As an iconic series that arguably relies more on its comedy than horror, Rob Zombie’s The Munsters movie may finally break him out of his genre exclusivity. The Munsters is Rob Zombie’s first official deviation from the pattern of horror genre conventions present in all of his prior filmography. From Halloween reboots to House of 1000 Corpses to 31, Zombie’s directorial pursuits are almost exclusively remembered by his stylistically violent and gory horror flare - a trend that The Munsters reboot can help Zombie break away from.
The Munsters is already one of Zombie’s most criticized projects, even before an official trailer has been released. The reasoning for this is that The Munsters comes with decades of adoration and nostalgia for the family-friendly, horror-comedy ‘60s sitcom, and many fear that, based on Zombie’s violent, R-rated resumé, he won’t properly capture the light-hearted nature of the original. Zombie has been extremely open and forthright about his life-long love for The Munsters, and in keeping viewers in the loop with sneak-peeks and first looks while on set, the director is proving that he’s not relying on his previous style for his adaptation. So far, Zombie has shown his version to be remarkably faithful to the original aesthetic, with the only major change being The Munsters’ Igor characterization.
Zombie’s previous movies have been most closely tied in with gore and homages to iconic ‘70s horror films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but The Munsters doesn’t quite have an avenue for such themes unless Zombie is completely changing the aesthetic. The film will certainly have a stylistic Zombie touch to it, but more importantly, by straying from his usual methodology, The Munsters will prove Zombie’s directing chops are worthy outside of one genre. If Zombie can properly capture the comedic tones and light-hearted satire that pair with the macabre family, The Munsters will demonstrate that his film talents also lay outside of horror, thus making way for his other never-made films in alternate genres.
Peacock's The Munsters movie is Rob Zombie’s first real chance to show audiences that he isn’t simply a horror director. Once this is accomplished, doors will open to finally make projects that were never pushed through because of his exclusive relationship to horror. One anticipated project of Zombie’s that has yet to see the light of day is a Groucho Marx biopic, one that would greatly benefit from the comedic aspects of Zombie’s The Munsters performing well. A Groucho Marx biopic would require Zombie to tackle comedy and drama, thus pushing his genre skills even further outside of what he’s used to. A successful comedic flare for The Munsters would prove that Zombie could tackle such themes in a Marx film, while this project would explore whether he works well in the dramatic bounds as well.
While Rob Zombie’s filmography and outward persona wouldn’t lead one to guess this about him, he’s also a major hockey fan. Before The Munsters, Zombie had another idea for a passion project outside of his horror boundaries: A sports biopic about the 1974 Philadelphia Flyers titled Broad Street Bullies. While the Groucho Marx biopic lies further outside of his typical themes, Broad Street Bullies actually would have meshed well with his established talents in terms of violence. On the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Zombie explained that the Flyers team was known for engaging in gritty, violent fights with fans in crowds, but he didn’t think the team and owners wanted to glorify it in a film. Zombie struggled the most with getting the rights for the teams in film, possibly because they didn’t want a typical Zombie-fied R-rated horror version of the Flyers. Following The Munsters, Zombie may prove to the owners that he can tastefully bring the hockey players to the screen once he’s no longer measured by only his violent horror films. Rob Zombie's dream projects clearly lay beyond the horror genre, and The Munsters is the first step to establishing himself outside of such confines.