Addams Family Reunion starts with Gomez Addams (Tim Curry) receiving a book through the post containing the name of every Addams that has ever lived. Gomez contacts a family reunion agency & receives a invitation back inviting him & his family to a family reunion to meet his distant relatives. Meanwhile it appears that Grandpa (Kevin McCarthy) & Grandma Addams (Estelle Harris) are suffering from 'Waltzheimers', a condition that turns the suffer normal. Gomez his wife Morticia (Daryl Hannah) their two children Wednesday (Nicole Fugere) & Pugsley (Jerry Messing), Grandpa & Grandma plus uncle Fester (Patrick Thomas) & Lurch (Carel Struycken) all set of for the family reunion at 'Primrose Resort'. It turns out that the family union agency mixed the invites up & the Addams received the wrong invite & are caught in a plot by Phillip Adams (Ed Begley Jr.) & his sister Katherine (Hilary Shepard) to get a larger slice of their rich father's fortune. Much hilarity ensues, not.

This straight-to-video continuation of the Addams Family franchise was directed by Dave Payne & is a bit of a travesty. This is the third entry in the series after The Addams Family (1991) & Addams Family Values (1993) which were very good films, Addams Family Reunion isn't. The dark Gothic look, feel & droll jokes are gone, the creepiness, the morbidness & the dark black humour are gone. Intsead it is replaced with unfunny family friendly slapstick, an explosion which leaves someone covered in soot or an electric shock which leaves someone's hair standing up for instance, really unfunny jokes that are as old as time itself & the usual fish-out-of-water shenanigan's that one would expect from the Addams Family visiting a luxurious modern day holiday resort. At the same time the missing normal Adams Geoff (Rodger Halston) & Melinda (Heidi Lenhart) who end up at the Addams family mansion & that's just the same as what's happening at the resort but the other way around. This is squarely aimed at a pre-teen audience but I doubt even they would find much here to amuse themselves with. I also thought the 'Waltzheimers' disease joke was in very poor taste.

Director Payne films like a TV film & while it's competent it lacks any style. The special effects are truly terrible, from a post box with a tongue of infinite length which looks awful to a vicious black poodle that looks like a five year old animated it. The CGI in the Addams Family Reunion is really embarrassing to watch, even the kids won't be impressed.

With an obviously low budget the film looks very cheap throughout & loses the fantastic Gothic horror film inspired production design from the first two & replaces it with cardboard sets & cheap props. The acting is pretty bad especially from Curry who is awful & has no subtlety in his performance whatsoever. Hannah as Mortica is quite good & pretty sexy, a pity she is given next to nothing to do other than stand next to Gomez. Clint Howard makes an uncredited appearance & when he goes uncredited you know your in trouble.

Addams Family Reunion is a miserable attempt at a kids comedy, the dark Gothic edge & undertones form the originals are sorely lacking & replaced with really unfunny gags & slapstick. Might keep undemanding kids quiet but anyone else will have have a hard time liking it.