Addams Family Values

Plot synopsis:
Gomez (Raul Julia) and Morticia Addams (Anjelica Huston) welcome their third child: a mustachioed baby boy named Pubert. Older siblings Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) openly loathe their new brother, and repeatedly attempt to eliminate him by tossing him from the roof of the house, dropping an anvil on him, and decapitating him with a guillotine. Alas, in true Addams style, little Pubert cheats death and mutilation time and time again. He also amuses himself by shooting flaming arrows from his cradle.With the house a shambles, Morticia and Gomez opt to hire a nanny to keep the children in check. Wednesday and Pusgly make short work of every new applicant until the arrival of Debbie Jelinsky (Joan Cusack), a seemingly sweet, chipper, and innocent woman who is hired on the spot. Hapless Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd), who had been pining for a romantic relationship, immediately becomes infatuated with the beautiful newcomer.It is revealed that Debbie, unbeknownst to her new employers, is a serial killer who preys on wealthy and lonely men. Knowing of the vast Addams fortune, she had selected Fester as her next victim. She coyly flirts with him, toying with his naive emotions, hoping to marry him and then murder him for his wealth. Debbie's ruse does not fool Wednesday and Pugsly, who make no secret of their suspicions. To remove them from the picture, Debbie persuades Gomez and Morticia to send them to summer camp.To their confusion and horror, Pugsley and Wednesday are sent to the bland and WASP-y Camp Chippewa. Lost in a sea of blond, preppy children, they quickly make enemies with the snobby Amanda Buckman (Mercedes McNab), and the disturbingly cheerful camp owners, Gary and Becky Granger (Peter MacNicol and Christine Baranski). They befriend another misfit, the nerdy Joel Glicker (David Krumholtz), who develops a crush on Wednesday. The three are often sent to the Harmony Hut, a tiny cottage decorated with flowers and inspirational posters, and forced to watch sappy musicals and Disney films as a twisted form of punishment.Though overwhelmed with desire for Debbie, Fester is too shy to speak to her. He recruits Gomez and Morticia to accompany them on a double date for moral support. Fester makes a typical slob of himself on the dinner outing, but Debbie, with the fortune in mind, pretends to return his affections and the two are engaged by the end of the night.Wednesday and Pugsley receive the news of Fester's impending wedding, and resolve to stop him from marrying the two-faced Debbie. Along with Joel, they attempt to sneak out of the camp at night but are caught. They later confirm Debbie's sinister true identity from a pack of Joel's, "Schitzos and Serial Killers" trading cards.The children briefly visit home to attend Fester and Debbie's wedding, which takes place in a graveyard. The newlyweds leave for their Hawaiian honeymoon.While Fester bathes in their hotel room, Debbie attempts to kill him by dropping a radio into the bathtub. She is shocked to find, of course, that Fester is impervious to death and actually seems to enjoy the experience. A frustrated Debbie bribes the (virgin) Fester with sex, telling him that if they make love he can never see his family again. Fester is reluctant to agree, but is soon seduced. He informs Gomez that they can never meet again, and Gomez spirals into depression.Debbie and Fester move into a lavish mansion, where Gomez and Morticia attempt to visit. Fester is still enslaved by Debbie, who banishes her in-laws from the house. Soon after, baby Pubert goes through dramatic emotional and physical changes: he becomes a blond-haired, rosy-cheeked giggling cherub. Morticia and Gomez are horrified. Grandmama (Carol Kane), Morticia's witch mother, determined that the changes were brought on by anxiety due to Fester's departure, and may become permanent if not addressed quickly. The family resolves to win Fester back.Meanwhile, Gary and Becky have arranged the end-of-camp play, an incredibly inaccurate and prejudiced musical about the first Thanksgiving. Amanda Buckman is given the lead role of the Pilgrim heroine Sarah Miller, while Wednesday is cast in the "secondary, but still compellingly written" role of Pocahontas.Pugsley, Joel, and the other misfit campers become even more at odds with the rest of the camp, but Wednesday becomes inexplicably cooperative (and even cracks a smile). At the performance, however, the kids get their revenge. Wednesday, who had been faking her sweet behavior, leads the misfits (dressed as Indians) on a rebellion, burning the stage