The Addams Family

"Weird is relative."

1991 1h 40m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 5,215

ComedyFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When a man claiming to be long-lost Uncle Fester reappears after 25 years lost, the family plans a celebration to wake the dead. But the kids barely have time to warm up the electric chair before Morticia begins to suspect Fester is fraud when he can't recall any of the details of Fester's life.

“Weird is relative.”

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Cast

Raúl Juliá
Gomez Addams
Anjelica Huston
Morticia Addams
Christopher Lloyd
Uncle Fester
Dan Hedaya
Tully Alford
Elizabeth Wilson
Abigail Craven
Judith Malina
Granny
Carel Struycken
Lurch
Dana Ivey
Margaret Alford

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Writers: Larry Wilson, Caroline Thompson, J. Todd Anderson
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 6.4× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

35 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Addams Family Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, shot by Owen Roizman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Marc Shaiman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jim Miller shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Raúl Juliá and Anjelica Huston and Christopher Lloyd carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Weird is relative.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Barry Sonnenfeld directs. Owen Roizman behind the camera. Marc Shaiman scores. Jim Miller cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 6.4× over at the box office.
235 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Part of the "Addams Family Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, shot by Owen Roizman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Marc Shaiman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Jim Miller shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Raúl Juliá and Anjelica Huston and Christopher Lloyd carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Weird is relative.".
9IMDB entry: tt0101272 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 16 themes, including "dancing", "dead wish", "secret passage", "fencing".

The technical file

Cinematography: Owen Roizman
Original score: Marc Shaiman
Editing: Jim Miller
Production design: Richard Macdonald
Costume design: Ruth Myers
Makeup / hair: Fern Buchner
VFX supervisor: Mike Edmonson
Sound: Gregg Landaker
Stunt coordinator: David R. Ellis
Runtime: 100 min · 1h 40m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $30,000,000
Box office: $191,502,426
Return: 638% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Addams Family (1991)

Awards

Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie
Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

Addams Family Collection

The Addams Family started as a Cartoon in 1938. A TV Sitcom ran between 1964 and 1966, and a TV movie with the same cast in 1977. A 1991 American fantasy comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld was followed by a sequel in 1993, with a TV cartoon in the intervening years. A 1998 film was a soft reboot with a different cast, which led to a short-lived live-action TV Sitcom shortly after. A CGI Cartoon Feature Film rebooted the franchise in 2019.

Also by

Barry Sonnenfeld

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2017-04-04
★ 6/10
A tonally loyal adaptation of the 60's TV show. Some nonsensical moments and lacklustre scenes but Huston and Julia steal the thing with such fervour you can't help but enjoy yourself at least a little. Final rating:★★★ - I personally recommend you give it a go.
CinemaSerf2023-02-12
★ 7/10
I reckon central casting could have searched for an hundred years and never cast a better "Morticia" than Anjelica Huston in this enjoyable big screen adaptation of the television series. Happily married to "Gomez" (another inspired casting choice in Raul Julia), they live their nocturnally focussed lives with children "Pugsley" (Jimmy Workman),"Wednesday" (an almost unrecognisable Christina Ricci) and stoic, eight-foot tall, butler "Lurch" (Carer Struycken) in their Gothic mansion. Their idyllic existence is put under threat, though, when their erstwhile kindly uncle "Fester" (Christopher Lloyd) is duped by a couple of arch-cons to try and claim their family fortune - and home - and thus render them broke and homeless. Now, can "Gomez" thwart this cunning plan before his family are actually reduced to sleeping in graves - for real? The casting, writing and direction from a top-of-his game Barry Sonnenfeld make for an entertaining spoof of all thing macabre whilst still extolling a semblance of family virtues and loyalty - told in real time and using some amiable flashbacks from when they were all "younger". The visual effects are understated and effective - especially regarding their loyal retainer that is the disembodies "hand" and the script allows Lloyd in particular, but all in general to deliver a dialogue that raises a smile without raising an eyebrow. This is great fun and on a big screen, well worth a watch.