The Addams Family



Director - Barry Sonnenfeld (Addams Family Values, Men in Black)
Starring - Anjelica Huston (The Witches, This is Spinal Tap), Raul Julia (Street Fighter, Addams Family Values), and Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
Release Date - 1991
Genre - Comedy
Tagline - "Weird is relative"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

 

     I'm a living product of the 90s and it's because I grew up in the 90s that I love horror so much.  Goosebumps was the catalyst and soon Are You Afraid of the Dark, Big Bad Beetleborgs, The Addams Family, Big Wolf on Campus, and other shows snowballed the obsession out of control. Movies from the decade often catch a bad rap but the horror-centric television shows were fantastic especially those aimed for children.  I remember renting The Addams Family when it hit tape as a kid and then begging my dad to buy me a copy.  I fucking loved the movie and watched it so many times I made myself sick of it.  I often do that with my favorite movies.  It has been a good 15 years since I saw the film last but I popped open the DVD I bought sometime ago last year to show my daughter who was bitten by the Addams Family bug.  It was fun revisiting it.  I recently took her to see the new animated Addams Family movie in theaters and neither of us was a fan of it so when we got home I tossed in the brand new blu of the film to clean our pallets.   

     The film follows Gomez, Morticia, their two children Wednesday and Puglesy who live with their almost mute servant Lurch and Grandmama.  Gomez as been heartbroken for over 25 years after his brother Fester was lost at sea when visiting the Bermuda Triangle.  Things get complicated when the family accountant teams up with his loan shark to disguise her son as the lost brother of Gomez to gain access to their fortune.  Gordon (Lloyd), now disguised as Fester, rejoins their family but loses focus on his task when he becomes too close to them and eventually starts to love them like the family he never had.  When Gordon's love for the Addams family out weighs his love for his mother we learn that she found him many years ago on the beach and he really is the long lost Fester that Gomez has been missing.

     I don't know if it's nostalgia of watching this movie after spending a good portion of my childhood watching it or if its a legitimately good film but it's so damn difficult not to give this a perfect 5 out of 5.  I love everything about this film from the acting down to the sets and wardrobe.  It's such an amazing film.  The acting in this one is damn near perfect from the entire cast.  I've never seen a film so perfectly cast.  Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston were born to play these two characters.  You almost believe that they love each other which must stem from a real life relationship outside of the movie.  They are fucking phenomenal together and their chemistry on camera is unmatched.  Christopher Lloyd would not be who I would think of as Uncle Fester before this movie but after I can't imagine anyone else playing him.  He brought this unforgettable character to life and made it his own.  He owned every scene he was in and his charisma is what made this character become my favorite within the family.  The remainder of the cast is fucking perfect as well but I don't have the time to name each one individually.  They all deserve the credit but I'm a lazy piece of shit.  The story for this one works.  I can remember the part of the movie where they get kicked out of their home would give me anxiety and I would almost panic.  The family is all close and the comedy and suspense work perfectly together.  The dark, almost black comedy, humor works very well with the story.  Every scene holds your attention and if it's not story rich you still watch to see how they turned something innocent into something macabre to fit the family.  Finally, this one doesn't have blood and gore.  Instead, we get amazing sets and scenery, unforgettable wardrobes, and a rich story full of the characters you are here to see.  Overall, The Addams Family should be a part of anyone's childhood.  Young and old can enjoy this movie and the humor still finds it's mark all these years later.  I highly recommend checking it out on blu.  It looks amazing!