96: Death Becomes Her (1992) ”Immediate Substance Vibes”

It seems only right that since we started this season with The Substance it was time to circle back to her campy, slapstick sister Death Becomes Her (1992). Serving up more body comedy than body horror, this cult classic starring Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, and Bruce Willis is rife with cultural impact. It’s a flick that walked (or tumbled down a staircase) so others could run, inspiring generations of artists from Broadway to Sabrina Carpenter and most iconically the drag community. On a new episode of Why the Flick?, we’re going bottoms up into the Robert Zemeckis comedy to explore its relevance to anti-aging fads, groundbreaking special effects, and the living dead in Beverly Hills.

Resources

Sabrina Carpenter - Taste: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEG7b851Ric⁠

⁠https://creepycatalog.com/death-becomes-her-1992-trivia/⁠

⁠https://people.com/death-becomes-her-revolutionized-special-effects-8730702⁠

⁠https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/756545/retro-review-before-the-substance-there-was-death-becomes-her/⁠

⁠https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/hpdm6c/in_death_becomes_her_1992_a_womans_figure_can/