The Munsters' Revenge (1981 TV Movie) User Reviews

The Munsters' Revenge (1981) **

[JoeKarlosi · 5/10 · 1 November 2005]

They've goofed it again. Even though Fred Gwynne detested what his old Herman Munster role did to the rest of his career, he agreed to reprise this wonderful character for an astronomical sum of money. Much to his surprise, the producers were willing to pay it - though as it turned out, Gwynne got the better half of the bargain. As a huge fan of the original MUNSTERS television show I can tell you this one hurts. That is, it's painfully unfunny to watch. I suppose it's better than no reunion at all, but what a shame it turned out so underwhelming.

For starters, the script is downright awful: A mad doctor (Sid Caesar - I'll deal with him later) has an army of monster robots, two of which resemble Herman and Grandpa (Al Lewis, also reprising his part). Sending these automatons out on random crime sprees, it isn't very long before they're mistaken for the real Herman and Grandpa Munster -- and our arrested heroes have to spend the rest of the movie convincing everyone that they're innocent, while trying to foil the doctor's plans.

Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis get the most screen time, which is a small solace, as their old jams together are the only thing worth staying tuned for. What very little satisfaction is squeezed from this revival is due to them. Just the same, they're visibly older and slower, and just don't seem to be as vital as they were on the show. This is certainly understandable, but what's not acceptable is that the jokes are terrible, and the glaring silence where a laugh track ought to be only alerts us to that fact. This brings me back to Sid Caesar, who is more annoying than funny, and adds absolutely nothing to the proceedings as "Dr. Diablo".

Yvonne De Carlo returns as Lily, but she's very under-used and that's probably all for the best. Since this was now the 1980's, the next mistake was in casting some new, "hip" modern-sounding actors to portray little Eddie and a new Marilyn. It would have been much more conceivable to cast the original Butch Patrick and Pat Priest as the now-older versions of their sixties characters. The modern music is also not very nostalgic for fans of the old show, and gets in the way. The feeling one gets from this lost opportunity is that those involved just missed the whole point of what made the original series so delightful to those of us who grew up loving it. Darn, Darn, Darn! ** out of ****

Oh, Goody, goody, goody, Herman and Grandpa are back!

[Little-Mikey · 7/10 · 2 November 2008]

This movie is ridiculous! That's exactly what I like about this piece of "Guilty Pleasure". It is easy to condemn this movie for not including Pat Priest and Butch Patrick, the original Marilyn and Eddie. But look at the year and do the math. Pat Priest and Butch Patrick had long outgrown their parts! Time does that to young stars. Yvonne De Carlo, who re-prised her role as Lili, was pushing the Big 6-0 (even though she still looked good and was still the perfect "Lili").

It's a shame that Yvonne De Carlo wasn't given a larger part. Still, it was good to see Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis in the roles that made them so famous! During the 2 seasons that THE MUNSTERS was on prime time, it was the Gwynne/Lewis chemistry that made the series such a success. The rest of the cast were supporting cast members, not to say that they weren't needed. They were! The TV series wouldn't had survived as long as it did without them. Given the choice between Butch Patrick or Happy Derman (the original "Eddie"), the choice was too easy. Yvonne De Carlo was also the better choice over Joan Marshall.

Though this movie doesn't measure up to the original TV series, it still measures up nicely and is one of the better "reunuin" TV specials that plagued the boob-tube during the late 1970s/early 1980s.

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The Munster's Return But Forget To Be Funny

[aesgaard41 · 5/10 · 11 September 2013]

