93. Death Becomes Her

 

I have seen this movie a handful of times now, yet I am still in awe every time I do.

Once again an oldie, but Cineworld have shown it as part of Pride season and Jamie hasn't seen it so off we went. 

It is massively camp but that is what gives it its charm, Cineworld missed a trick though as everyone knows the best movie for Pride season would be The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Anyway, the events of this movie follow Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn as their rivalry comes to a head. Hawn's character, Helen, introduces her betrothed to an old school chum who is a vaguely successful actress. The man in question, Bruce Willis, is in awe of her rival Madeline, and the malicious woman decides to steal the affections of her enemy's future husband and marries him instead.

We flash to 7 years later, Ernest and Madeline have an unhappy marriage and Helen is living out the crazy cat lady stereotype following her broken heart and hatred for Madeleine. Following a therapy session she decides to eradicate her rival and as such we flash another 7 years where Helen has had an envious transformation in order to win back the affection of her ex lover.

Of course this is not enough for Helen who has sparked an intense jealousy in Madeline. Helen plots with Ernest to murder the vile woman in order for them to be together, Madeline, a vain individual is struck by the idea of the now more attractive opposition getting one up on her and visits what is effectively a witch for a potion to make her look younger. 

We soon find out, this lavish pink potion which is presented in a beautiful Egyptian clad box, doesn't just revitalise you, it does so forever, meaning that when Earnest accidentally deviates from the plan in the spur of the moment and breaks his wife's neck, she effectively becomes the living dead. Her heart stops, but she lives on as an immortal.

Events progress to the point we find that in a twist Helen has also taken the potion. Both women now being technically dead, they team together as they realise they now need looking after so that their bodies do not continue to show the decay it is now going through as the potion keeps them alive, now the cells are dead they cannot rejuvenate. An easy answer is found as Earnest is an undertaker, renowned for his skill at making the dead look alive.

They try to make Earnest take the potion in order to keep him around forever, but he refuses and runs away to live a happy and fulfilling life. We cut to the end of the movie when Madeline and Helen meet a grizzly end, and yet for them it is not quite the end as we know it.

I absolutely adore this film. It is so bizarre that you just can't fault it. Despite this, the plot is coherent and funny, and the acting here is marvellous. The special effects are brilliant for the 90s, even if there was a slight error with Streep drinking the potion (you'll see the liquid disappear within the first gulp and yet she continues to swallow as if there was more), but otherwise it was spot on. They had a lot to do with having broken bones show and a hole through Hawn's stomach.

This movie is so gloriously vain, so self indulgent, that you can't help but want to be in with these women. Despite being malicious, they exude power and strength, and both are comfortable with their sexual prowess, despite not being happy with their aging bodies. These women know what they want and they take it, not the best role models for young women but at the same time they teach a decent value. Be comfortable with your body, but don't compromise, look after yourself.

This movie also inspires the thought that if given the opportunity, would you take a potion which meant you could live/be young forever?

I am honestly not sure. The aging process does not bother me. Yes, I moan when I see the odd gray hair ruining my youth as I rapidly approach turning 30, but I don't care all that much. As I see it, I have an opportunity to own and peak within my age bracket as I grow older, so I am happy to adapt and be a woman of my age. The living forever part is what stumps me, as much as it would be lonely, and I would miss those who wither away and do not take my extended journey with me, I think I would love to live forever. Think of all the books I could read, skills I could learn. I could live life to the fullest and learn and be everything. I could turn my hand at all my fancies and experience things that you can't in a single lifetime. Isn't it tragic to think of all the things we will miss out on after we die? Look how the world progresses, suffragettes literally died to have the freedom I have today, isn't it a shame to not be able to live among the changes we have striven to make? The art we will never see, the people we will never meet. 

In short, if I was given the opportunity to live forever with no catch, I'd take it.

Back to the film though, this is so wildly far fetched but massively within the realm of realism. A perfect and twisted contradiction. Murder, the supernatural, strong and deceptive women, what isn't there to love? Oh and Bruce Willis has hair.

Do you know what? When I first saw this movie I was in awe of Mr Willis, I took him for a hard man type cast in bad action movies. I was pleased to see him in such a down to earth and hilarious movie as bleak comedy is certainly the theme here. We love to hate these characters which makes it even more appealing. 

Overall then, I give Death Becomes Her a 7/10. It's camp, it's kooky, it is well within the vibe as the 90s version of the Addams Family. This decade produced the best movies and you can't change my mind.

What did you think? Also, would you want to live or stay young forever? Leave a comment on my socials!