Vampire Comedy Countdown #31: The Munsters’ Revenge (TV Movie 1981)
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When the owner of a wax museum frames Herman and Grandpa Munster for crimes, they must prove their innocence...
“Eddie, we’re just not anybody, son.”
“That’s right, Eddie, your father’s a little bit of everybody.”
As part of our big Vampire Comedy list, we’re leaning on The Munsters character Grandpa—who is Dracula—to include on our list The Munsters Revenge. This 1981 TV movie reunited members of the original cast from the classic 1964-1966 horror comedy sitcom The Munsters, including Fred Gwynne (Herman Munster), Yvonne De Carlo (Lily Munster), and Al Lewis (Grandpa).
In the event you’re one of the thrtee people who don’t quite know what The Munsters is about, the show featured a family of classic monsters—including a dad who is a version of Frankenstein’s Monster, a mom who is the daughter of Dracula, a son who is a werewolf, and a niece who is…normal. And Grandpa is an evil(ish) scientist—and also Dracula.
In this article:
About the reunion movie The Munsters Revenge
History of The Munsters
Related The Munsters links
Counting down the funniest vampire comedy movies!
About the reunion movie The Munsters Revenge
When the owner of a wax museum frames Herman and Grandpa Munster for crimes, they must prove their innocence...
In this reunion movie featuring original cast members from the original TV show, The Munster family visits a local wax museum and discovers the place includes wax replicas of them. When the museum closes, Doctor Diablo (guest star Sid Caesar) activates the wax figures—which turn out to be robots—to pull off a series of art heists.
Because their duplicates have pulled off crimes, Herman and Grandpa have now been identified as the burglars. As the police come for them, they are forced to run from the law! They must now work to clear their names.
(By the way, they’re in a hurry to clear themselves before the evening party with other family members—which includes more classic monsters.)
The Munsters’ Revenge Trailer
History of The Munsters
I love The Munsters. So. Much. (Seriously, Monster Complex has talked about The Munsters LOTS OF TIMES.) We’re including them on this list because of the movies, but let’s start with the original series.
Count Dracula was a member of the family on classic monster comedy sitcom The Munsters (1964-1966). The show revolved around a regular, suburban family that just happened to also be related to the Universal Monsters. Dracula was “Grandpa” on the show—other members of family included Herman Munster (a patchwork Frankenstein’s Monster) and Lily Munster (the daughter of Dracula), their son, Eddie (who was part werewolf and part vampire), and their “homely” niece, Marilyn, who passed for human.
With 70 episodes airing on the CBS network (1964-1966), the show ended after two seasons. Members of the original cast also appeared in two movies. The 1966 theatrical film Munster, Go Home watched the family explore Herman’s background after being adopted by an English Lord. The 1981 TV movie The Munsters’ Revenge saw Herman and Grandpa be framed by a scientist and criminal mastermind played by TV legend Sid Caesar.
Over the years since then, the Munsters have been revisited multiple times. This has included the 1973 cartoon pilot Mini-Me, the syndicated sitcom The Munsters Today (1988–1991), the 2012 dramedy special Mockingbird Lane, plus the TV movies Here Come the Munsters (1995), The Munsters’ Scary Little Christmas (1996), and The Munsters (2022).
Buy various The Munsters movies and episodes and stuff from Amazon
Counting down the funniest vampire comedy movies!
Vampires are scary monsters a lot of the time (setting aside romantic stories for the moment). But vampires can also turn up in some uproarious comedies, from the 1948 classic Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and 1987’s Lost Boys to more modern gems like What We Do in the Shadows and Hotel Transylvania.
Each entry includes some behind-the-scenes details for the movie, plus several videos that offer even more info. Click over to the other pages to continue the countdown.
See the whole list on these pages
Part 1: Top 31 Vampire Comedy Movies (21-31)—including Dracula: Dead and Loving It
Part 2: Top 31 Vampire Comedy Movies (11-20)—including Love at First Bite and Day Shift
Part 3: Top 31 Vampire Comedy Movies (1-10)—including What We Do in the Shadows and Fright Night
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The Rondo Awards honor the best in classic horror research, creativity and film preservation. This year's winners include the reissue of ROBOT MONSTER, the movie GODZILLA: MINUS ONE, the TV series WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, and more! Find out the details here.