Death Becomes Her (1992) - 5 questions

Question: When Helen and Madelin are fighting with the shovels, Helen whacks off the end of Madelin's shovel, and then Madelin throws the stick through Helen. How did they achieve this effect?

Answer: CGI, just like any other difficult effect.

Question: When Helen and Madelin have finished fighting and they asked Earnest to fix them, how did he fix the great big hole in Helen's stomach?

Answer: He most likely filled it with something soft, then covered it. You'll notice the lingerie she is wearing completely covers her midsection.

Question: In the scene where Goldie Hawn nearly gets her head run over by the car, how do they get that effect? It just looks far too dangerous to be an actual stunt, but it looks too real to be a bluescreen / split screen effect either.

Answer: It is a composite shot, with the actor's head added to the scene. They just did a particularly good job on the scene.

Question: How come when Lisa is swimming in the pool none of her eyes wash out or anything like the others?

Answer: I don't think she ever died after taking the tonic, unlike Madeline and Helen. She took the potion simply to keep her young good looks and (as stated earlier with Madeline), Lisa is in fact 71 years old with the looks of a 38 year old.

Question: When Streep and Rossellini talk about the potion, Rossellini says "Or as one of my clients simply said -- 'I vant to be alone, yah.'" and Streep replies "No" She's not!" -- Who are they talking about?

Answer: It's a reference to Greta Garbo who abandoned Hollywood shortly after WWII.