THE ADDAMS FAMILY was the breakout hit of the 1991 holiday season. The movie still holds up well today, except for the MC Hammer music. For some reason, one-shot wonder MC Hammer was the big trend that lasted about 6 months. But don’t let this has-been ruin the film for you, luckily his contributions are wisely kept to a minimum. THE ADDAMS FAMILY was originally produced by the Orion pictures and was released by Paramount who made a mint off the franchise while Orion went bankrupt. Such is Hollywood. The movie is based on characters created by Charles Addams which eventually became the smash TV series that ran from 1964 to 1966. After the series ended, the Addams Family lived on in pop culture through syndication, cartoons, comic books, toys, etc. The most revered aspect of the original TV series was the manic portrayal of Gomez Addams by actor John Astin. For years Addams fans debunked a possible feature film because who could fill the shoes of John Astin?

The movie was directed by first-timer Barry Sonnenfeld, who previously established himself as an acclaimed cinematographer responsible for the look of BLOOD SIMPLE, RAISING ARIZONA, MISERY, and MILLER’S CROSSING. Sonnenfeld’s cinematography background is one of the reasons he has become a successful director with films like GET SHORTY, MEN IN BLACK, and WILD WILD WEST. Raul (KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN) Julia successfully portrays Gomez Addams, while adding some unique personality to the character. Angelica Huston was born to play Morticia. Character actor Christopher (BACK TO THE FUTURE) Lloyd is perfect as Uncle Fester/Gordon. Christina Ricci will never be as good as she is here as Wednesday. 7 foot actor Carel Struycken fills the shoes of Ted Cassidy quite nicely.

Its been twenty five years since Gomez and his brother Fester drifted apart. After an argument, Fester disappeared never to be heard from again. And every year the Addams Family have held a seance to determine Fester’s whereabouts, whether he be dead or alive. They have had no success and Gomez has been quite depressed.

The Addams Family’s crooked lawyer, Tully (Dan Hedaya) has recruited a con-woman Dr. Pinder-Schloss (Elizabeth Wilson) and her brutish son Gordon, who is a dead ringer for Fester to locate the Addams Family fortune. They formulate a plan to place Gordon in the Addam’s fold, so he can determine the location of the Addam’s Family’s secret vault. That evening during the yearly seance, Gomez’s wish comes true as Gordon (dressed as Fester) comes into the house. The Addams Family is suspicious, but welcome Fester back into the family.

As Gordon struggles to keep face in light of him not knowing anything about the Addams Family, the family becomes ever more suspicious. Gordon’s mother, Tully the lawyer, and Judge Womack work together to con the gullible Gomez and Morticia. Wednesday, though, pretty much knows what is going on. The Addams Family must find a way to derail the conspiracy against them, and keep the con artists from usurping the family fortune.

The story is perfectly strong enough - better than the sequel’s, because it doesn’t dissipate its energies between different plotlines. Raul Julia, quite wonderful as a dashingly romantic, athletic, terribly vulnerable Gomez, and Christopher Lloyd is delightfully hammy as Fester, give or take a few too many camera muggs. Angelica Huston's Morticia has just the same chiseled perfection. As for Ricci, she is on target as the gothic daughter. Also excellent is Elizabeth Wilson as the phony doctor and and equally phony mother Alison Craven (aka Dr. Pinder-Schloss). Perhaps having Dan Hedaya's oddly sympathetic lawyer villain lose his wife to the, umm, hirsute Cousin It is a bit too much icing on the cake, but it must be said that this film is a lot bolder than its sequel in evoking an unexpected degree of sympathy for all weirdos, good-for-nothings and all-round bad sorts, even lawyers.