I'm a big fan of Classic TV. The majority of modern television shows is nothing compared to the timeless quality of Classic Television like "Bewitched," "Gilligan's Island," "Hogan's Heroes" or "The Munsters," so when I was a kid and first watched "The Munster's Revenge," one of the first of several television reunion movies from the Eighties, I was more than overjoyed and exceptionally impressed, but just a bit upset that neither Butch Patrick or Pat Priest (or even Beverly Owen – the original hotter more exemplary Marilyn) would be allowed to return. Childhood tends to mask quite a bit, and with adulthood, I can see the stuff my teenage past self failed to recognize. For one, the plot is horrible. The writers obviously have never seen the series. What made "The Munsters" so remarkable wasn't that it was a family of monsters; it was the fact that it was a family of monsters living like a regular family and dealing with ordinary problems like paying the bills, problems in school and the local crime rate. What affected the Munsters in their later movies was that they started having strange and bizarre adventures, and that's just what the movie suffers from. The plot about robotic wax figures terrorizing town is a very weak concept, and what makes it that much more weak is that the characters are weak shadows of themselves. Fred Gwynne, Al Lewis and Yvonne DeCarlo can wear the costumes again, but the spirit is gone. They just don't have the energy they used to in the original series plus their characters are a bit askew. Since when did Grandpa yodel to turn into a bat, and since when did the police much less the public accept the Munsters existence? One of the biggest recurring gags in the series was that everyone, police and gangster alike, winced or freaked out at the sight of Herman, but here, not so much. Even more odd, Eddie has aged a few years and looks nothing like he once did, and the actress playing Marilyn, as attractive as she is, looks as if she has gotten younger! Even worse, "Uncle Phantom Of The Opera" (played by Bob Hastings – the same actor who joined Mel Blanc in voicing the Raven) definitely belongs in the category of the Lazy Hollywood Writers Category; even the Wolfman and the Creature from the Black Lagoon were named Cousin Lester and Uncle Gilbert in the series! Over all, the movie is a nice look back, but the movie has too few laughs, and the best scenes (Howard Morris AKA Ernest T. Bass as Igor back in Transylvania is a cast coup!) are too few and far apart. The movie really drags on the scenes involving the police and Sid Caesar's criminal plot away from the house. The best thing that should have been done would have been taking several of the original scripts and putting them together as a movie. Simply put, "The Munster's Revenge" is proof you can't go home again.

Better Than Nothing, but Disappointing

[mord39 · 26 July 2001]

What this film needs is a laugh track, but even with that we've got a missed opportunity on our hands. Still in all, it's a treat to see the family reunited (especially considering how much Fred Gwynne despised his role). It's still nice to see Herman and grandpa getting into those same old jams, but what's with that Eddie? Should have had Butch Patrick return as the now-grown son.

Nice to see them one last time

[meadowfarmer · 7/10 · 6 September 2020]

As many others have said, this is a very lame movie with stale jokes, poor production values, a bad script, and almost no laugh track. It's a shame that Lily didn't have more screen time, and a shame that Butch Patrick, Pat Priest, and even Beverly Owen didn't at least have cameo appearances. It was a reunion movie, they should have been in it. Instead they focused on characters that had nothing to do with the original series. Sid Ceasar's performance was awful, actually offensive, and the Phantom of the Opera only made the movie worse. Still, it's the last time we get to see the original Munsters, Grandpa, Herman, and Lily, so as a true fan I'm glad they made this movie. I wish it could have been good, but it's better than nothing. I purchased seasons 1&2 as a set from Walmart for $19, which included this movie and "Munster Go Home". It's a great deal.

Quite a letdown

[nickenchuggets · 5/10 · 29 October 2023]

