Addams Family Values (1994)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
The Addams family must navigate the arrival of a new baby while dealing with a nanny who harbors a deadly secret.
The story
Gomez and Morticia Addams welcome a new baby, Pubert, and hire a nanny named Debbie Jellinsky to care for him. However, the family is unaware that Debbie is a serial killer who targets wealthy men. While the parents are oblivious, the children, Wednesday and Pugsley, begin to notice something is wrong. To keep her cover, Debbie convinces the parents to send the children to a summer camp. Meanwhile, the family must deal with the complications of their eccentric lifestyle and the growing mystery surrounding their new employee's true intentions.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After the birth of Pubert, the Addams family hires Debbie Jellinsky as a nanny. Debbie is secretly a serial killer who marries and murders wealthy men for their inheritance. She eventually marries Uncle Fester, and while she tries to kill him multiple times, he survives. To hide her crimes, she sends Wednesday and Pugsley to Camp Chippewa, where they are ostracized but eventually lead a rebellion against the camp's leadership. At home, Pubert's appearance changes due to the family's stress, and Debbie's attempts to kill Fester escalate. Eventually, she captures the family and holds them at gunpoint, only to be electrocuted by Pubert when he accidentally reroutes the current. The film ends with the family celebrating Pubert's birthday, while Fester finds a new companion in a nanny named Dementia. In the graveyard, Wednesday and Joel share a final moment before a hand emerges from the earth to grab him.
- First release year
- 1993
- Runtime (minutes)
- 94
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Barry Sonnenfeld
- Writers
- Paul Rudnick · writer
- Cast and characters
- Anjelica Huston · Morticia Addams; Raul Julia · Gomez Addams; Christopher Lloyd · Fester Addams; Christina Ricci · Wednesday Addams; Carol Kane · Grandmama Addams; Joan Cusack · Debbie Jellinsky; David Krumholtz · Joel Glicker; Jimmy Workman · Pugsley Addams
- Genres
- supernatural black comedy
- Themes
- family; dark humor; satire
- Tone and mood
- dark; macabre; satirical
- Premise and plot tags
- sequel; comedy; horror; nanny
- Source material / true-story basis
- comic strip characters created by Charles Addams
- Franchise connections
- The Addams Family
- Reception
- The film was well received by critics and acclaimed for its humor and performances, though it was less financially successful than its predecessor.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 76% · scale: percentage · review count: 115; Metacritic · score: 61 · scale: 100 · review count: 21; CinemaScore · score: B+ · scale: A+ to F
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Art Direction · 1993 · nomination; Golden Raspberry Award · Worst Original Song · win
- Production trivia
- The title is a reference to a 1992 speech by Dan Quayle.; Michael Jackson's song 'Family Thing' was intended for the film but went unused.; Raul Julia died less than a year after the film's release.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…