As an actor who appeared in a comedy movie that was met with bad reviews at the time of its release only to build a strong cult following, Sean Whalen has some things to say about Rob Zombie's new take on The Munsters. Whalen is someone who's especially popular with horror fans for his roles in movies like The People Under the Stairs, Hatchet III, and Death House, though he's also appeared in the Zombie movies Halloween II and 3 from Hell. The actor also had a role as a partygoer in The Cable Guy, a 1996 dark comedy starring Jim Carrey as an obsessive stalker.

At the time of its release, The Cable Guy was pummeled with negative reviews, but many Carrey fans now look back at the film rather fondly. One notable difference from other Carrey movies released in that era was that his Cable Guy role was much darker than the goofier characters he'd portray in films like Dumb and Dumber and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Whalen feels that The Cable Guy is in fact one of Carrey's best movies and theorizes that the bad reviews were mostly due to the actor doing something tonally different, and in a post on social media, he suggests that the same thing is now happening with The Munsters. As Whalen explains:

"LOVED ’THE MUNSTERS’: I actually understood what ROB was doing here. He made a family film that is very silly and goofy. I believe some people are just mad that he’s not making a Rob Zombie movie. I saw that when I did the cable guy with Jim Carrey (which I thought was one of the funniest Jim Carrey movies ever). But people were mad because he was playing a dark character."

Related: Rob Zombie Honors The Munsters Actors of Years Past Ahead of Reboot's Netflix Premiere

The Munsters Is Fun for the Whole Family

Munsters movie from Rob Zombie
Universal Pictures
Netflix

Whalen also counters the argument that lead stars Jeff Daniel Phillips, Sheri Moon Zombie, and Dan Roebuck were too far unlike the original versions of the characters played by Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo, and Al Lewis, respectively. Whalen reminds fans that these actors were not trying to emulate the originals but to bring something new to them in an all-new story. He also suggests that a lot of the criticism came from Zombie haters who'd been "waiting in the wings" to bash the film, arguing that despite the backlash, the movie is worth watching as a very fun film that can be enjoyed by the whole family.

"I do believe it starts off slow but I think it is fantastic and silly. The most important thing is that they were not trying to imitate Al and Fred. The Herman Munster was young and silly and what I would’ve imagined from Young Herman. Show it to your kids and grandkids! I think it is fun and silly enough. Congratulations to everyone who was involved. I felt there was a lot of people waiting in the wings for it to come out so they can dump all over it. All I know is that Rob, Sherrie, Danny, Jeff, and Richard (Brake) are wonderful kind people and this movie is for families and has a lot of heart!"

The Munsters is streaming on Netflix.