IT was in 1938 that American cartoonist Charles Addams first put pen to paper to produce Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday and Pugsley Addams, not forgetting Uncle Fester, Grandmama, Lurch and their octopus Aristotle. Thing would scuttle onto the scene in 1954, with Cousin Itt joining a year later.

Another 65 down the line and the Addams family have transcended the New Yorker to lead three films, four television series, video games, books and a musical. Insert two clicks of the hand now.

This week - and just in time for Halloween at that - they’re back in action. Brightly animated and brought to life by an all star voice cast, the family have rarely looked nor sounded better. Oscar Isaacs and Charlize Theron clearly have a ball as pater and mater respectively - even if it’s hard not to feel that neither has much new to bring to the iconic parts - while there’s room too for Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard and none other than Bette Midler.

With a plot concerning trials with the local townsfolk and the coming of age of Pugsley and Wednesday, 2019’s Addams Family isn’t quite so satirically charged as in the strip’s earlier days. That said, there chuckles abundant to be enjoyed here and ample fun to pass the time. Playing to the kids of today, the film is best compared to a sombre Hotel Transylvania and it just about does the trick.

Also hitting screens this week, Terminator: Dark Fate drags Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton back to the mainstream for yet another 80s reprise.

Stretching over two hours, Dark Fate is too long for its own good but certainly looks the part. There’s nostalgic pleasure to be had too from witnessing the triumphant return of Sarah Conner, even if Schwarzenegger’s role has long since grown tired. Joining the stalwarts, Mackenzie Davis plays assassin turned cyborg Grace, who is sent from the future to protect Natalia Reyes’ Dani Ramos from the new advanced Terminator prototype.

In its favour, Dark Fate is the first Terminator film to boast a production credit for original director James Cameron since 1991’s Judgement Day. Suddenly the lengthy runtime makes sense. There’s a fitting score by Dutch composer Junkie XL and commendable cinematography is provided by Ken Seng. As to whether this is the last in the franchise, I wouldn’t bet on it.