and tying up other campers. She, Joel, and Pugsley escape by canoe as Gary and Becky are tied to a spit over an open fire. Joel and Wednesday have their first kiss, while Pugsley hijacks a camp van to take them home.For their three-week anniversary, Fester is preparing a fancy dinner for himself and Debbie. Debbie hides a massive bomb in a gift box, leaving it with Fester while she goes out to get champagne. She returns home later to watch the explosion, but is foiled again when an intact Fester emerges intact from the rubble. Debbie then pulls a gun on Fester and prepares to shoot him, but Fester is saved by Thing, the family's loyal disembodied hand, who is driving Debbie's car.They speed off towards the Addams' mansion, with Debbie in hot pursuit. The Addams family has a brief, happy reunion before they are interrupted and captured by a vengeful Debbie who is wielding a shotgun. Debbie straps the family into electric chairs, then explains her life via a slide show, citing an incident on her tenth birthday as the catalyst for her life of crime (her parents bought her Malibu Barbie instead of Ballerina Barbie).Mercifully, baby Pubert manages to get to the attic and splice two loose wires together, reversing the current so that when Debbie throws the switch, she is reduced to a pile of dust and credit cards. Her tombstone is shown to be inscribed: "Debbie Addams, Wife and Psycho".Months later, the family celebrates Pubert's first birthday. After the party, Wednesday and Joel (whom she had invited) visit Debbie's grave. Wednesday claims that Debbie was sloppy for allowing herself to be caught, and that if she herself were to ever marry she would scare her husband to death. Joel scoffs it off, but is suddenly grabbed by a bloody hand that shoots from the ground, as Wednesday gives a knowing smirk.

Tags: comedy, gothic, stupid, cult, horror, psychedelic, romantic

Review:
Usually I don't like horror comedies and I hate mainstream movies,but "Addams Family Values" completely cracked me up.It was so immensely enjoyable and funny as hell!Especially the first Thanksgiving Day performance,where Wednesday Addams(Christina Ricci)as a Pocahontas,and other Indians took a revenge on American colonists-I almost cried with laughter during that scene!I wonder what Americans think about it?As for Christina Ricci,she simply steals the show in this one!I'm looking forward to see this talented,young actress in more movies.The other actors are also excellent,and the film is filled with wonderful touches of black humour.Highly recommended..
Barry Sonnenfeld (Get Shorty) takes a zany script written by Paul Rudnick (Jeffrey, In and Out) and directs with an exhilarating rhythm to tell the tale of Uncle Fester's marriage to a suspicious young nanny (Joan Cusack) and its effect on the Addams family.All the actors are absolutely wonderful but Cusack steals the movie with a gleefully nasty turn as the murderous Debbie.
Angelica Huston and Raoul Julia are magnetic in dramatic roles but they also have sensational comic timing and their Morticia and Gomez make a memorable dark-humored pair,  most notably in the scenes where the sexual innuendo takes a front-row seat.
This film is one of those rare gems, a sequel that is as good as, or even better than the original.Christina Ricci fulfills all the promise that she showed in the first film, as she really steals the film from her more established co-stars.The scenes at camp produce some of the best one-liners, and it is great to see an American film that is self-mocking about its image concious rich societies.
Lines from Ricci like " Is that your overbite?" and "When they woke up all their old noses had grown back!" are superb and will be much loved in the UK, as it is how much of the States is perceived over here.Also, Amanda in this movie, is also played by the same girl who played the Girl Scout in the first movie.Add a little bit of romance between Wednesday and another kid at the camp and you have something for everyone in this wonderfully funny and worryingly endearing movie..
These suspicions seem to be justified whenever Debbie convinces Morticia and Gomez to send their children away to a summer camp and then marry Uncle Fester  a man so repulsive that love cannot be the reason.Many films wheel out sequels by simply adding something to the original film; often it is a child and often it doesn't work.
The support cast have lots of cameos and smaller roles and it is fun without being distracting to watch the faces including Kane, MacNicol, Pierce, Shalhoub, Lane and Sonnenfeld himself.Overall, if you enjoyed the first film then you'll like this, and vice versa.
