‘The Munsters’ Teaser: Rob Zombie’s Feature Ode to the 1960s Sitcom Makes Spooky Debut in Color

Herman Munster’s words of wisdom are back on the big screen.

Over half a century after the original “Munsters” black-and-white sitcom series wrapped, writer-director Rob Zombie is breathing new life into the kooky undead family comedy with a feature film.

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Jeff Daniel Phillips stars as the famed Herman Munster, who preaches acceptance no matter what people look like, monsters or not. Director Zombie’s wife Sheri Moon Zombie plays Lily Munster, and Daniel Roebuck is Grandpa. Iconic Halloween persona Elvira aka Cassandra Peterson stars as real estate agent Barbara Carr, with Jorge Garcia, Richard Brake, Catherine Schell, and Sylvester McCoy rounding out the ensemble cast.

The film will be released this fall by Universal 1440 Entertainment, a production arm of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group.

“The Munsters” ran from 1964 to 1966 and was frequently compared to “The Addams Family,” another IP that lands a 2022 reimagining thanks to Tim Burton’s upcoming “Wednesday” series.

“The Munsters” famously had a long-running joke that niece Marilyn, who distinctly did not dress in the campy goth attire, was the “ugly duckling” of the family. The new teaser trailer for the film also debuts the beloved family in color for the first time.

“I knew that if I went in and demanded, ‘This movie’s going to be in black and white or forget it!’ we would not be talking about the Munsters right now, because it would have never happened. I guaran-f***ing-tee it,” Zombie told Entertainment Weekly. “But what I did do is I made the colors sort of hyper-real. I noticed when the actors were in their makeup and they were just walking around, getting lunch or whatever, they looked like cartoon characters come to life. They were just so insanely colorful. I was like, I have to light the movie in the same fashion. It really seemed at all times like a live-action cartoon, which was really exciting.”

Zombie assured that the film is “100 percent in the spirit of the show” for longtime fans. “I didn’t want it to be different. I wanted to totally retain the vibe that it had in the ’60s,” he added.

The horror director previously announced the project on Instagram as something he’s been “chasing for 20 years” and confirmed the PG rating.

“For those of you speculating, wondering and assuming that ‘The Munsters’ would be dirty, violent and nasty…well, you are wrong,” Zombie captioned. “It’s all good down on Mockingbird Lane.”

Check out the teaser below.

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