Similarly to the first film made on The Munsters, this one isn't really anything special. The Munsters Revenge is plagued by a pretty weak story and is not nearly as funny as the show on which it's based, which might be due to the absence of a laugh track. Just like Munsters Go Home, they decided to get a different actress to play Marilyn for some reason, although the most important roles of Herman, Grandpa and Lily are unchanged. The film starts with Herman Munster (Fred Gwynne), his wife Lily (Yvonne De Carlo), Grandpa (Al Lewis) and son Eddie (KC Martel) at a wax museum which just so happens to have scale replicas of each member of the Munster family. When the museum closes for the night, the wax replicas of Herman and Grandpa (revealed to be robots) start to move around and frighten some people outside at the behest of a mad scientist in the museum. While at home some time after, cops visit the Munsters and arrest Herman and Grandpa, not realizing they aren't the robots and only look basically identical to them. Herman and Grandma manage to bust out of the jail and try to get back to the museum in order to absolve themselves of any wrongdoing. At the museum, Herman and Grandpa manage to disable the circuitry on their robotic doubles and take their place. In so doing, they manage to infiltrate the underground lair of the scientist and Dr. Diablo (Sid Caesar), who wants to steal jewels belonging to an ancient pharaoh he claims to be related to. After making it back home, Herman and Grandpa meet Glenn, a detective and son of the police chief. Marilyn (Jo McDonnell) tries to get Glenn to help her uncle and his father in law, but by the time Glenn reaches the museum, there are no robots to be seen and Diablo's lab has vanished. Meanwhile, Herman and Grandpa dress up as waitresses in order to get inside a pizzeria whose owner was seen giving a briefcase full of dollar bills to the scientist before. Herman and Grandpa wait until someone from the museum shows up, then sneakily follow him back to it. Once there, they pretend to be the robots again and learn that Diablo's plan is set for Halloween night. Grandpa plans to inject a special serum into the mummy so that he is brought back to life, but it's all the way in Transylvania. After being stashed in coffins on a plane, Herman and Grandpa arrive in transylvania and come to the castle of Igor (Grandpa's former assistant) who dies for seemingly no reason. Grandpa tests the serum on him, and it works, but his attitude changes and he becomes sympathetic towards the mob of angry villagers coming to burn the place down. Herman and Grandpa make it back home shortly before Halloween, and Lily tells them that both Glenn and Marilyn went to the museum and haven't come back yet. Herman, Grandpa and their cousin, the Phantom of the Opera (Bob Hastings) go there and find the two imprisoned by Diablo in a strong glass container. The Phantom sings opera loudly and gets the container to shatter, freeing them. That night, the Halloween party is underway at the museum, and Marilyn steals Diablo's controller for the robots, making them not function while Grandpa injects the serum into the mummy. As Diablo tries to escape and make off with the jewels, the mummy comes to life and begins choking him. The cops show up and arrest Diablo, the mummy is revealed to actually be Herman, and the real mummy had too much of Grandpa's serum, reverting him into an infant. Back home, Grandpa and Herman join Lily's Halloween party and reveal they have been gifted a large diamond for their efforts, but the Phantom sings too loudly again and shatters it. I don't know what it is, but something about Munsters movies just spells disaster. The first one was already painfully average and unfunny, and this isn't really any different. I did at least enjoy seeing De Carlo, Lewis and Fred back together after so long, but it's not like the first movie where there's a lot of interaction between them. Lily is absent from most of the film, and 90% of this movie is just Grandpa and Herman doing their own thing. It's also pretty shocking how this is over 15 years after the show ended and they all basically look the same, which in the cases of Lily and Grandpa I suppose makes sense because they're vampires. The story (as I said) really isn't much, and the kid playing Eddie looks nothing like Butch Patrick (but at least sounds like him). I really don't understand why Marilyn's actress kept getting replaced so much, but here, she's once again just a generic blonde girl. Probably the only saving grace this movie has is seeing Grandpa and Herman interact. While not as funny as they are on the show, they do have a dynamic that only duos such as Laurel and Hardy can come close to. Overall, I'd say this is for diehard fans only. They did have to pay huge amounts of money to get Fred and Al to come do this, after all.

Mind-Numbing Waxing Nostalgic

[BaronBl00d · 2/10 · 1 December 2006]

A sad, sad sight indeed is The Munster's Revenge. The Munsters are brought back one last time(Fred Gywnne received a huge paycheck to come back to the role of Herman Munster)in this made-for-TV movie about a pair of wax replicas of Grandpa and Herman that are robots "terrorizing" the city as preparation for a robbery of a mummy's stash at an exhibit. With the police on their heels, the two elderly television icons try to find out who is actually behind the crimes in order to clear their names. We get to see them dress in drag as waitresses(a minor highpoint in the film), grandpa turns into a bat with attached wire a couple times(one time even flying to Transylvania with Herman somehow invoking his frequent flyer miles I guess), and a most annoying relative "the Phantom" constantly sings and breaks glass ad nausium! What is most sad is hard to pinpoint: is it that Gywnne(especially) and Al Lewis look so haggard in every scene and so indifferent to the material. Is it the hokey costumes of the robots that have that school production values look about them. Maybe it is the ridiculous script. Sid Caesar's crazy, mostly unfunny antics. Or perhaps it is seeing something which brought me joy and fond memories as a child being treated to a super K-Mart fashion makeover. At any even, the result is decidedly disappointing and silly even for Munster standards. As for the rest of the cast, Yvonne De Carlo is adequate in a most vacuous role(though showing more cleavage than usual for a woman of her years and experience). K. C. Martell makes an ever-so-not affable Eddie Munster. Jo McDonell is an attractive Marilyn. Bob Hastings as the aforementioned Phantom looks and acts and speaks in the most absurd manner. The film has a real cheap feel about it even for a made-for-TV movie.