Almost everybody who was in the original "The Addams Family" returns to reprise their roles in this sequel which is actually better than the first film.
The laughs come at a faster and better pace and Joan Cusack makes a delightfully sinister villain who masquerades as a nanny, marries Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd), and wants to get her hands on the Addams Family riches.
Classic Fun. The Addams Family movie is great fun with dark humor and a great environment that is pretty original.
I have watched this movie tons of times and I never get bored, I mean everything in this movie is enjoyable from the performances from Julia and the rest of the great cast (Ricci is great as Wednesday especially) to the dark, gloomy environment and soundtrack.
In this case, Morticia (Anjelica Huston) has a baby - whom they name Pubert (you read that right), Fester (Christopher Lloyd) marries nanny Debbie Jellinsky (Joan Cusack) and Gomez (Raul Julia) decides that Wednesday and Pugsley should spend the summer at a camp.The best parts of the movie are the scenes at the camp.
The acting is brilliant, the decorations are perfect, the script is very funny;  and it seems that Barry Sonnenfeld was born to direct Addams Family films.
The movie is also very realistic:  I can attest to that on account of having worked as a counselor in a summer camp once, my nearly nearly identical family life, and -- admit it, guys -- haven't we all had, at some point in our life, a Fester Addams - Debbie Jellinsky - type of relationship?.
The new plot line is not as good as that of the original movie, because it deals with Uncle Fester's integrity when that should never be a problem.
ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES is a rare gem of a sequel that surpasses its original in every way possible.
The original ADDAMS FAMILY movie had a horribly thin plot and stupid one-liners...but who cared...it had stunning cinematography and and set design!
There are many funny scenes in this one as I loved the riot at the summer camp and I also way the family sympathized with the nanny/killer in the end.
He is the main character in the movie and all the situations move around him.He's rich, but ugly and bald yeah we know but he has a HUGE fortune that is being chased by a hot milf widow that marries him in order to murder him and then get the money but the Addams Family is not dumb at all and will stop her before she commits her macabre plan.This sequel is even funnier, darker, and more witty.
I really dig it and think this is one of the most funny movies of the 90's.The technical values are also here and Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, the hot Joan Cusack and the sexy sexy Christina Ricci shine in the running time.Recommended for the 90's kids..
The first Addams Family film sets us up with a plot deviating from the original series, not really knowing where Uncle Fester is.
This was a treat compared to the mediocre first installment.Only a minute after the film starts, Morticia casually says, "Oh, I'm having a baby." The family frantically takes her to the hospital as she seems to not care, and a new member of the family, Pubert Addams, is born.
With a new baby the Addams children are becoming jealous so the delightful parents Morticia and Gomez hire a nanny to take care of them, only for the nanny to cause problems for the family, especially Uncle Fester (decently portrayed by Lloyd).
Seeing a normal everyday situation e.g. the kids at summer camp is a sense of everyday life but juxtaposing the monstrous Addams children was a delight as we see how they will react under different circumstances and it is definitely worth watching.It conforms brilliantly to the comedy genre and the ghoulish settings and characters are fantastic.
That aspect of the movie makes for some great comedy because the leaders of this summer camp are the very upbeat happy type that wants the kids to join in on all the fun, and Of course the Addams kids aren't about to do that.
She convinces Morticia and Gomez (Angelica Huston and Raul Julia) that the older kids -- Wednesday and Pugsley – should go to summer camp so she can be free to put her spell on Lester.This is a good movie if you're in the mood for campy entertainment mixed with black humor and amusing one-liners.
The kids' attempts to kill the new infant, by contrast, work better because they give away the kids' jealousy and their desire for their parents' love & attention, which they would never openly admit, of course, particularly Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and her ultra-emotionless disposition.Christopher Lloyd is great as Lester and Joan Cusack shines as the black widow.
Raul Julia and the others are clearly having an absolute blast playing the macabre characters, and the addition of Joan Cusack as the nanny/serial killer is played to absolute perfection.So with a great script and a flawless cast, why is this only a 7?
Yet again Raul Julia and Christina Ricci turn in great performances as Gomez and Wednesday Addams, respectively, and Joan Cusack gives a great performance also as the homicidal Debbie Jillinsky who marries men for their money and then kills them on their wedding night, but after marrying Fester she just can't seem to get rid of him.
