Monstros, Não Amolem!

The Munsters read a will from their late English relative. Herman is named the new Lord of Munster Hall and inherits a vast estate. The family is off to England but their distant relatives have dire plans for them.

I've never seen the TV show but it's not that complicated. They're a lovely bunch. It's a little silly. It's light. It's nothing outrageously funny but it's cute enough. It's cute enough.

I have to admit this one kind of had me reaching. Munster Go Home has our friendly Gothic cast from the television series going to the United Kingdom to claim the title of Lord Munster. Needless to say the guy who hoped he would inherit the title Terry-Thomas is not pleased. Neither of course is Lady Munster wannabe Hermione Gingold and their faithful retainer butler John Carradine. In fact Carradine's working an agenda all his own.

I'm still puzzling over how someone who was put together with old body parts can possibly claim any lineage for a title. But I think I'm being picky there.

Anyway Fred Gwynne, Yvonne DeCarlo, Al Lewis, and Butch Patrick from the television series all return for the feature film and Debbie Watson becomes the third actress to play Marilyn who thinks she's an ugly duckling because of the beautiful family she's from. The cruise to the other side of the pond should have made her rethink those notions as she sees everyone else on the ship and gets romanced by Robert Pine.

Nothing great here, but if you're a fan of the show you should like it.

Of course it would have been impossible for the Munsters to take a trip to England in a 25-minute TV episode. So it's fun to see it finally happen. I'm not the world's biggest Munster fan, but I've been watching the series ever since I was a little kid and I do love it (a wee bit). This, in particular, is a fun adventure, in which Herman inherits an English title and goes to the Sceptred Isle to claim it, even in spite of the wishes of his greedy cousins, who want the title for themselves. Naturally, this movie has the same kind of rim shot-based gags that highlight the show ("I thought he was made in Germany"), but it also has a great deal of fun and some gags are really quite funny, not to mention the drastic culture shock that takes place when the Munsters-- who aren't even normal Americans-- take Great Britain by storm. So if you like "The Munsters," you should go ahead and give "Munster, Go Home!" a try. You won't be disappointed.

I'm sure someone will correct this if it's wrong, but I think the title of this motion picture is a parody of the film title "Lassie Come Home," a picture also set in England, which introduced another, eventual, TV star to the world, that most intelligent of all collies, and one that was currently on television at that time.

Fred Gwynne, Yvonne de Carlo, Al Lewis and Butch Patrick are all on hand to reprise their roles from the black and white series, but here in full Paramount color. Plus we have Debbie Watson, perhaps best known for taking the movie series role of "Tammy" and bringing it to the small screen, here takes the role of niece Marilyn, played by Beverly Owen and Pat Priest on the show, to the big screen.

The plot is a stretch, even for this 1960s comedy - Herman inherits a piece of property in Great Britain and tows the family from Mockingbird Lane across the pond to claim it. Of course, the stiff upper lips that occupy said property are unamused and attempt to scare off the newcomers. But how does one scare a family of monsters?

To me, the most interesting thing about this film is seeing some long time actors and TV stars almost randomly turning up in this plot. Bernard Fox, Samantha's Warlock physician Dr. Bombay from "Bewitched" is here. Richard Dawson, who at the time was a star of "Hogan's Heroes" and eventually "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In," long before his "Match Game" and "Family Feud" days is in the mix. And Robert Pine, who is best remembered as commanding officer to Ponch and Jon from "CHiPs" is a love interest for Marilyn!

The film really feels like two films are going on: our sitcom characters doing what they usually do (and there is a cross country auto race, with Herman driving the famed "Drag-u-la" vehicle - while the Munster Koach also makes a cameo), and then we have the locals just plotting how to rid themselves of these unwanted outsiders. Hermione Gingold, Terry-Thomas and a completely unrecognizable John Carradine as a manservant populate that group.

Tons of sight gags, typical sitcom dialog and all the slapstick you could want from what is basically an extended and full color episode of the series.

If you are a fan of the series this film is based on and most especially if you enjoyed that program more than the similarly themed series "The Addams Family," you should get a kick out of this film.

I love this movie even though the original cast wasn't complete.It had its most funniest moments.As always Fred Gwynne,Yvonne DeCarlo,and Al Lewis shines as Herman,Lily,& Grandpa.I wonder why they didn't get Pat Priest back in the role as Marilyn instead of casting Debbie Watson.Still this movie is/was great.The movie has been released on DVD thru Universal and its a double feature disk.Munster Go Home & The Munsters Revenge together on the same DVD! WAY TO GO UNIVERSAL! If you are a die hard fan of the TV series THE MUNSTSERS then get this DVD.I bought it at Wal-mart for around $15.00.The quality of both movies is excellent and great Techicolor on the Munster Go Home movie.Its great to see our favorite characters in color instead of the old black and white format!