Darn! Darn! Darn!

[HarlowMGM · 3/10 · 28 June 2006]

Following the success of the (awful) Gilligan's Island TV movie reruns, a number of TV movies were made in the 1980's reuniting casts from classic shows. Most of these movies completely missed the boat as far as recapturing the humor that made the shows so special. THE MUNSTERS REVENGE is among the most disappointing because it goes for a Laurel and Hardy-type comedy style that really wasn't in the original series. Yvonne De Carlo, a wonderful comedienne and essential to the series, is completely wasted - she has less time here in this 90 minute movie than she did in any single 30 minute episode. And since the roles of "Eddie" and "Marilyn" in this movie are nothing more than cameos, what was the point of making them younger and recasting them? With very little rewriting, they could have used Butch Patrick and Pat Priest. Although seeing some of the Munsters spooky relatives was a nice touch, I didn't enjoy Sid Caesar as the hammy mad scientist mainly because there's too much of him and not enough of the underused Munsters (ironically that very year, 1981, Caesar's old partner in comedy, Imogene Coca, was also inappropriately cast in a major part in a TV movie reunion RETURN OF THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES). Another strange inexplicable bit at the beginning of the film has the Munster family represented as wax figures at a local horror wax museum. Why would they be in there when they are supposed to be a "typical" (if strange) American family, not famous monsters? This was the last Munsters project featuring the original cast in their roles, there was an awful revival of the series in the late 1980's with a completely new cast and a 1990's TV movie which featured DeCarlo, Lewis, Priest, and Patrick in cameo roles as a family dining.

This is a great movie from America's weirdest family.

[buppy · 10/10 · 22 November 1998]

Fred Gwynne, Al Lewis, Sid Caesar, and Yvonne De Carlo star in this funny, funny movie. The late Fred Gwynne is truly wonderful as Herman Munster who lives with Grandpa Munster (Al Lewis), wife Lily (Yvonne De Carlo), and his son and daughter. Sid Caesar is hilarious as the owner of a wax museum that has a whole section dedicated to the Munster family. When the wax figures of Herman and Grandpa begin to terrorize the town everyone blames the two. The two now have to clear their names before it's too late. You'll laugh out loud just like I did.

Yawn...pass the crackers; there's plenty of cheese here

[weymo · 2/10 · 21 June 2003]

96 minutes of this is cruel..and I love the old Munster's. Yes, the plot is thing; yes the lines are trite; but whoever was at the helm of this was not a fan. There is so much 'intrigue' (and I use that word with great pause) that I wonder if it's an old Starsky & Hutch episode. I lost count of the number of times I noticed that makeup had missed a spot near the collar. Refusing to acknowledge that any time had passed since the mid-60's (ludicrous) the producers simply replace Marilyn & Eddie with younger actors. Why not let them grow and age? The addition of an Addam's Family style reunion does not add to the flavor of the Halloween Party.

Grandpa & Herman fly to Transylvania and back in a few hours (preposterous.) Sid Ceaser is the most, yes the most unbelievable character (I am including the bad robots) since he babbles an unwild combination of gibberish & yiddish but claims to be an ancient Arabic ruler. And yes, it looks like the laugh track is missing. In fact, there are several spots where there is dead air, as if the laugh track was to be inserted later. The actors seem to wait on the faux audience. It's not laughable; it's sad. Oh, and the best part! Yvonne DeCarlo has a line that just goes to show you how out of touch the writers and producers were. Marilyn says something like: "Where could Uncle Herman and Grandpa be? They could have been in an accident. They could have been hit by a car...or a train!" Lily says responds with something like: "You're Uncle Herman will be here if he has to drag himself off the train track." What's amazing about this is: Yvonne DeCarlo's husband was a stuntman in the early 60's and lost a leg and was nearly killed in a train stunt. He never recovered and this financially devastated her family. (check out Biography's fantastic review of her life and career) This line could have been easily changed to be more sensitive to her.