Wednesday, again brilliantly played by Christina Ricci, has more of a summer camp nightmare when she stays true to herself and refuses to fit in is forced to watch Disney movies over and over.
Fester falls for the nanny but Wednesday seems to think there are alterior motives at play.Sequels aren't usually better than the first one and while this one isn't exactly better, it is still up to par with the first one with its own classic moments and great casting.
As a kid, I thought this was at least 1.5x better than the first movie, which I also liked, but the sequel's plot seemed less obliged, and the scripting more memorable.
She owns the film, it was her 5th feature film, and is my favorite performance of hers until Buffalo 66 and The Opposite of Sex..Baby Pubert turning "cute" and the ensuing horror..The cameos by Shaloub, Lane, Sonnenfeld, Hyde-Pierce, etc., as well as another excellent 'type-cast' performance by the steady David Krumholtz, (as Joel Glicker), who has been able to age well in the entertainment industry..Quality reprisals by Huston, Kane, Lloyd and the late, wonderful Raul Julia..Just a terrific execution by Sonnenfeld, Rudnik, Peterman (cinematographer), Adam and Durrell (art/set design)...
Well I do find it to be better than "the Addams family" I'm not the usual horror freak who loves movies like this but then again "Addams family values" is not just a horror flick, it's also a great fun-loving comedy..
This movie is a quit nice comedy but the reason I realy like it is the portrayal of Wednesday Addams by Christina Ricci.The Addams are usualy seen as a foolish monster-like family.Here Wednesday is seen as melancholyc teenager,inteligent,dark,cynic,sadistic and possibly murderous.She makes fools out of everybody else.She would make an excelent horror movie star.She also makes some points.She turns a dull theatrical Thanks-giving play portraying the indians as barbarians,inferior to the British settlers into a protest on behalf of the indians as well as a way to avenge herself from what she went through in the hands of stupid campers.She turned the camps loosers into a fighting squad.Forget about the rest of the Addams,Michael Myers,Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger.Wednesday brings the darkness.Bloody good for a comedy..
Yet again Raul Julia and Christina Ricci turn in great performances as Gomez and Wednesday Addams, respectively, and Joan Cusack gives a great performance also as the homicidal Debbie Jillinsky who marries men for their money and then kills them, but after marrying Fester she just can't seem to get rid of him.
Christina Ricci gives a great performance as Wednesday, and she is only overshadowed by Joan Cusack's character, Debbie, the "Black Widow." Some of their monologues alone make the movie worth seeing..
The actors do their very best, with Angelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd and Christina Ricci still shining in their respective roles, however, they were not enough to save this movie, which tries to hard to stand out from the first Addams family that it forgets to even tell a story.
Cusack then tricks Gomez and Morticia into thinking Pugsley and Wednesday want to go to summer camp, which results in the film's funniest moments, mainly of which involve super enthusiastic and positive camp counselors Peter MacNicole and Christine Baranski trying to convert the two glum children into Shiny Happy People.
My favorite part of their conversion therapy is when they're forced to watch the John Huston film version of "Annie." The film cuts between Pugsley and Wednesday's adventures at camp with Cusack plotting to kill Fester and take the family fortune.
And it finds the perfect balance between story and humor.The Addams Family gets a little bigger and crazier when Morticia (Anjelica Huston) gives birth to their newest addition- a bouncy baby boy named "Pubert." However, this doesn't sit well with siblings Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman), whom see their new brother as competition.
It creates opportunities to organically unleash the Addams' onto the world for comedic effect, and I found it functioned quite a bit better than the loose narrative of the original.Once again, the wild and wonderful ensemble cast shines through as the highlight of the film, and I like the fact that the movie shifts focus onto members of the family who weren't featured quite as heavily in the previous outing.
However, I thought this sequel is more comical and lighter in tone than its prequel, especially since a new kid character is added.The make-up department did another nice job in bringing the Addams Family to life and the atmosphere was dark, eerie and mysterious, a perfect Halloween-like setting.
