At a family reading of a will Herman Munster is delighted to learn he has inherited an English estate from an uncle. Now the new Lord Munster, he leaves his job at Gateman, Goodbury & Graves Morticians and moves his family from 1313 Mockingbird Lane to Munster Hall. The three remaining members of the previous Lord’s family are less than enamoured with the decision and when scaring them away fails, they resort to more desperate measures. This involves roping Herman into a dangerous two-family dispute – to be resolved in a sports car race. The other driver has been replaced and is out to kill Herman and wreck his Drag-u-la special. But Herman is more resourceful than expected and also uncovers a counterfeit ring...

The original black and white series of The Munsters ran for 70 episodes between 1964 and 1966, when it began to lose viewers to the Adam West Batman series. This was the first film outing for the show, and the first in technicolor. It was made straight after the series came to an end in 1966, screening at the end of the year as a support movie for Norman Wisdom’s Press for Time. The series creators Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher also produced and co-wrote this one. The full family is intact (Fred Gwynne playing Herman, Yvonne De Carlo as Lily, Al Lewis depicting Grandpa, and Butch Patrick as Eddie), aside from Marilyn (Pat Priest replaced by Debbie Watson). British comedian Terry Thomas is somewhat annoying, portraying a grown man acting like a little spoilt child, but John Carradine pulls off an intriguing butler somewhere between sinister and quirky.

Although this childish slapstick humour is not for me, the script is well-handled for a nonsense run-around. All of the characters are given something to do, rather than aimlessly following others around. Additional plot strands tie-up probably too well together, allowing Grandpa and Herman to embark on a spooky and dangerous snoop around to uncover the counterfeit money, and Marilyn to meet up with a gentleman who turns out to be part of the feuding family – the Munster’s long-time rivals. The car race itself is pretty zany, but an enjoyable romp reminiscent of Genervieve. It’s intriguing to see the Munster family’s horror cosmetics; on the whole they hold up pretty well.

All of those who enjoyed the series re-runs will undoubtedly love this one, but for newcomers it will perhaps appeal more to a younger audience. The only extra is a theatrical trailer.

6

Ty Power