Paramount releases Addams Family on Blu-ray, Short of 30th Anniversary

Barry Sonnenfeld's The Addams Family movie could not have had a better cast. While I had (at the time of it's 1993 release) doubts about the casting of Raul Julia as Gomez Addams, I was pleasantly surprised at the way he handled the role made iconic by the manic John Astin. Meanwhile, Anjelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd, Judith Malina, Carely Struycken, Christina Ricci, and Jimmy Workman all seemed to have been born for their Addams Family roles of Morticia, Fester, Granny, Lurch, and siblings Wednesday and Pugsley Addams. The big screen debut of Charles Addams's creepy, kooky characters was, visually, a success.

Story-wise, things were a bit less than Oscar-worthy. The plot involved Fester having been missing for years, an unscrupulous family lawyar played by Dan Hedaya, and a scheme to steal the Addams fortune by bringing in a double for Fester, who -- being the elder brother -- would take control of the vast finances. In a way, it's the same script used for the movie adaptation of The Beverly Hillbillies, with a macabre Addams twist. It also takes a lot of Addams moments recreated from the cartoons, as well as character building spotlights, before we finally get to the dilemma of the story, when the Addams' lawyer and his partners pull the rug out from under them. The surmounting of the odds is given very little play, which is where the real story might have lay.

If you're an Addams fan, the film is still fun, featuring all kinds of spooky and ooky bits that play out . This Blu-ray version, billed as the "More Mamushka" version, includes a new introduction by Sonnenfeld, on top of the older features including a focus on the film and archival footage.

The real question about this is the timing. In another two years, it would be the 30th anniversary of the film -- surely a much better reason to re-release with new features. Of course, that will probably still happen anyway, so if you are the patient kind, you can try to hold off. For those with less impulse control, this version is here.