“I don’t want to become one of the living dead in Beverly Hills,” says plastic surgeon-turned-mortician Ernest Menville (Bruce Willis) in Robert Zemeckis’ black comedy Death Becomes Her.
Using elements of the zombie movie and camp melodrama – the rivalry between two ambitious women – the movie is an attempt to satirise the West Coast craze for youth and beauty.
The rivals are Ernest’s ex-wife, novelist Helen (Goldie Hawn), and his current wife, superbitch actress Madeline (Meryl Streep), who each take a magic rejuvenation potion supplied to them by eccentric witch Lisle Von Rhuman (Isabella Rossellini) with bizarre results.
The special effects win the day, but Streep and Hawn are deliciously bitchy as they try to outwit and out-bitch each other, while Willis is a pleasant surprise as the put-upon hubby in this quirky but enjoyable oddity.
Madeline Ashton
Meryl Streep
Ernest Menville
Bruce Willis
Helen Sharp
Goldie Hawn
Lisle Von Rhuman
Isabella Rossellini
Chagall
Ian Ogilvy
Dakota
Adam Storke
Rose
Nancy Fish
Psychologist
Alaina Reed Hall
Anna
Michelle Johnson
Vivian Adams
Mary Ellen Trainor
Mr Franklin
William Frankfather
Eulogist
John Ingle
Director
Robert Zemeckis