At no point did 1991’s Addams Family become a massive hit, but it still did pretty well at the box office. Its $113 million in the US allowed it to come in seventh place for the year, just a smidgen behind the much more hyped potential blockbuster Hook.

Audiences took much less interest in the inevitable sequel, 1993’s Addams Family Values. With a US take of only $48 million, it fell far short of the first movie’s gross, a factor that accounts for the fact we didn’t get a third film.

In Values, Morticia Addams (Anjelica Huston) gives birth to baby Pubert (Kaitlyn and Kristen Hooper). While father Gomez (Raul Julia) embraces his third child, siblings Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) feel threatened by the toddler and attempt to kill him.

To help, Gomez and Morticia bring in Debbie Jellinsky (Joan Cusack) as a nanny. However, it turns out “Debbie” is really a notorious serial killer who woos wealthy men and murders them for their money.

Debbie chooses the Addams clan to target Gomez’s brother Fester (Christopher Lloyd). Lonely and eager for love, Fester immediately falls for Debbie, an impulse that threatens to haunt him due to her desire to kill him.

While Values boasts some entertaining moments, it generally offers a pale imitation of the first film. All the same components appear, but a certain spirit seems lacking.

Director Barry Sonnenfeld's camera flies all around us, but it appears even more flashy and insubstantive than during the original movie. As a result, you get that serious "been there, done that" feeling during the sequel.

Most of the actors don’t live up to their old standards as well. All seem more subdued this time around, and Julia appears much less animated and exciting than in the first film. He was such a delight in the prior flick, whereas here he lacks verve.

Huston didn't have to exert much energy in the first place, but even she looks a bit worn and bored with the proceedings. One saving grace comes from another great performance by Ricci, and her added prominence in the sequel almost single-handedly rescues the film.

Ricci takes a slightly tired conceit - a humorless character who tries to smile – and makes it a thing of wonder. That scene becomes the highlight of the entire picture.

Other than that, there's not much positive to say. Actually, the supporting cast offers a bit of a step up from the first film.

For reasons unknown, Carol Kane replaces Judith Malina as Grandma. She's no better in this very minor role, but hey - at least she's a “name”!

Peter MacNicol and Christine Baransky play prominent supporting roles, and Nathan Lane, David Hyde Pierce, and Tony Shalhoub also turn up in bit parts as well. It’s fun to see them, even if none of them can rescue the movie.

I also find it interesting to note that young Mercedes McNab appears in both films, though it's unclear if she's supposed to play the same part. She gets a bigger role as insufferable Amanda here, and she played the insufferable Girl Scout in the first movie.

These are the kinds of things you consider when you're sort of bored with a movie. Don't get me wrong: Values doesn’t offer a terrible film.

However, it's not very good, and I can't help but find it to be a letdown after the semi-inspired original movie. Maybe I'd like it more if I hadn't viewed them both back-to-back, but as it stands, Values becomes a fairly mediocre effort.

Addams Family Values appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though not bad, the image felt surprisingly bland.

Sharpness tended to be acceptable and not much better. Some of this stemmed from the photographic style, but I didn’t think that explained the general flatness and occasional softness of the presentation.

I saw no jagged edges or moiré effects, but light edge haloes cropped up throughout the film. No print flaws materialized, though.

Like the first movie, Values opted for a dark, desaturated palette much of the time, though some brighter hues materialized via Debbie’s clothes and the summer camp that Wednesday and Pugsley attend. Nonetheless, the colors usually looked fairly drab.

Blacks were inky and could seem crushed, while shadows tended to be a bit opaque. This became a consistently mediocre presentation.

Though not memorable, the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 worked fairly well for its age. The soundscape managed to open up for the movie’s more action-oriented sequences.

Surprisingly, though, the soundfield felt less impactful than the mix that accompanied the first film. Material seemed reasonably well-placed around the room, but the mix lacked the same zing. It added some useful information at times but never became anything special.

Audio quality seemed fine, with speech that felt fairly natural and concise. Music showed pretty nice range as well.

Effects didn’t get a lot to do, but they came across with positive accuracy and range. Though it became a minor disappointment compared to its predecessor, the audio was good enough for a “B”.

No extras appear here – not even a stinking trailer!

Unimaginative and contrived, Addams Family Value disappoints. It lacks the first film’s wild spirit and feels like a stale cash grab. The Blu-ray comes with pretty good audio but visuals seem bland and the disc lacks supplements. I can’t find much to recommend here.

Note that this disc appears only via a “Two-Movie Collection” that pairs Values with the first film.

Also note that the Addams Family disc duplicates one that came out on its own in 2014. If you own the 2014 Blu-ray, you’ll find nothing different from it. Values makes its Blu-ray debut in this package, though.