Addams Family Reunion

Addams Family Reunion is a 1998 American direct-to-video supernatural children's film based on the characters from the cartoon created by cartoonist Charles Addams. Directed by Dave Payne, the film was intended to serve both as a reboot of the franchise, and as a pilot for a new proposed television series produced by Saban. The film starred Daryl Hannah and Tim Curry as Morticia and Gomez Addams. The film's plot focused on the eccentric, macabre aristocratic Addams family mistakenly arriving at the wrong family reunion and encountering a man (Ed Begley Jr.) who seeks to commit murder in order to inherit a fortune. Payne had intended to give the film a dark, edgy tone, but Saban had interfered with the development, insisting that the story be aimed solely at entertaining children and lack much of the black comedy and anarchic satire of the previous entries in the franchise. Saban, however, wanted Payne to imitate aspects of Paramount Pictures' popular 1991-93 duology, and the 1964 TV series, and rejected any original idea developed by Payne and the film's screenwriters. As a result, the film was poorly received by critics, who panned the film's screenplay, special effects, production design and much of its acting, while singling out Tim Curry's performance for praise, calling Curry the best part of the film.