The film is full of riotous black humor. There are several scenes when Wednesday is trying to torture her brother Pugsly and Morticia tells her to use a bigger or better weapon on him. Luckily for the little misfit he likes it. There is a great scene where the Addams family are throwing Fester a good-bye party and they invite over their extended family including Cousin Itt (who woos their lawyer’s wife), Lumpy Addams, Slosh Addams, and Fauna and Flora (Siamese twins). But the funniest black-humored scene in the movie is the Shakespeare recital done by Wednesday and Pugsley. While the two recite lines of the Bard’s play, they use trick swords to cuts off each other’s fake limbs; limbs which spurt gallons of blood all over the stage and at the stuffy audience!

The visuals are also outstanding. The production design is right out of BATMAN and EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, only better and more detailed and atmospheric. The special effects are dazzling especially the CGI animated walking hand Thing (remember this was before JURASSIC PARK came out). The set design and backgrounds are flawless. Except for the Shakespeare recital, the movie is bloodless, and with no nudity. Like THE SIMPSONS, it is entertainment for children from 8 to 80.

SIGHT

Paramount provides a near perfect 16x9 enhanced widescreen (1:85:1) transfer. The image is very sharp and well defined. The deep blacks and color reproduction are perfectly calibrated, making the image appear balanced and appealing. The color scheme is not bright, rather it is dark and shadowy, with lots of blacks, browns, and grays. Because of these dark color schemes, the shadow detail is slightly lacking. Some grain is seen in only a couple scenes, but only the most anal viewers will notice. Owen Roizman’s cinematography is stunning, and it looks wonderful on this 16x9 enhanced transfer, dripping with magnificent detail. The gothic Addams Family house is another star of the film and most of the action takes place within it, or in the catacombs beneath. The set design is rife with detail, from the Addams Family house cuckoo clock to the 3D animated paintings, the marvelous toy trains, the clever headstones in the family cemetery, the fabulously surreal secret chambers leading the way to the family treasury, etc. You could easily fill a thousand word review with just a laundry list of the visual treats in this film, and it all looks larger than life on this transfer. Though the daylight exterior scenes are few, they are brightly lit to contrast the darkness of the rest of the film. The pre-JURRASSIC PARK special effects (including the computer animated hand called Thing) are convincing and are not betrayed by the transfer. A great effort on the part of Paramount.

SOUND

THE ADDAMS FAMILY features an impressive DD 5.1 Surround soundtrack. The front sound stage is predominate and provides a good anchor to the surround sound activity. The rear sound stage is full of ambient activity, with discrete panning between all speakers. The bass is powerful when needed, but never does it overpower the other sound elements. Being the type of movie that this is, the sound mix is chock full of appropriate channeling sound effects. In the Addams’ catacombs, the voices echo with reverb. During the party scene, waltz music envelops the viewer. Creepy voices emanate from various areas of the sound field to simulate the aura of the Addams Family mansion. Marc Shaiman puts together an impressive symphonic score that beckons you into the action. Even MC Hammer’s putrid music sounds good (technically) on this mix, and he is thankfully limited to a only a couple strains until the end credits roll. There is also a Dolby Surround mix for people without a Dolby Digital decoder. You select the sound mix from the Setup Menu.

FEATURES

The teaser trailer is anamorphic widescreen 1.85.1, Dolby Digital Stereo, and runs 1:17. The theatrical trailer is anamorphic widescreen 1.85.1, Dolby Digital Stereo, and runs 1:24.

CONCLUSION

All the elements of filmmaking are incorporated and meshed seamlessly here. While THE ADDAMS FAMILY might not win any Academy awards, it's a visual treat and one heck of an entertaining story, well-acted and executed. It was obviously produced with a lot of care and respect for the original characters. Tim Burton must be jealous when he watches THE ADDAMS FAMILY. Paramount proves they can produce reference quality DVDs from their catalog titles. The audio and video portions of this DVD are phenomenal. The only thing that is truly lacking is the extras. The trailers are great, but this is DVD; there could be so much more. Hopefully Paramount will jump on that bandwagon soon, and prove themselves a "complete" DVD producer.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY is available from DVDEmpire.com

THE ADAMS FAMILY VALUES is available from DVDEmpire.com

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