Let's talk about the original ending

I actually like the originally scripted ending-- the one that got negative reactions from test audiences so they reshot the ending to what we have today. I like it better than the final version we ended up with. It feels like it was the ending that was originally intended to be-- it's not as fun or exciting as the ending with Alex going bat$#*+ crazy, veering into slasher film territory. Rather, it's a more natural, quiet, and truly disturbing ending. SPOILERS: Alex Forrest slices her neck with the knife that Dan wrestles from her right at the end...

That is a much a more ballsy ending than to end it with her going into a violent rage. It makes so much more sense to me, both in the sense of the story and in the film itself. The look that Glenn Close gives Michael Douglas as he backs away after he wrestled the knife away makes complete sense now!! She's looking like she's thinking "I got you now, you bastard". She got his fingerprints on the knife so she can totally frame him. And that makes much more sense to me than her tracking him down and harming his family. Plus, that lingering shot of the knife in his hands as he sets it down actually fits the story then.

I think that its a shame the original ending got a negative reaction. All for the sake of blood and violence to make it more of a shocker type ending with a bang instead of a quiet, honest, and let's just say it, less memorable ending with our main man getting framed for the suicide of a seriously unstable psychotic woman.

I watched Fatal Attraction again the other day and I feel like the original ending is a more appropriate, if less fun, way to end a movie that makes you rethink having an affair. I wish that movies didn't have to face alteration in order to make it more accessible aka more successful. Such a shame. That censorship dilutes the message sometimes. Too bad.

If you haven't seen the original ending, I highly recommend it. It's worth seeing.