Sabrina Carpenter References Death Becomes Her In Taste Music Video

Sabrina Carpenter, among the pop princesses of the summer, whose songs “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” dethroned each other on the coveted top spots of the Billboard 100 chart, is a known cinephile. Her latest music video for “Taste,” the third single off of her studio album Short n’ Sweet, is chock-full of references to classic horror films like Death Becomes Her and Kill Bill: Volume 1.

While “Please Please Please,” starring Oscar-nominated actor Barry Keoghan (also Carpenter’s boyfriend), featured a Bonnie and Clyde narrative heavily inspired by Quentin Tarantino and Bennifer (the couple moniker for Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck), the singer-songwriter’s “Taste” draws instead from scary movie lore, with Gen Z “scream queen” Jenna Ortega co-starring.

The video, released Aug. 23 in conjunction with the album, follows Carpenter as she engages on a vengeance-filled quest to bring justice to an ex-lover (played by Halloween Ends star Rohan Campbell) and his new girlfriend, portrayed by Ortega. In the three-minute clip, directed by Dave Meyers, the two women exact increasingly gore-filled revenge on one another, complete with knives, chainsaw and voodoo doll galore. Tongue-in-cheek and darkly comic, the video’s denouement sees Ortega accidentally slicing her beau in half (believing it to be Carpenter’s character, who body-swapped back-and-forth amid the couple’s kiss). Resigned to attend the funeral together and accept their twin fates, the pair go off together as newly minted evil besties, leaving a wailing mother to grieve hysterically.

“Very insecure,” Ortega exclaims of the dead boyfriend as the two walk off with milkshakes in hand. Guffawing in response, Carpenter states, “You kill me.”

While “Taste” features many broad references — chainsaws relating to Texas Chainsaw Massacre, creepy dolls akin to Chucky (Child’s Play) and even a matching font to Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction — the following list includes more explicit references to spooky film favorites. Read on for the complete list.

“Death Becomes Her”

Image Credit: Courtesy of Island Records/Sabrina Carpenter / Universal Pictures/Everett Collection

Of all the film references in “Taste,” none is perhaps as prevalent as the 1992 satirical fantasy classic starring Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn as two sworn frenemies fighting for the same man, played by Bruce Willis. Aside from the fact that the music video and movie share the same base premise, “Taste” pays homage to visually stunning moments from its inspiration, which won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. These include the final funeral scene, a shot where Carpenter is hit by a shotgun and a still where Carpenter’s character (Hawn’s in the movie) has a gaping hole in her stomach, through which one can view others. Both the film and music video take place in an opulent mansion, with both duos coming back to life time-after-time following increasingly cartoonish fatal injuries.
“Ginger Snaps”

Image Credit: Courtesy Island Records/Sabrina Carpenter / Unapix Entertainment/courtesy Everett Collection

Also featuring two leading women, the 2000 Canadian supernatural movie “Ginger Snaps” follows two death-preoccupied sisters in suburbia who must contend with mortal consequences when one of them is bitten by a werewolf. The starkest reference to the pic features Carpenter being impaled by a white picket fence, hoisting a middle finger in response to the blood-filled tragedy — same as the titular Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) in the movie.
“Kill Bill: Volume 1”

Image Credit: Courtesy of Island Records/Sabrina Carpenter / Miramax/Everett Collection

When Carpenter gets the last laugh by throwing a dagger into Ortega’s eye, the latter dons a replica of the outfit worn by Daryl Hannah as Elle Drive in Tarantino’s Kill Bill. The killer nurse cosplay is complete with a red cross-bearing eyepatch and vintage all-white dress.
“Psycho”

Image Credit: “Taste” music video/Everette

A satisfying and easily-spotted reference, “Taste” also features Carpenter take inspiration from horror master Alfred Hitchcock. The video recreates the iconic shower scene, in which Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) finds herself on the wrong end of a knife-wielding Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins).
“Addams Family Values”

Image Credit: YouTube/Everett Collection

A follow-up to The Addams Family, the 1993 sequel features new character Debbie Jellinsky (a conniving Joan Cusack), who seduces Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd) and is later found out to be a serial killer intent on murdering him for his inheritance. The character reference fits right into the plot of “Taste,” as does the feather-adorned white outfit worn by both Carpenter and Cusack in their respective appearances.