1993’s “Addams Family Values” has Director Barry Sonnenfeld revisiting the oddball black humor that was such a hit with audiences in “The Addams Family” (1991). Based on Charles Addams’ old cartoons from The New Yorker magazine, The Addams are a loving family who reside in a haunted Victorian mansion next to a cemetery. Seemingly being, in a way, ‘beyond the grave’ themselves, they take special delight in all things terrifying.
Most of the cast returns from the first film, including Raul Julia, who makes his final on screen appearance as the charming mustachioed family patriarch, Gomez. The film opens with a new edition to the Addams family household as Gomez’s wife, Morticia (Anjelica Houston), gives birth to a baby boy, Pubert (who enters the world sporting a moustache similar to his father’s). The family hires a nanny named Debbie (Joan Cusack), who, unbeknownst to them, is actually a serial killer on the run. Debbie is seen taking an interest in Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd) and the children, Pugsley and Wednesday (Christina Ricci) develop a suspicion that she may be after his money.
However, Debbie acts quickly to get the children out of her hair by convincing Gomez and Morticia to send the two kids to a summer camp. With the kids gone, Debbie moves in on Fester and convinces him to marry her and move out into the suburbs.
Pugsley and Wednesday must find a way to escape their dreaded summer camp and get back home in time to save Fester, whose life may be in danger from Debbie.
The film grossed a respectable $48 million at the box office. And, while that was nowhere near the success of its predecessor, it is generally considered to be the more enjoyable of the two movies by many critics.
With its characteristically creepy mansion, strange house pets, ghoulish make-up and Gothic costumes, it’s no surprise that the film was given an Oscar nomination for Best Art Direction-Best Set Direction.
The original finger-snapping “Addams Family” theme, written by Vic Mizzy for the 1964 television series, is back, and joined by an odd mixture of contemporary rap and pop songs.
“Addams Family Values” is rated PG-13 for its violent gags and playfully morbid tone. The film is 94 minutes in length.