Addams Family Reunion

Now we have come to the worst of the franchise, “Addams Family Reunion,” released on TV in 1998. Gomez’s parents (Kevin McCarthy and Estelle Harris) come to stay but he (Tim Curry) is shocked to find they are suffering from Waltzheimers, which is making them act like normal old people. Gomez goes to find other Addams family members and sees that a reunion is being held. He goes to the reunion to try to get his relative Dr. Philip Adams, played by Ed Begley, Jr. (famous for TV shows “St. Elsewhere” and “Living with Ed”), to help cure his parents but the other Addamses are only interested in getting their share of the family patriarch’s will. There Puglsey (Jerry Messing) falls in love (Hilary Duff’s older sister, Haylie Duff, who you might remember from shows “7^th Heaven” and “Lizzie McGuire”). Meanwhile, Philip’s brother and sister-in-law (Rodger Halston and Heidi Lenhart) are heading for the reunion and end up at the Addams Family mansion accidentally.

The preview two theatrical movies “The Addams Family” and “Addams Family Values” were big hits. The film series would probably have continued with other sequels except that Raul Julia died in 1994. Despite this not being a big deal to Hollywood commercial people, it was ultimately decided to discontinue the “Addams Family” franchise after Julia’s passing.

Paramount sold out interest to Saban Entertainment, the producers of a large amount of children’s shows like “Samurai Pizza,” “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,” “Digimon,” and the “Casper” sequels. Saban produced a low-budget and terrible third “Addams Family” film, which was only released to video. The only person to return from any of the other films were Carel Struycken as Lurch and Christopher Hart’s hand as Thing. Following this, Saban produced the live-action TV show “The New Addams Family,” which apparently people hated, but I only saw little bits of it. Apparently, Nicole Fugere was the only cast member from this film that returned for the show to reprise the role of Wednesday.

Moria said in her review, “The first two Addams Family films have a delightfully droll touch – all arch mock Goth with a dash of macabre black humour but nothing too serious. Alas, by the point of Addams Family Reunion, director Barry Sonnenfeld was no longer aboard and all the arch Goth purring, all the writhing in delight at suffering, the encouraging of the children to torture better, not only falls heavily but seems to only be slavishly treading in the other films’ footsteps. All the arch wit is reduced to cartoon pratfalls, which are pitched at a shrill juvenile level – the torture of the straights who end up in the house, the banquet scenes and especially the persecution of a postman in the opening scenes hit an agonising excess. Tim Curry is not Raul Julia but his fruity acting style is well suited to the part of Gomez. However, the rest of the cast, especially Nicole Fugere’s Wednesday, seem pale shadows of their cinematic counterparts.” Especially Daryl Hannah as Morticia, Pat Thomas as Uncle Fester, and Alice Ghostley.

As can guessed, there is the sense of something worthwhile to “Addams Family Reunion.” There is the funny idea of Gomez’s parents coming to visit and developing Waltzheimers, an elderly condition that starts making them behave normally, dressing as old people, watching sports on TV and mowing the lawns, all to the Addams’ shocked dismay. There are so many plot points introduced – the reunion, Pugsley’s girlfriend – and if anyone can see them as passed by Raul Julia, Anjelica Huston, Christina Ricci and the rest and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, this could have made a nice third “Addams Family” movie.

Moria said, “The film also takes up where Addams Family Values left off in seeing the Addams’ Goth kinkiness as harmless and normal and conservative WASP values as anathema.” This film goes even further and climaxes with the ‘normals’ being tortured – many electrocuted, hung and beaten in their own house, even having an atomic bomb detonated on them.

The Addams Family were not shown for so many years until the revived animated films “The Addams Family” and “Addams Family 2,” which we will be looking at later in the month.

As everyone can predict, this film is a poor man’s version of the Addams Family. Even though I never really grew up watching any of the shows and other specials they were in, I was very familiar with them. If you like the Addams Family, do yourself a favor and never watch this TV movie. It is so poorly made, and you can tell it’s a product of the 90s. You will really loathe this film entirely.

Now that we have finally got that piece of trash out of the way, look out next week when I look at the animated films in “Addams Family Month.”