Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageDeath Becomes Her (1992)
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Zemeckis' black comedy seems oddly old-fashioned, reminiscent less of Roger Rabbit and Back to the Future than of '40s screwball and horror spoofs. When fading star Madeline (Streep) finds that Ernest (Willis), the plastic surgeon fiancé of her friend Helen (Hawn), is besotted by her tarnished glamour, her vanity demands that she marry this wimp who can restore her looks. Years later, 'Hell' plots revenge, and all is set for a bitching battle of Baby Jane proportions; but what finally drags the murderous trio into a maelstrom is the Faustian pact Madeline makes with Lisle Van Rhuman (Rossellini) in return for an elixir of eternal youth. Sporadically very funny indeed, the script features some nicely wicked one-liners, which are well complemented by Zemeckis' sight gags and by performances of great gusto. Far from sophisticated in its satire of narcissism, but enormous fun.Author: GA
Cast & crew
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Producer: Steve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Meryl Streep, Bruce Willis, Goldie Hawn, Isabella Rossellini, Ian Ogilvy, Adam Storke, Nancy Fish, Alaina Reed Hall, Michelle Johnson full cast
Genre(s): Comedy
Duration: 104 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
A holiday guide to movie dystopias
‘Going anywhere nice this summer, sir?’ To celebrate the release of Pixar’s sublime post-apocalyptic robo-romance ‘Wall-E’, Time Out offers a tour guide of the best future worlds in film
Eddie Murphy's Crimes Against Cinema
We all remember the comic highs of 'Beverly Hills Cop' and 'Bowfinger', but Eddie Murphy has been in a fair few stinkers as well. Time Out to presents a handy rundown of his ten darkest cinematic hours...
Olly Blackburn meets Nic Roeg
Nic Roeg is the director of ‘Performance’, ‘Don’t Look Now’ and, most recently, ‘Puffball’. Olly Blackburn is the man behind ‘Donkey Punch’, a thriller about a holiday gone wrong. We sent Olly to meet his legendary colleague
The nine rules of ’80s fantasy
Unpack the VCR and fire up the soda stream as Time Out celebrates a golden age of Hollywood family filmmaking
What do you think?
Post your review now