The Addams Family - Movie review
Wednesday: Pass the salt.
Morticia: And what do we say?
Wednesday: Now!
Hello and welcome to a very unusual edition of our “Good Vibes” feature. It’s officially Spooktober and you are morally obliged to watch at least one scary movie between now and Halloween (although we suggest 13, it has a certain ring to it). However, we are nice, and we chose treat over trick for this review – so you can keep reading on without fear (wait, is that a huge spider on the wall behind you??!!).
Fans may recognise our ghoulish choice by the quote above: it’s been 30 years since “The Addams Family” movie hit the cinemas! The macabre, quirky and hilarious family has been around for much longer – it started as a series of comic strips in The New Yorker back in 1938, and had its second youth when it was adapted for the TV in the mid 1960s. This little (black) pearl from 1991 started yet another revival for the franchise, taking it to new heights and introducing it to a new generation.
It was part of a wave of black comedies spanning from the late 1980s until mid-1990s, such as “Beetlejuice”, “Heathers”, “Death Becomes Her” and many more. Although mostly geared towards adults, children had their fair share of (sugar-coated) trauma with the likes of “Casper”, “Tower of Terror” and of course “Goosebumps”. Mmm, what was in the water?
The plot of “The Addams Family” is pretty simple and serves mostly as a canvas to spill gags, sardonic lines and a few gallons of blood. But don’t worry, this is not a movie out for your jugular: humour is the prize and the cast has been perfectly picked for the mission. A very young Christina Ricci plays witty and malevolent Wednesday, mostly involved in lethal pranks played on or with her brother Pugsley. Anjelica Huston is the aloof mother with questionable pedagogical techniques, and Raul Julia plays her obsessive husband Gomez. The love story between these two deserves a review on its own and it’s pretty much the definition of #couplegoals (minus the torture, probably). Completing the picture, the Thing – which is not nearly terrifying as the name implies: it’s just a very independent hand, which amongst other things, has a job at the post office. And of course – Uncle Fester. Or is he an impostor…? Watch the movie to find out what’s really going on behind the creaky doors of one of cinema’s most famous Gothic mansions.
P.S. bonus points if you also try out the delightful retro game that came out in 1992.
Still credits: “THE ADDAMS FAMILY | Official Trailer | Paramount Movies”, uploaded to YouTube by Paramount Movies
