There’s something so satisfying about seeing some of the greatest performers in history duking it out in trashy but entertaining films. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford established this with the iconic Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and set off a chain reaction of similarly dark and twisted female-focused films that are nothing more than perverted fun. Death Becomes Her is one of the most famous offspring of the supposed “biddy-horror” sub-genre, and it is not difficult to see why it is so endlessly beloved – Robert Zemeckis made a film that represents high camp at its finest. He takes an entertaining premise and crafts it into a hilarious and irreverent meta-commentary on the entertainment industry, and casts a pair of extraordinary actresses in their most enjoyable roles, allowing them to take on larger-than-life outrageous characters and simply have some fun for a change. Death Becomes Her certainly is nothing short of a good time, and it is filled to the brim with visual humour and satirical statements on Hollywood, and its status as a cult classic is not undeserved. Putting aside some of the glaring faults present throughout (which we’ll talk about a bit later), we can’t deny that when it comes to unhinged, entertaining cinema, Death Becomes Her represents some of the very best, or at least the most memorable.

For those who haven’t seen Death Becomes Her, the storyline is quite simple. Madeline Ashton (Meryl Streep) is a former Broadway star who has been relegated to trashy television films as a result of her increasing age. Her lifelong rival has been Helen Sharp (Goldie Hawn), now a bestselling author. Madeline’s fame is fading faster than her looks, and she sees the decline of one being the result of the other. It also doesn’t help that her marriage to Dr Ernest Menville (Bruce Willis), is rapidly deteriorating, in the same way that his career went from esteemed plastic surgeon to low-level mortician. In a desperate moment of vanity-induced agony, Madeline seeks out the help of Lisle von Rhoman (Isabella Rossellini), a mysterious socialite who proposes a cure to not only cure ageing but also help those who can afford it regain their youth and live forever. It works for Madeline, who finds herself returning to her heyday of youth and beauty – but at what cost? Hilarious results ensue when it is discovered that not only is Madeline young again, so is Helen, as she also found the same fountain of youth years before. Now the former rivals find themselves at a crossroads – do they use their newfound immortality to get revenge on the other for all eternity, or do they bond over their shared experiences. Maybe in life they were destined to be enemies, but can they become friends in death?

Meryl Streep is one of her generation’s finest actresses – this isn’t even an opinion anymore, but essentially a fact many of us have accepted, whether with gleeful delight or muted resignation. She’s versatile, she’s talented and is able to play absolutely anything (as she has shown as several times before). However, while her dramatic work is undeniably powerful, I have always found Streep is at her best when she is having fun – and her unique sense of humour and willingness to go to any lengths to give a good performance not only makes her a great actress but an effortlessly talented comedienne when she puts in the effort. Death Becomes Her is the pinnacle of her comedic film career – a camp, eccentric woman who has already entered into the annals of pop culture lore (her delivery of “these are the moments that make life worth living” has become so iconic, even those who haven’t seen this film quote on regularly), and one that permits Streep to exercise her comedic talents far more than the more subtle comedies of her career would allow. Acting across from Streep is Goldie Hawn, who may not be as revered as her scene-partner when it comes to dramatic work, but is certainly just as beloved for her long career of great performances. Here she abandons her genial, quirky persona for a more sinister character, a malicious antagonist with a minor streak of empathy occurring between her moments of vanity and vengeance (Vanity and Vengeance would’ve been an appropriate alternative title for this film, in fact). It may be difficult to notice the intricacies of Hawn’s portrayal considering the magnitude of Streep’s performance (and deservedly so – she gives one of her most bombastic performances here), but Hawn holds her own brilliantly, bringing the exact same comedic intensity to her role. Every one of these films has one standout from the cast – Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Olivia de Havilland in Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte and Joan Crawford in Strait-Jacket are notable examples. Streep takes on that position here, and delivers an all-time great performance that is in the canon of her best work, but it is only made better by her remarkable chemistry with Hawn, who is having just as much fun, only with a character that is shifted slightly to the side in favour of Streep’s character, who is the predominant focus of the film.

