Neither Addams Family movies of the 1990s were like the old television series. While the 1960s show was cute and funny, the movies are very dark and present a different sort of family. In the original, you know that despite all the goofiness, the family never would really harm anyone and they truly love each other. Here in the movies, all bets are off! The family is dangerous...having murdered someone at the end of the first film. Here in the second, the film begins with many attempted murders. As soon as the Addams' third child is born, Wednesday and Pugsly begin trying to kill the infant because they are jealous...and I was horrified at this. While it's supposed to be darkly humorous, I felt it was completely cruel and awful...and definitely NOT the sort of movie I'd ever let kids watch. Now the film did improve greatly when the parents send Pugsly and Wednesday to camp...there were many clever and funny moments. But still, I could not get my head around them trying to murder a baby!! To me, this makes the film one that is, overall, a failure. Had they worked on making it funny all the time, it would have been a delight. As it is, it's really a pretty nasty movie.

I absolutely loved the first movie. I bought this two days ago, and I was really impressed, because this is a really funny movie. it is possibly better than the first but only just. If there are any flaws, they are minor, but why is the rating for this movie so low? 6.2? It is much better than that! I can name other great movies that have fallen victim to low ratings. The humour was wonderful. Black humour suits the Addams Family perfectly. As for the acting, it was superb. Christina Ricci tops them all as Wednesday, but that doesn't mean that the others weren't good either. Raul Julia and Angelica Huston are note perfect as Gomez and Morticia. To be honest, I think that Gomez is Julia's best role. Christopher Lloyd was born to play Fester, just as entertaining as he was in Back To The Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Jimmy Workman was also really good, and the underrated actress Joan Cusack took me completely by surprise as Debbie. That baby was cute too. If there was one minor flaw, it would be that you don't see much of Cousin It and Margaret. As I'm probably not able to write a review for the first film, what I've said for this film, applies pretty much also for that too. I give this a 9/10, same with the first, but avoid the New Addams Family and unless you're a Tim Curry fan, avoid Addams Family Reunion also. 9/10. Bethany Cox

I didn't think much of the original ADDAMS FAMILY film with Angelica Huston and Raul Julia; it's one of those 1990s films which feels really dated when you look back on it, more so than films from previous decades. In fact, I thought it was an unfunny, over-directed mess, so how would this sequel - which brings back the entire cast as well as director Barry Sonnenfeld - hold up?

The good news is that this is a definite improvement over the first film. It's actually funny in places. Sonnenfeld was a first time director on THE ADDAMS FAMILY and ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES was his third film, and he already makes the whole thing feel a lot more effortless, without a lot of the gimmicky camera tricks. There are still annoyances, like that darned light shining in Huston's eyes all the while, but this is a step up.

The plotting is also more apparent here, and newcomer Joan Cusack makes a real impression as the gold digger come in to seduce Uncle Fester (an increasingly funny Christopher Lloyd). Some of the gags are deliciously dark, especially those involving danger towards baby newcomer Pubert, and the sub-plot involving Wednesday and Pugsley going to summer camp (where they encounter a typically irritating Peter MacNicol) is a hoot.