Herrmann takes acting honors, managing to imbue his Funny Frankenstein with just as much sheer energy as had the fabulous Fred Gwynne. Gwynne had passed two years before HERE debuted but one scene provides charming cameos for Yvonne DeCarlo, Al Lewis, Butch Patrick, and Pat Priest.