Death Becomes Her, as alluded to previously, constitutes a latter-day example of the psycho-biddy sub-genre, a set of films that I adore without hesitation. Alternatively known as “hagsploitation” or “Grand Guignol Dame horror”, there are few films that are more entertaining, mainly because they blend so many different concepts that are not normally associated with each other – unhinged terror and mental instability intermingle with glamour and femininity, as we see these women go on rampages for any number of reasons. Death Becomes Her is certainly along the same lines, while still being an outsider of sorts, because it is mainly a meta-commentary on these very films, as well as having a self-awareness that was missing from the more outrageous but compelling biddy-horrors of the 1960s and 1970s. Yet, it does have a lot in common with them as well – its a darkly comical look at womanhood from the perspective of an older female character who does not fit into the preordained narrative categories usually associated with actresses of that age (would Baby Jane Hudson have been as terrifying had she been younger, or not played by an established star like Bette Davis?), and using the very resonant concepts of aging and social insecurities to drive the story. Death Becomes Her does differ insofar as it contains an element of fantasy, but at the core, this is an entertaining film about some relevant issues, with Zemeckis and the screenwriters David Koepp and Martin Donovan embracing these themes by blending them in with a healthy dose of dark, twisted Hollywood satire – and the result is really quite something.

Here’s the problem though – for years, I had heard of Death Become Her and how it was a cult classic, and some iconic piece of camp filmmaking that had to be seen. When I eventually saw it, I was definitely entertained, but yet oddly underwhelmed. There was an expectation I had going into this film, and there was some slight disappointment when I discovered that my expectations had been way too high. This is certainly a very fun film – no one in their right mind would ever deny that this is a good time. Unfortunately, there is a lack of depth to this film, and there are so many plot threads that could’ve been explored more sufficiently. There is a lot left to be desired with this film on a narrative level, and while an argument can be made that this is just innocuous, pointless fun, to consider how, with a little more effort, this could’ve been a masterpiece, is disheartening. I’d never suggest that this isn’t a great film – and it’s cult status is not inappropriate. It is understandable why its so beloved – but when looking at camp films from the 1990s in particular, Death Becomes Her lacks the emotional heft of films like The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the hilarity of The Birdcage and the unhinged camp brilliance of Showgirls, which are films equally as revered as this in cult followings. The fast-paced energy of this film is not a flaw, and actually keeps it entertaining, but had some of the exposition been trimmed in favour for some more development of the multitude of underlying ideas, this film could’ve been elevated from merely being mindless fun to something a lot more subversive and impressive. This doesn’t disregard its merits (and criticizing Death Becomes Her for a lack of depth is like saying A Cry in the Dark doesn’t have enough comedy) but still dims its immense potential slightly and makes us wonder what could’ve been had this film been given a bit more narrative tinkering.

Despite some flaws, Death Becomes Her is a terrific film. There are few films I have had more fun watching than this, and it certainly did not disappoint when it came to the sheer number of gags per minute and outrageous humour that makes this such a thrilling experience. Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawk are at their comedic peak here, playing these flamboyant, fabulous characters with a mixture of elegance and camp, and seeming to have the most fun of their careers. Death Becomes Her saw Zemeckis continue to push the limits of visual storytelling in cinema, and while it may be tame by modern standards, we can’t neglect the creativity and technological prowess of this film in its temporal context. As a whole, it is a film that may lack depth, but it has thrills galore, and a deeply sardonic sense of irony to the story its tell, satirizing without being mean-spirited and remaining inextricably truthful to its underlying premise. If this isn’t utterly engrossing, amusing and hilarious cinema, then I’m not sure what is. Death Becomes Her is camp of the highest order, and while it may not be grand cinema, it certainly is a well-made guilty pleasure that remains as fun now as it did back then, and such indelible longevity is an admirable feat for any film. As evident here, sometimes the silliest and most irreverent of works manage to be the most memorable.