If you are a real fan of the Munster's then you'll have to RENT this mess. It illustrates how some things are better left alone. Even with the (nearly) original cast, this is almost as bad as the attempted remake of the show a few years ago.

Welcome Back Munsters

[Big Movie Fan · 12 August 2002]

The Munsters Revenge was a nice return for the original family. I'm not a big fan of TV reunion movies in general but The Munsters Revenge was great.

Herman and Grandpa were back accused of a crime they didn't commit. They had to prove their innocence and there were some nice scenes along the way particularly when Herman and Grandpa were in the police station.

Oh yes, and there's a few villains in the film as well which adds to the enjoyment. This film did have similarities to Carry On Screaming from 1966 and it was just as amusing.

Now when is someone going to release this onto DVD?

Well, at least three of the original Munsters are back.

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 2 November 2021]

"The Munsters' Revenge" was a reunion movie for SOME of the original cast of the classic TV show. The three leads, Lily, Herman and Grandpa all reprise their roles...a major plus for the film. However, instead of having the original Eddie and one of the original Marilyns, the film kept the characters young and recast them.

The plot is fair. A local wax museum owner is evil. In reality, his wax dummies are robots and he uses them to commit various crimes. But some of them also look like the Munsters and soon Grandpa and Herman are arrested for the crimes committed by their robotic alter egos.

The biggest problem with this film is that it just wasn't written well. It lacks humor and heart and instead just feels as if the three originals are going through the motions. Not terrible...but also not good.

A really so-so made-for-TV reunion flick

[Woodyanders · 5/10 · 2 October 2008]

The second and final "The Munsters" reunion film alas isn't half as solid and funny as the very enjoyable "Munster, Go Home!". While the plot has potential -- evil criminal mastermind Dr. Diablo (a frantically mugging Sid Caesar) creates robot lookalikes of Herman and Grandpa in order to pull off an elaborate heist -- the execution of said plot unfortunately leaves a good deal to be desired. Don Weis' flat direction crucially fails to capture the sweet charm and zany energy of the TV show. Instead the movie just plods along while the humor tends to feel both tired and forced. Harry L. Wolf's pedestrian cinematography, Vic Mizzy's mechanically bouncy score, and the shoddy make-up and (not so) special effects are also pretty blah and unremarkable. However, the cast do their best with the mediocre material: Fred Gwynne as lovably bumbling oaf Herman and Al Lewis as cranky old Grandpa play off each other well, Yvonne De Carlo is fine as usual, but isn't given much to do as Lily, Jo McDonnell makes for a cute and appealing Marilyn, Peter Fox contributes a likable performance as nice guy detective Glen, and Bob Hastings is a total robust hoot as a jolly opera-singing Phantom of the Opera. While not a complete disaster, this picture nonetheless lacks the essential spark to be anything more than a merely okay diversion.

A Better Script Would Have Helped

[kgraovac · 3/10 · 14 October 2023]

This would not have been so dreadful had they been given a script that dealt more with the family and less with the silly robot plot and Sid Caesar's terrible character. People tuned in to see what Television's First Family of Fright had been up to since the '60---not to watch boring conversations between police officers and criminal scientists.

Yvonne DeCarlo was sadly underused---Phantom of the Opera got more screen time with the same lame gag repeated over and over---and they should have let Marilyn and Eddie age into their roles and brought back Pat Priest and Butch Patrick. The "new" Marilyn gives some really bad line readings here and the "new" Eddie is sorely lacking in boyish charm.

In 1981, goofy '60s comedy could still be done right with a decent script and likeable actors . The TV series HARPER VALLEY (1980-82) starring Barbara Eden proved that. It wasn't great but there were at least some genuine laughs each episode. It even used the same font for the opening titles as this TV-movie.

A missed opportunity. Seeing The Munsters in color wasn't enough to save them this time.

A great portrayal of "Munsterness," with the wonderful comedic team of Gwynne and Lewis.

