Camp creepy.

Today, we’re actually gonna be discussing a movie that I have put off watching for so many years, something that now, after seeing it, I regret deeply.

Tyler Clark
July 13, 2023

Good morning Consumers. This is Please Consume, the newsletter that loves the Godfather and Fast Five equally.

Addams Family Values (1993)

Today, we’re actually gonna be discussing a movie that I have put off watching for so many years, something that now, after seeing it, I regret deeply.

But I’m also thrilled to be able to talk about it today! So, let’s get creepy and kooky and all around spooky as we talk about the Addams Family.

Dun nun nun na snap*snap*

Personal Relationships to IP

So, first things first, I would like to address the reason it has taken me so long to watch this movie.

I grew up loving the Addams Family sitcom. It was one of my favorites, along with Get Smart and The Dick Van Dyke Show, and I had a vague awareness of these two films growing up, but never actually watched them.

I saw the animated film when it came out in 2019 and it burned me so hard that I was off all Addams Family content that was not original-recipe sitcom.

But as we were going through camp movies, this one just kept popping up, so I finally broke down and watched it.

And thank God I did.

The film wonderfully threads the needle of holding onto the specialness of the original source material without feeling like a pastiche, like The Brady Bunch movie, which goes all out into parody.

It’s respectful of the old guard, but isn’t afraid to push forward and come up with new and inventive ideas to portray the Addams.

When your Director is a cinematographer

To understand why this film works the way it does you have to know who is behind the camera.

Addams Family Values was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, best known for his work on the Men in Black franchise, but before that was a highly accomplished cinematographer doing works like when Harry Met Sally, Raising Arizona, and Big.

He worked primarily in comedy, elevating the material and bringing a stunning texture to the look of the film. Sonnenfeld worked with incredible auteurs and collaborated with them to make some of the most lush looking comedies of all time. In every movie he makes the credit always goes to the director, but you have to give props to Sonnenfeld when having these conversations because he is the constant throughout them all.

So, when you watch this, look for all these inventive ideas that he is bringing with regard to how he places the camera in the scene (shot primarily in wides, the same way you would a three camera sitcom).

For example, he uses wide-angle lenses to convey the strangeness of its characters in close-up shots, something he used when working with the Coen brothers.

In this film, notice his use of lighting on Angelica Houston’s face at all times so that she’s always in the shadows, but her eyes light up; that is the type of character design that only comes from somebody who has devoted their lives to lighting.

Summer Camp Rules!

This is a movie full of incredible sequences.

The cold open is some of the most magnificent comedy filmmaking I’ve seen in my lifetime and the ending is so fun and kinetic.

But the best stuff in the film takes place in the summer camp.

Christina Ricci shines as Wednesday Addams and is an absolute riot when placed against other campers and leaders. Her “ chemistry” with David Krumholtz is honestly kind of a stroke of genius and makes you want to watch like eight more sequels just about them going across the country, committing heinous and vile acts.

The setting of a summer camp is so fucking brilliant to put as the backdrop. The original show never really showed outside of the house or their school, but in the theatrical format it works so well because there’s no place where they force happiness up on you more than a fucking summer camp.

Then, on top of that, to slap a Thanksgiving play in there is so perversely funny and, of course, Wednesday can’t help herself but to see the true nature of Thanksgiving and expose it’s horrific roots.

This film is, honest to God, some of the best adaptation work you’ll ever see. It's one of my favorite things a writer does when they ask the question: what’s the most interesting thing I can do with these beloved characters?

Today’s Scene

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