Random 'Death Becomes Her' Is Way Weirder Than You Rememb (13 items)

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  (#13) It's The Movie Robert Zemeckis Made Between 'Back To The Future Part 3' And 'Forrest Gump'

  One potential cause for the fever dream vibe of Death Becomes Her was the thematic whiplash felt by its director, Robert Zemeckis. This film’s release in 1992 fell between two of his massively successful films, Back to the Future Part 3 and Forrest Gump. 

  The bizarro Western theme of the final Back to the Future film drove its franchise to its logical conclusion, to the point where Zemeckis said, "There will never ever be a Return to the Future in the most absolute way. There will be no more Back to the Future.” It was time for something new, and something new meant bitter undead female rivalry with comical slapstick and gore. 

  The 1994 release of Forrest Gump may have been a response to Death Becomes Her. Rather than backstabbing and constant rivalry, Zemeckis decided to focus on a painstakingly earnest character like Forrest Gump, who only wants to do the right thing.
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  (#11) The Dress Colors May Signify Morality

  For most of the film, Madeline is shown wearing white, while Helen is typically seen in red. This subverts the typical narrative assumptions about those color schemes, as Madeline starts off as the crueler and more manipulative of the two, with Helen the hapless one always in her shadow. 

  During Helen's dream sequence, she dreams of ending Madeline as she explains her plot to Ernest. For the duration of the brief fantasy, Helen is wearing the red dress while Madeline wears the white, a sign that Helen has gotten onto Madeline’s cruel level. 

  In the final scene, they are both wearing all black. 
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  (#4) The Costumes Are A Bizarre Array Of Early '90s Erotica

  There is a comical maudlin element to the way that the characters are dressed throughout the film. Every dress shows skin, emphasizes chest, and often utilizes lace and jewels to keep the film PG-13, which is impressive in its own right.  

  The most borderline-pornographic, however, is the scantily clad Lisle Von Rhuman. The face of immortal beauty herself does not wear a shirt for most of the film, instead opting for a series of carefully placed necklaces. The pants situation is also minimal, as she is typically shown wearing a sheer red sarong that shows quite a bit of leg.
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  (#6) Famous Departed Celebrities Pop Up At The Climax Of The Movie

  When Lisle accosts Ernest by the poolside, she offers him her potion of eternal life. Though he is unsure and frightened by the prospect, Lisle invites him to the party upstairs where “all of her clients” are in attendance. 

  Some notable clientele include Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol, Elvis, James Dean, and Greta Garbo, all of whom had passed by the time the film premiered in 1992. This suggests that in the Death Becomes Her universe, they were all kept alive and in their physical prime by the potion. 
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  (#8) Madeline Takes So Many Men From Helen That It Drives Her Insane

  In Helen's final scene where she is still married to Ernest, she tells him, "I just had to see if you could pass the Madeline Ashton test." He chides her for sounding silly and jealous - and the next scene pans to Madeline and Ernest's wedding, and it becomes clear to the audience that Helen is about to fly off the rails. 

  Sure enough, the following scene shows a dazed and overweight Helen getting evicted from her home and placed in a psychiatric hospital, where she is singularly obsessed with Madeline to the great chagrin and frustration of her caretakers and fellow patients.

  During a confrontation with her therapist, the therapist implores Helen to "eliminate" thoughts of Madeline, but Helen interprets this as "eliminating" Madeline entirely. 
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  (#7) Helen And Madeline End Up Completely Mutilated

  The final scene in the film takes place at Ernest’s funeral. At this point, Ernest has long since escaped the unhinged immortal women, and his life is celebrated as though he had a normal and fulfilling one with family and friends.  

  During the ceremony, Helen and Madeline's faces are fully obscured by long black veils to hide how cracked and deformed their faces have become without Ernest's plastic surgery services. They hobble when they walk, they are missing extremities, and they ultimately lose their heads falling down the stairs in the final scene of the film.

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