Musician and horror movie maker, Rob Zombie, has revealed the shooting location and a concept video for his upcoming big screen adaptation of The Munsters. Zombie is the first director to make the decades old IP into a feature film since Earl Bellamy delivered Munster, Go Home! in 1966. There have been several straight-to-video takes on the ghoulish family over the years as well, but Zombie’s film is set to take the concept to new heights.
Though the original TV series - which aired from 1964-1966 was short-lived, the impact it made on fans was considerable. Even today, over fifty years after The Munsters first introduced the world to Herman, Lily, Marilyn, Eddie and Grandpa, a considerably dedicated fanbase exists. New generations of fans have been introduced to the series and Zombie has previously acknowledged that he’s spent over twenty years trying to get a Munsters film made. At long last, Zombie has his wish, and the question now for diehard fans of the series is whether or not the musician-turned-filmmaker will be able to deliver a suitable adaptation. It does seem hard to believe that someone like Zombie, whose love of the horror genre has been at the heart of his entire career, couldn’t pull this off.
While the arrival of The Munsters is still a long way off, Zombie has been very busy as of late getting things going on the production. Fortunately, he’s been generous in teasing some of the more interesting elements of his Munsters film via his Instagram account, and this continues with a new concept video of the film’s shooting location. Zombie had previously acknowledged that The Munsters was being shot in Hungary, but now fans will have a better understanding of the sort of transformation that is taking place in order to create Mockingbird Lane and the fictional city of Mockingbird Heights. Check out Zombie's Instagram post below:
The concept video is a very short one, but understanding the overall scale of the production is now much easier, thanks to a photo of the empty landscape where the set will eventually be built. Zombie admits that it’s a big job, but fans likely wouldn’t want it any other way. Bringing Mockingbird Heights to life along with Mockingbird Lane will certainly go a long way in adding to the authenticity of the production. In fact, it’s arguable that Zombie’s adaptation could even end up being more authentic than the original series was. Much has changed since 1964 and with all the advantages that this passing of time brings, Zombie has far more at his disposal than any of the franchise’s past directors and creative minds have had.
Not everyone is a fan of Zombie’s particular brand of horror, however. For some fans of The Munsters, the idea that the guy behind box office bombs like The Lords of Salem and 31 being able to do justice to a classic comedy-horror franchise feels far-fetched, to say the least. But Zombie has consistently proven that this is a passion project of his, and it’s that passion that could translate into something that audiences will respond to warmly.
Source: Rob Zombie