ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES, with Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Joan Cusack, Christina Ricci and Carol Kane. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Category II. On Panasia Circuit and at New York.
IN THE absence of Tim Burton's reputedly marvellous Nightmare Before Christmas, this is about as tart and acid an antidote to all the seasonal sickliness being thrown at us on television and elsewhere as one could reasonably hope for. As a bonus, it is also very funny - which, I must admit, came as something of a shock.
Since the first Addams Family movie in 1991, robbing the grave of camp '60s sitcoms for resurrection on the big screen has become a mini-industry, with The Beverly Hillbillies being a minor hit this season in the United States and the live-action The Flintstones set to follow soon.
While Addams Family started a trend, it did not do a good job of it. Die-hard fans of the classic television series (which hit a far larger audience than Charles Addams' original comic strips) were never likely to be satisfied by any attempt to improve on it and were predictably disappointed.
That first film relied too much on the idea of the Addams family being funny in itself, adding little to it except far too many whiz-bang '90s pyrotechnics and Hammer's whiz-bang '90s Addams Rap, in place of the irreplaceable ''they're altogether ookie .. .'' theme song of yore.
Though it was a commercial hit, it virtually destroyed any great expectations we might have had for Addams Family Values, which arrives in the unusual position for a sequel of not having a lot to live up to. This turns out to be a plus factor and the production team - much the same team as before - have been able to pick and choose between what did and did not work last time out.
Also, Barry Sonnenfeld, for whom Addams Family was a directorial debut, has had time to work on his act and become an accomplished gag man.