"I'm just like any modern woman trying to have it all. Loving husband, a family. It's just, I wish I had more time to seek out the dark forces and join their hellish crusade."
The first of two Addams Family films on the list. Darn it, I just can't keep a secret. But come on, how could you not have the original on this list, too?
I have to ask, though: why in the world are these two films rated PG-13?
Next Monday is Joan Cusack's birthday, everyone. Watch this one in honor of ol' Debbie Jellinsky! For that matter, celebrate Jimmy Workman's (Pugsley) 30th birthday (last Monday) while you're at it!
Family-Friendliness
- Rating: PG-13 "for macabre humor"
- Minimum Recommended Age: 13.5 (Common Sense Media: "Iffy for ages 13-14")
- Quality Rating: 56% (Parent Previews: D, Common Sense Media: 4 stars, Rotten Tomatoes rating: 6.3)
- Number of Lists Recommend: 3
- Sex/Violence/Profanity: 2.4.1 (Kids-In-Mind)
- Main Child Character Age: Wednesday and Pugsley: 11
- Running Time: 94 minutes
- What does it have to do with Halloween? Nothing
Summary
A comical Gothic horror-movie-type family tries to rescue their beloved uncle from his gold-digging new love.
Watch Out For
Common Sense Media:
Parents need to know that this movie takes the original Addams Family cast to its logical extreme -- and that means more violence (often involving newborn Pubert), more sexual innuendo, worse language and a lot of themes that are just too much for kids. Even so, the dialogue remains extremely witty.
Parent Previews:
If movies that lack respect for the value of life offend you, then don't put your time into the Addam's [sic] Family. The adult situations are problem enough, but with all the concern in the world about physical abuse to children, you may not find the scenes of a newborn baby about to fall to its death funny. Funny, neither did I.
Kids-in-Mind:
The violence is meant to be funny, and it's mostly non-lethal, but impressionable youngsters may get ideas about trying some of the stunts at home.
Talk About It
Common Sense Media:
* Families can talk about how they deal with intrusions from outside their family.
* Families can discuss a time when each family member maintained his or her values in the face of peer pressure.
* The importance of staying true to yourself.
Kids-in-Mind:
Serial murderers, virginity, death as a laughing matter.
On TV
"Addams Family Values" airs throughout October on Cinemax channels
Of Note
- This was Raul Julia's last film to be released while he was alive
- The baby's name, Pubert, was the name originally suggested (and rejected) for Pugsley by Charles Addams when he was asked by the producers of "The Addams Family" (1964) to name the hitherto unnamed characters in his cartoons.
- The character of Pubert Addams (a boy) was played by two twin girls, Kaitlyn Hooper and Kristen Hooper.
- Michael Jackson was signed on to write and perform a song for the film's soundtrack and to promote it with a video. Although he was able to finish the song, contractual difficulties coupled with the child molestation allegations made against Jackson resulted in the song being dropped from the soundtrack, and the video was never filmed. The song, "Is It Scary," was later included on Jackson's 1997 'Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix' album and was also used in his short film '_Ghosts (1997/I)_'.
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