Addams Family Reunion

 



Director - Dave Payne (Alien Terminator, Alien Avengers II)
Starring - Daryl Hannah (Kill Bill Vol. 1, Blade Runner), Tim Curry (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, It), and Nicole Fugere (The New Addams Family, Things I Never Told You)
Release Date - 1998
Genre - Comedy
Tagline - "A killer comedy
Format - Streaming

Rating (out of 5):

 

       The 90s was a phenomenal time to be an Addams Family fan.  The two movies starring Raul Julia, Anjelica Huston, and Christopher Lloyd spearheaded the popularity while the 90s animated series held the fans over.  As the 90s were coming to a close Saban and Warner Brothers purchased the rights to the Addams Family after Paramount skipped on making a third film after the death of Raul Julia.  They released Addams Family Reunion as a direct to video release and loose pilot for a new show called The New Addams Family.  The show was short lived but campy while the film fell into obscurity.  Hell, as I was watching the film I was notified on social media by several of you that had never heard of the film which is not shocking considering it's very limited release.  After watching the three Addams Family films I thought I would revisit this one and review it. 

     The film follows Gomez (Curry), Morticia (Hannah), Wednesday (Fugere), Pugsley (Jerry Messing), and Uncle Fester (Patrick Thomas) as they respond to a family reunion invitation at a country club.  They go and find themselves the oddballs out as the other Addams are more clean cut and prominent.  One of the them take offense to them being their and think they are showing to get in on the inheritance they would get when the old Addams dies.  A family feud begins and eventually Gomez and Morticia accidentally exposes the crooked Addams for who they really are.

      I remember renting this one or borrowing it from a friend as a kid but I don't remember much about it.  I was pre-teen age and the internet was not the beast it is now.  I remember hating Tim Curry as Gomez and not Julia but now I realize why the movie was made the way it was but that doesn't make it any more entertaining.  It's still a difficult one to sit through.  The acting in this one is not bad but the cast just can't find the characters.  We love the family because of their personalities and how they act with each other.  Tim Curry is a phenomenal actor and never disappoints but he is not Gomez.  When someone asked me what I thought of the film before I always said great acting but the wrong casting.  I still stand by that.  Curry and Hannah both bring it but they just are not these characters.  The same can be said for every except Patrick Thomas.  Christopher Lloyd will forever be Uncle Fest to be due to his portrayal in the live action movies but Patrick Thomas delivered the Uncle Fester from the animated series as a live action portrayal.  Very different but amazing.  The story for this one is extremely pointless for a movie.  It feels like they location scouted and then wrote the movie around the country club.  It doesn't work and is painfully boring for the viewer to sit through.  I found myself wanting to turn it off.  Finally, no blood or gore here.  We also don't get the amazing sets, wardrobes, and scenes that we got from the first two films.  Overall, Addams Family Reunion is more entertaining that the new animated movie but that's not saying much.  Collectors will want to check it out when it gets a new release but I don't recommend checking it out.