Get Your Reps In: “Addams Family Values” Is a Veritable Joke Factory

What to see at Portland’s repertory theaters.

Addams Family Values (1993) The Thing rubbing Christopher Lloyd's head in the bathtub in a scene from the film 'Addams Family Values', 1993. (Photo by Paramount/Getty Images) (Paramount Pictures/IMBD)
By Chance Solem-Pfeifer

Addams Family Values (1993)

If the 1991 Addams Family successfully made the sitcom-to-movie leap with clever casting, madcap visual effects, and a mastery of family-friendly morbidity, the sequel gives the Addams clan something new—adversaries truly worth thwarting.

Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) have only just settled into the peaceful routine of trying to murder their new baby sibling, Pubert (Kaitlyn and Kristen Hooper), when a serial killer, Debbie (Joan Cusack), arrives at the Addamses’ doorstep posing as a nanny.

For her part, Debbie needs the kids out of the way so she can woo Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd) for his inheritance. In turn, Wednesday and Pugsley are exiled to a WASP-y summer camp where they wreak havoc out of their ostracism.

Free from the obligations of establishing the family’s altogether ookiness, Addams Family Values becomes a veritable joke factory, where Lloyd’s physical comedy is unlocked, Ricci’s deadpan trends even deader, and Morticia and Gomez (Anjelica Houston and Raul Julia) remain the platonic ideal of sexy goth parents.

Addams Family Values screens in a movie bingo format hosted by Portland drag star Violet Hex. Tomorrow Theater, Oct. 24.

Also Playing:

5th Avenue: Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), Oct. 25-27. Academy: City of the Living Dead (1980), Oct. 25, 26, 30, and 31. The Dark Crystal (1982), Oct. 25-31. Halloween (1978), Oct. 25-31. Cinema 21: Revenge (2017), Oct. 25 and 26. The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967), Oct. 26. Cinemagic: The Linguini Incident (1991), Oct. 24. Abruptio (2023), Oct. 25 and 30. Evil Ed (1995), Oct. 29. Clinton: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), Oct. 24. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Oct. 25-29. Fangs (1981), Oct. 30. Hollywood: Scary Movie (2000), Oct. 24. Young Frankenstein (1974), Oct. 25-27. The Phantom of the Opera (1925), Oct. 26. Stop Making Sense (1984), Oct. 26. Pumpkinhead (1988), Oct. 26. Casper (1995), Oct. 27. Pulp Fiction (1994), Oct. 27. RRR (2022), Oct. 28. The Sacrifice (1986), Oct. 29. Tomorrow: Ghost (1990), Oct. 26. Please Baby Please (2022), Oct. 26.

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