Heathers (1989)

 Heathers (1989)

Leading up to the cult classic that is 1989’s Heathers, teen movies were an optimistic bunch of films (mainly from the mind of John Hughes). Most of these movies were natural, charismatic, funny, yet positive. Perhaps, too much so? Screenwriter Daniel Waters and director Michael Lehmann changed things up with this movie. They created a scathing satire with hints of bleakness and darkness throughout while retaining the natural teenage feelings of older movies and keeping the comedy intact. It inspired many teen movies that we know and love in the 90’s/00’s. When people saw the movie when it was originally theatrically released, the shock value was sky high (to the limited amount of people who saw the film). Even today, some scenes give you that “what the heck” vibe and I was so down for that. While not every joke/moment works, I did appreciate the film’s tone and biting message. The funeral scenes are dark yet hilarious. They were my favorite scenes of the movie.

Daniel Waters began writing on the film while employed at a video store. He had one man in mind to direct the film, Stanley Kubrick. He admired Kubrick but was not able to get the script to him (although the cafeteria scene in the beginning is a neat little homage to Full Metal Jacket). He met Michael Lehmann and found that Lehmann could effectively direct the movie. I would say this would have been something with the Kubrick touch. The final cut maintained the dark tone from the script, but it could have been even darker. Let’s just say that heaven would have gained many souls if the original script was filmed. The ending was intense enough as is, but I was slightly disappointed the studio’s executives wanted to change the ending.

Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder) attends Westerburg High School located in Ohio (although the movie was filmed in Los Angeles). She wants to be a popular girl, so she joins the clique called the Heathers (Duke, McNamara, and Chandler). The three girls are brats with their shallow behavior on full display, but Veronica puts up with it so she can remain popular. J.D, short for Jason Dean (Christian Slater), is a rebel and a newcomer to the school. He questions Veronica’s relationship with the clique and comes up with an idea. Murder! A suicide note is written to seem as if the murder of one of the girls was a suicide. What happens next is a whole bunch of craziness.

The lead actors were given juicy roles and they ran away in their collective roles. The leads (Ryder, Slater, and Shannen Doherty) developed problems publicly in the decade following the film’s release, but it was great seeing these actors at the top of their games. Winona Ryder almost did not get cast because she was still in her Beetlejuice phase and did not look “hot” enough. I am glad she was chosen. I never perceived Slater could pull of such a role. He did! He was menacing, funny, and just a blast to watch. And Glenn Shadix as the preacher at the funerals? Talk about Beetlejuice vibes.

Heathers was not a box office success upon release. In fact, it might have contributed mightily to New World’s bankruptcy. Over time, it garnished enough praise to turn in into the cult hit it is today. This allowed for a different type of teen film to take over. One with darker themes such as suicide in this movie’s case. And lots of profanity. Doris Day would not allow the movie to use of her songs because of its profane language. The script is brilliantly dark and has some incredible quotes which the actors delivered so good. The ending was intense, but it did lose some steam. I guess the film is trying to tell us avoid cliques unless you want to be…murdered! Ah, the horror!

My Grade: B+