Directed by Dave Payne, the film was intended to serve as a pilot for a new proposed television series produced by Saban.

However, Gomez sends a card written in blood, which damages the machines of the company organizing the reunion and results in the Addams receiving the wrong invitation.

Gomez, Morticia, Fester, Lurch, and the grandparents drive to a luxury resort for the family reunion.

Philip's brother and his wife, who are headed to the reunion, are given the wrong address and end up in the Addams family mansion, where Granny and Cousin Itt are staying.

Fester is considered insane and becomes a mental patient, while Butcher and Thing are captured by a sadistic dog catcher.

The Addams Family eventually return to their mansion, and leave their increasingly "normal" grandparents in the care of Philip's wife.

Gomez asks him if he misses Gina, but Pugsley is instead sad because he forgot his "Siberian firecracker" back at the foster family's house.

Dave Payne, whose directorial experience came from making direct-to-video low-budget horror films for Roger Corman, was hired to direct.

[2][3] According to Payne, Saban had purchased the rights from Charles Addams' estate, and he felt he could start fresh and create a dark fantasy film, comparing the approach he wanted to take as director to the Coen brothers.

[4] The producers wanted to bridge the gap in continuity between the Paramount films and the new series, and reached out to Anjelica Huston and Christopher Lloyd to reprise their roles as Morticia Addams and Uncle Fester, but both declined out of respect for Raul Julia, who played Gomez in the Paramount films and had passed away in 1994.

[3] The only actors to reprise their roles from the Paramount films were Carel Struycken as Lurch, and Christopher Hart as Thing.

[3] According to Payne, he and Curry both felt that Gomez should be played "weird", in contrast to the Latin lothario Raúl Juliá had created for the Paramount duo of films.

[2] The show's famous theme song was performed in a doo-wop rendition by the group Strate Vocalz, which Yahoo!

[4] Other points of criticism made in negative reviews included poor CGI[3] and cheap-looking production design.

[4] However, Bloody Disgusting, Den of Geek and Nathan Rabin praised Tim Curry's performance as Gomez Addams.