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Heathers
Fatal Game / Lethal Attraction / Westerberg High / Fatal Games
USA 1989
produced by Denise Di Novi, Christopher Webster (executive) for New Line, Cinemarque Entertainment
directed by Michael Lehmann
starring Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, Penelope Milford, Glenn Shadix, Lance Fenton, Patrick Labyorteaux, Jeremy Applegate, Jon Shear, Carrie Lynn, Phill Lewis, Renée Estevez, John Zarchen, Sherrie Wills, Curtiss Marlowe, Andrew Benne, Kevin Hardesty, Josh Richman, Bess Meyer, Jennifer Rhodes, William Cort, Larry Cox, Kent Stoddard, John Ingle, Stuart Mabray, Betty Ramey, Aaron Mendelsohn, Kirk Scott, Mark Bringelson, Chuck Lafont, Christie Mellor, Mark Carlton, James 'Poorman' Trenton, Adrian Drake
written by Daniel Waters, music by David Newman
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
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Veronica (Winona Ryder) has worked hard to become part of the Heathers,
the most popular, most feared, most loved and most hated clique in high
school, the all-mighty Heathers, also consisting of Heather Duke (Shannen
Doherty), Heather McNamara (Lisanne Falk), and their ruthless leader
Heather Chandler (Kim Walker), all privileged girls (like Veronica), who
use their wealth and influence ... to have everyone do their bidding while
they won't bat an eye dishing out cruelties knowing due to their status
they'll always be wanted and desired. However, now being part of the
Heathers, Veronica realizes that she wants more out of life than absolute
shallowness, and the other girls' cruelty is getting on her nerves more
and more ... and enter the new guy at scholl, bad boy J.D. (Christian
Slater), whom she pretty much immediately falls in love with, and who it
seems is the first person in a long time to fully understand her. Then
though, Heather Chandler drags Veronica to a frat party where Veronica
throws up on the floor - and Heather threatens to ruin her reputation the
next school day as revenge. Now Veronica has all Sunday to make up to
Heather Chandler, but J.D. suggests to teach her a lesson instead. It's
supposed to be a silly prank, they plan to visit her, give her a drink
which they claim is good for hangovers but instead is so gross to make her
puke. Only the drink they accidently give her is actually draining liquid
that kills her instantly. In their panic, they forge a suicide note -
forging is something Veronica's brilliant at - in which Heather complains
about the emptiness of her life ... and it works, nobody doubts that
Heather has died from a suicide, and her farewell note actually has her
celebrated, gives her meaning beyond being a bitch. Soon after Heather
Chandler's funeral, Heather McNamara asks Veronica to go on a double date
with her and two jocks, Kurt (Lance Fenton) and Ram (Patrick Pabyorteaux)
- and the guys get so drunk they can't actually walk straight. However
next day at school they boast Veronica has blown them both off. J.D.
persuades Veronica to lure the both of them into the woods promising them
sexual favours, but then pulling a stunt exposing them both as gay. Only
the stunt J.D. is actually going through with is shooting them dead,
making it look like suicide and leaving a coming-out note with them.
Again, the plan works fine, nobody doubts the boys' suicide, and again
they're celebrated and are more in death than they've ever been in life.
Inspired by this, J.D.'s planning more "suicides" to give their
insignificant high school some (artificial) depth, but Veronica refuses to
participate and breaks up with him. Instead she tries to patch up some old
friendships to get away from the shallowness of the Heathers, with varying
success though. J.D. in the meanwhile hooks up with Heather Duke, boosts
her confidence to become the new leader of the Heathers, and invents a
petition he uses her to get signed by everybody in school. And almost too
late Veronica actually finds out what the petition actually is, a
school-wide suicide note signed by all (under several pretenses of
course), and J.D. actually plans to blow up the school building on a busy
day ... Heathers saw two then hot new stars leading a
high school comedy that also tackles more serious issues like teen suicide
- at least on paper, what could go wrong? Box office-wise, everything, as Heathers
turned out to be a bomb - and it's for the very same reasons it soon after
its release it had become a cult item: Instead of playing it safe,
presenting some simplisitic answers in a candy-coloured world where the
jokes are clean and the girls are virgins, screenwriter Daniel Waters and
director Michael Lehmann deliver a highly subversive comedy full of
psychopaths, bitchy characters, failing adults, ambivalence when it comes
to good and evil, with even topics like death, murder and suicide treated
with ambiguity. Basically it was a movie ahead of its time, and even today
feels fresh while many high school movies and TV shows that came after it
feel dated beyond their age - probably because Heathers dismantled
the genre to its (old-fashioned) core and then rebuilt it anew in a much
more edgy way that's much closer to teenage angst than your typical genre
flick. And seeing the whole thing peppered with black humour and carried
by strong, multi-layered performances by its leads makes this one a
deserved fan favourite.
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