Addams Family Reunion (1998)

As a big Addams Family fan I wanted to see this movie ever since I first heard of it. But over here in Holland, it isn't available so I wasn't able to see it. Until today, when I discovered the full movie is on YouTube.

Since Raul Julia's death I thought Tim Curry would be the perfect follow-up as Gomez Addams. I was wrong. Very wrong. Tim Curry surely has the looks to be Gomez, but his acting in this movie is lame and he doesn't get the heart of Gomez Addams. It's hard to imagine this was the same actor who scared so many people in his portrayal as Pennywise the Clown.

Daryl Hannah as Morticia is just another example of miscasting. She does not have the Gothic heart to portray Morticia as Carolyn Jones and Anjelica Huston had.

Even 'our very own Dutch' Carel Struycken is not able to reprise his role as Lurch as he did in the movies with Raul Julia and Chrisopher Lloyd and seems to have lost his Lurch-mojo here.

Patrick Thomas as Uncle Fester is something I liked. This had some promise. He is way different from Christopher Lloyd's portrayal, but is more close to Jackie Coogan's interpretation of the character. But Patrick Thomas unfortunately also had to suffer from low budgets and bad directing/lighting/production fails and looks more like a guy who dresses up for Halloween in an attempt to be Uncle Fester than that he is convincing, But this is not because of his acting, but because of the cheap and bad make-up.

The same goes for the wardrobe of the other characters: cheap, way too 'clean' and all looking like it was bought at the dollar store. Especially the clothing for Pugsley.

The special effects are bad, but that's something I could accept as it is a made-for-TV-only movie. The lighting and editing are also very bad.