[phoebemunster · 10/10 · 16 December 2000]

I wrote this review 16 years ago as a freshman in high school, so please forgive me. I just re- found it while looking at my profile for the first time in years, but I thought I'd leave it up for fun. I still find the movie mildly amusing, but I wouldn't suggest it to anyone but dedicated fans of the Munsters (and even they might not like it).

-------- Original review: This movie has one of the cheesiest plots I have seen. For me, that's what makes it so awesome! Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis are very good at what they achieved in the original Munsters series. While there was less slapstick, they still worked wonderfully together "comedically." I wish Yvonne De Carlo, as Lily, would have had more plot involvement. She showed that she could do comedy in the original series, but it was mostly wasted in this movie. This movie also stars the great Sid Caesar, but sadly he doesn't have any interaction with Gwynne and Lewis. I think some better work could have come out of that.

Not very good, sadly

[QueenoftheGoons · 2/10 · 1 February 2022]

I love Herman, how could you not? He's so cute. But you learn taht Gwynne and Lewis hated their roles, and didn't like the typecast. You watch a video on Lewis about him cussing about freedom of speech on a show he was in. But when i was growing up i loved it because you don't know these things. But i have to know everything. So i learn everything. This has good points though. I never liked any of the Marilyn's esp this one and this Eddie is annoying and a half. Yvonne is still beautiful. Charles McCauley was in it briefly. Always liked him. Old gorgeous Ruskin owned the pizza shoppe. He looked good in the 80's but he wasn't in it enough. The Phantom wasn't too annoying either.

Clunky, but heartwarming to see some of the cast reprise their roles.

[amesmonde · 24 January 2022]

Mixed up with some wax museum robots build for crime, the Munsters must both prove their innocence and expose the true thieves.

Director Don Weis offers a cheap, cheerful unintentionally creepy NBC TV movie, mainly due to the Phantom of the Opera (Bob Hastings) and blank the wax museum Munsters. The Addams Family composer Vic Mizzy offers a fitting throwback score. It's feels like a Munsters extended episode mixed with a hint of The West World TV pilot. While the series was disappointingly filmed in black and white, The Munsters (1964) pilot episode and Munster, Go Home! (1966) was filmed in colour. This thankfully was also filmed in standard colour in 1981.

Veteran Weis' staging is clunky at times, possibly due to budget restraints. The Munsters' Revenge writers Arthur Alsberg and Don Nelson's jokes, setups and gags are hit an miss, some are on the money and offer a few chuckles mainly from Lewis and Gwynne. It's fitting that they've included some additional classic horror characters including the likes of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Igor, The Phantom of the Opera, The Wolf Man and Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Thanks to the original actors, namely the lovable Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster, Yvonne De Carlo (Lily Munster) and Al Lewis as Grandpa Dracula, it's a joy. Jo McDonnell is likeable enough as Marilyn Munster and K. C. Martel emulates Eddie Munster. American comic and actor Sid Caesar does his best with the script.

Despite The Munsters' Revenge short comings it's more enjoyable than the Munsters Today (1988) and heartwarming to see some of the cast reprise their roles.

munsters revenge.. should be munsters at the wax museum

[gorytus-20672 · 9/10 · 15 April 2021]

Apr 2021

Really enjoyable tv movie , the 2nd Munsters movie, made some 15 years after the first and the series.

If you like the series then you cannot go wrong here, it involves a wax museum and a mistaken identity plot, good harmless family fun with Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis in fine form.

9 out of 10.

A Fun Munsters Movie

[Rainey-Dawn · 8/10 · 25 September 2023]

The diabolical Dr. Diablo has a wax museum that many enjoy but that is only a front for his sinister plot to steal good and blame others for the crimes. Many of those was figures are robots that do the bidding of Dr. Diablo - that includes Herman and Grandpa wax figure robots!! It's up to the Munster to prove their innocence.

I remember watching this film when it first aired on TV back in 1981. I enjoyed it then and now. I'm unsure way all the disdain for this movie and it could be because we don't have a grown up Butch Patrick and older Pat Priest along side the rest of the cast - but I'm unsure. I am one that enjoy this film.

8/10.