The film pokes fun at kids going to camp (a highlight), in-laws, dating, gold-diggers and the rivalry within families all to great effect.Watch for the "slideshow" scene towards the end...priceless.
Best bits are when the kids are trying to get rid of the new baby or they are in summer camp.This film is very good!8/10.
Where the first film focused on Gomez and Mortisha with Fester in support the sequel is dominated by a focus on Wednesday Addams.
For instance, Wednesday painting herself into the wallpaper, Gomez spinning Mortisha so quickly that the floor bursts into flames, and of course the new addition to the family, Pubert Addams being shot into the air and momentarily being seen through the window on an airplane.The jokes are at times difficult to understand and often not funny.
The acting is great by Ricci, Lloyd, Cusack and of course you can forget dearest Anjelica Houston and Raul Juilia (may he rest in piece) I don't care about the high PG rating, just go see this film...with the whole family!.
Gomez and Morticia welcome a new brat, uncle Fester falls in love with a dangerously disturbed serial killer (magnificently played by Joan Cusack) and the offspring is sent to Summer Camp!
Had this been a mainstream drama or suspense thriller her black widow tendencies would have been a little much to bear, but Cusack plays her villainy to the hilt and overshadows Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia who are even better and make one of the screen's best romantic couples of all time (despite their dark makeup).The last adaptation made for the big screen, Charles Addams' characters would move to the small screen in a new version of the 1960s show and a TV movie, neither very successful..
'The Addams Family' film series paint their characters as much more macabre than the 1960 TV show sitcom, playing off as light dark humor.
The movie tends to focus more on Uncle Fester than ever in this film, as characters like Gomez (Raúl Juliá) and Morticia Addams (Anjelica Huston) are given, nothing much to do.
As humor goes, the best parts of this film are the Wednesday Addams (Christina Ricci) & Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) going to a pretentious summer camp subplot by Debbie.
Addams Family Values starts with the news that Morticia (Angelica Huston) is about to give birth, she does & everyone including the Father Gomez (Raul Julia) are very excited.
However their two children Wednesday (Christina Ricci) & Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) feel threatened by the new arrival & to add to the families problems Debbie (Joan Cusak) the nanny that they hire tricks Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd) into marrying her & she plan's to kill him for his money...Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld Addams Family Values is a worthy sequel to the original Addams Family (1991) & a good watch in it's own right.
The acting was good & the cast bring the character's to life.Addams Family Values is a good film, it's pretty morbid when it wants to but it also has that dark comedic edge as well.
The only difference is, Wednesday Addams (with a top performance by Christina Ricci) did what I wanted to do.Raul Julia (Gomez) and Angelia Houston (Mortica) were enjoyable to watch as their two older children try to dispose of the new baby - a mustasched chip off the old block of his father.
Joan Cusack comes in as the murderous gold digging babysitter and had a nervously funny performance with Gomez's brother played by Christoper Lloyd (Fester Addams)as her unsuspecting victim.But the better parts of this sequel to me that makes the film work really well - are the one liners.
Few expected however that this sequel would not only be as good as the original but vastly superior.In "Addams Family Values" from 1993, Gomez and Morticia (Julia and Huston) have a new child in the form of baby Pubert.
The family future turns worse when the kids are shipped to summer camp.*Special Stars- Raul Julia, Anjelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd, Joan Cusack, Carole Kane, Christina Ricci.*Theme- Families are the best hedge against the cruel world.*Trivia/location/goofs- Most of the set wooden materials were of expensive oak, mahogany, and other rich and rare woods.
Barry Sonnenfeld is a great director when it comes to strange comedy, and Addams Family Values is my second favorite film of his behind only Men in Black..
I like Raul Julia as Gomez, Christopher Lloyd as Fester, Christina Ricci as Wednesday and Jimmy Workman as Pugsley but the rest of the cast either aren't on screen for enough time to develop (Grandma Addams) or just can't hold a candle (Morticia and Lurch...although, to be fair, the guy that plays Lurch doesn't have a single line).
Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, and Christina Ricci all return in Addams family values, an even better film than the original.
I think that Addams family values is a bit better than the original.
Wednesday and Pugsley are bottled off to a Summer Camp, which provides much of the good humour in the movie.Just watch this film, It always brings a smile to my face.