What is a movie prop that was used in multiple films in an innovative way?
The final moments of David Fincher’s Se7en are home to one of the most depraved twists in all of cinema.
The coming together of deranged serial killer John Doe’s masterplan, culminating in ‘envy’ and ‘wrath,’ sent a chill down the spines of millions.
For the purposes of this answer, let’s focus on ‘envy.’
Envious of the life Mills (Brad Pitt) shared with Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow), Doe murders the latter and has her decapitated head delivered to Mills as a token.
Now, initially, Paltrow’s head was meant to be shown on screen. Therefore, a replica of her severed head was made.
However, Pitt was adamant that Tracy’s head should remain off-camera, allowing audiences to picture the gruesome sight in their heads.
So, the replica of Paltrow’s head was lost to time, shoveled off to some warehouse. And that is where it stayed until Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion found a use for it.
Paltrow’s character is one of the first victims of the deadly virus around which the movie is based.
Her character dies quite early into proceedings, and we’re shown a rather gnarly autopsy sequence featuring, no prizes for guessing – the replica of Gwyneth Paltrow’s head, initially created for Se7en.
What a journey for Paltrow’s severed head. Made for Se7en and then discarded without use, it waited for 15 years to traumatize all who would lay their eyes upon it.
After 15 long years of waiting, we finally got to see “What’s in the box.”
- from Movie and Entertainment Sphere fb