LET’S GET PHYSICAL: GRAMPA’S MONSTER MOVIES (1988) ***

FORMAT:  DVD

Al “Grandpa” Lewis hosts this hour-long compilation of horror trailers.  The set-up is similar to Grampa’s Silly Scares.  Lewis stands in front of a bad green-screen effect of a graveyard and makes a lot of puns about classic movie monsters like Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolf Man.  Then, he sets up his beach chair, grabs his bucket of popcorn, and provides intros for a bevy of fun previews. 

The trailers are mostly for Universal horror classics like Dracula, The Mummy, Frankenstein, and The Wolf Man.  I might’ve enjoyed it more if there had been more obscure trailers or even more color trailers mixed in there.  That said, if you grew up watching Lewis on The Munsters or hosting TBS’s Super Scary Saturday, this will be a fun trip down memory lane.  Or if you have a younger horror fan in the family, this would be a great gateway into classic horror. 

Sure, you’ve seen many of these trailers in plenty of other compilations before, but this has something the others don’t… GRANDPA!  Even if some of the previews are awfully familiar, it’s still amusing seeing Lewis doing little intros for them.  It’s kind of like getting over two dozen fast-paced single-serving horror host segments while watching only the best parts of the movie.  Because of that, you’re sure to have a good time.  While his jokes are corny and his puns are obvious it’s clear that Lewis is having a ball reviving his character, and that level of fun rubs off on the viewer. 

Also note the discrepancy of the spelling of “Grampa” in the title which was probably done to avoid copyright infringement with Universal who owns The Munsters.  Then again, since so many of the trailers are for Universal movies, I don’t see why they couldn’t have let it slide, what with all the free cross-promotional stuff going on.  (Although many trailers have a Screen Gems/Columbia Pictures tag at the end, which must’ve been for television showings.)

The complete line-up is House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula, Son of Dracula, Dracula’s Daughter, Dracula, The Invisible Man Returns, The Invisible Woman, Invisible Agent, Frankenstein, Frankenstein Meets Wolf Man, Bride of Frankenstein, The Ghost of Frankenstein, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Phantom of the Opera (1943), The Climax, The Werewolf of London, The Mystery of Marie Roget, Murders in the Rue Morgue, Flesh and Fantasy, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, The Mummy’s Hand, The Mummy’s Curse, The Black Cat (1941), The Cat Creeps, Black Friday, and Horror Island.