Like a lot of the movies in my all-time movies list, technically, I shouldn’t give this movie 5 stars, but personally I can’t give it anything less. This viewing was very much similar to my last, I found myself nearly in tears laughing at stuff I’d barely noticed before. This movie moves too fast for any momentary sense of critique to last. The summer camp scenes are the ones most people tend to get a kick out of, but the plotline of serial widow Debbie Jellinsky (the always amazing Joan Cusack) trying to off Uncle Fester for the Addams fortune has its hilarious moments too.

Most of my favourite lines come from Wednesday, though. It was this movie and Casper that contributed most to my crazed obsession with Christina Ricci in the mid-1990s, and everytime I watch either of those movies I turn into a 14 year old and fall in love again. She’s so good here. Most people remember the deadpan face, the darkness of her character, just a misery girl with black pigtails, but it’s always surprising to me when I watch this movie how often she almost cracks a smile. She’s so into her diabolical schemes. And her face when the campers start singing “Kum bah ya” is just priceless, true horror. Just a few quotes for the sake of nothing:

“Death! Death to the enemies of the republic!” and “Woe to the republic.” (not exactly quotes but I just love the way she says them, lol)

“Hello Polly. I’ll clean my room – in exchange for your immortal soul.” (it’s the fact she makes her devil puppet rub his hands in such a calculating manner that makes that scene so funny for me)

“I’m not perky. But I wanna be …” (this is gonna be a part of some future site design, I’ve decided)

(the line that makes the movie indispensable) “Your work is puerile and under-dramatized. You lack any sense of structure, character, or the Aristotelian unities.”

I guess I may be biased when it comes to this movie. I’m one of those people who would’ve been forced into the Harmony Hut if I’d ever gone to such a camp, and everything following Wednesday’s “Wait, we cannot break bread with you,” speech puts a barely legal evil grin on my face. The ultimate movie for outcasts.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 21st, 2005 at 7:37 pm in 5 hearts, Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.