The Munsters’ Scary Little Christmas
Directed Ian Emes
Starring Sandy Baron, Elaine Hendrix, Ann Magnuson, Sam McMurray, Bug Hall, Mary Woronov
Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Newer generations of children unfamiliar with the classic 1960s black-and-white TV show The Munsters will get a kick out of this full-color 1996 made-for-TV movie. The Munsters’ Scary Little Christmas continues the saga of the lovably morbid, yet naive Munsters, a middle-class family made up of classic monster stereotypes just trying to fit in with their neighbors.

In this humorous spooky holiday offering, The Munsters family is spending Christmas in Los Angeles, much to young Eddie’s dismay. To cheer him up, bumbling dad Herman makes an effort to get Eddie the best toy of the season, cousin Marilyn plans for the Transylvanian relatives to come in for the holiday, and Grandpa uses his powers of magic and alchemy to make it snow … and accidentally transports Santa and his elves to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, mom Lily enters the home owner association’s holiday decorations competition, threatening to dethrone the usual winner, uppity neighbor Mrs. Dimwitty (played by Mary Woronov, who I’ve loved since seeing her as Principal Evelyn Togar in Rock and Roll High School).

The Munster’s Scary Little Christmas is full of campy moments, much like the original series, and includes classic Munsters ghoulish delights, like a working-guillotine holiday lawn decoration. It’s obvious from the score and set designs that the movie was going for the Home Alone holiday feel while trying to modernize an old TV much like what was done with the The Addams Family movies, and for the most part, the filmmakers pull it off.

The cast of Scary Christmas is packed with character actors who don’t have the benefit of being recognized underneath their Munsters attire. Under all that green Herman Munster makeup is Sam McMurray. Doesn’t ring a bell? Aside from being part of The Tracey Ullman Show cast, McMurray has guest-starred on tons of TV shows like King of Queens and Friends (where he played Chandler’s vulgar boss). And Grandpa? Yes, that’s “Jack Klompus” (Sandy Baron) from Seinfeld (he was Jerry Seinfeld’s father Morty’s neighbor in Florida who got Morty voted out as condo president). Another name that will escape you is Elaine Hendrix, but her face is everywhere, usually as the mean girl or the bitchy best friend.

While some long-time Munsters fans will probably cringe over this, I must admit, I found it way more enjoyable than I thought it would be, considering it was a TV movie with a totally different cast. For kids who want a fun Christmas movie starring some spooky characters, Scary Christmas does the job.

The Munsters’ Scary Little Christmas was released for the first time on DVD on November 6, 2007, and has a 91 minutes running time.