Weird Is Relative
1991-11-22
$30.0M
100 min
When a man claiming to be long-lost Uncle Fester reappears after 25 years lost, the family plans a celebration to wake the dead. But the kids barely have time to warm up the electric chair before Morticia begins to suspect Fester is fraud when he can't recall any of the details of Fester's life.
A tonally loyal adaptation of the 60's TV show. Some nonsensical moments and lacklustre scenes but Huston and Julia steal the thing with such fervour you can't help but enjoy yourself at least a little.
Final rating:★★★ - I personally recommend you give it a go.
I reckon central casting could have searched for an hundred years and never cast a better "Morticia" than Anjelica Huston in this enjoyable big screen adaptation of the television series. Happily married to "Gomez" (another inspired casting choice in Raul Julia), they live their nocturnally focussed lives with children "Pugsley" (Jimmy Workman),"Wednesday" (an almost unrecognisable Christina Ricci) and stoic, eight-foot tall, butler "Lurch" (Carer Struycken) in their Gothic mansion. Their idyllic existence is put under threat, though, when their erstwhile kindly uncle "Fester" (Christopher Lloyd) is duped by a couple of arch-cons to try and claim their family fortune - and home - and thus render them broke and homeless. Now, can "Gomez" thwart this cunning plan before his family are actually reduced to sleeping in graves - for real? The casting, writing and direction from a top-of-his game Barry Sonnenfeld make for an entertaining spoof of all thing macabre whilst still extolling a semblance of family virtues and loyalty - told in real time and using some amiable flashbacks from when they were all "younger". The visual effects are understated and effective - especially regarding their loyal retainer that is the disembodies "hand" and the script allows Lloyd in particular, but all in general to deliver a dialogue that raises a smile without raising an eyebrow. This is great fun and on a big screen, well worth a watch.
