Winona Ryder

Christian Slater

Shannen Doherty

Lisanne Falk

Kim Walker

Penelope Milford

Glenn Shadix

Lance Fenton

Jennifer Rhodes

Jeremy Applegate

Patrick Labyorteaux

Jon Matthews

Carrie Lynn

Phill Lewis

Renée Estevez

John Zarchen

William Cort

John Ingle

Stuart Mabray

Sherrie Wills

Larry Cox

Kent Stoddard

Mark Carlton

Curtiss Marlowe

Andrew Benne

Kevin Hardesty

Josh Richman

Bess Meyer

Betty Ramey

Aaron Mendelsohn

Kirk Scott

Mark Bringelson

Chuck Lafont

Christie Mellor

James 'Poorman' Trenton

Adrian Drake

Craig Braginsky

Michael Lindström

David McConnell

Mike Pont

Sylvia Tobias

Jeffrey Weissman

Michael Lehmann

Denise Di Novi

Daniel Waters

Francis Kenny

Norman Hollyn

David Newman

Sally Dennison

Julie Selzer

Jon Hutman

Kara Lindstrom

Rudy Dillon

Julie Hewett

Scott Williams

Iya Labunka

Mary Ellen Woods

David W. Ford

Greg J. Grande

Don Larson Jr.

George Berndt

Sarah Goldsmith

John Morris

Lorie O'Shatz

Jerry Ross

Hamilton Sterling

Martin Bresin

Dan Bradley

Mitch Dubin

Aristides Pappidas

Michael Paris

Christopher Rogers

Thaddeus Wadleigh

Maureen Mitchell

Jerry Ariganello

Scott Grusin

Claire Baker

Irene Brafstein

Elana Golden

Vicki Rocco

Christopher Webster

Angela Moos

Benita Allen

Jeffrey Wetzel

Rick Bailey

Monti Santilli Rainbolt

Dana Torrey

Lori M. Turchin

Rick Ash

James Ashwill

Douglas Axtell

Bob Baron

Kevin Bartnof

Don Digirolamo

Ann Ducommun

John Duvall

Peter Friedberg

Doug Hemphill

Ellen Heuer

Chris Ingram

Rob Scott

Debbie Evans

Joe Gilbride

Jeff Habberstad

Sandy J. Leavenworth

Mitchell Amundsen

Deirdre Arbucci

John G. Danza

Ali Farboud

Charley Gilleran

Marc David Schultz

John Schwartzman

Lon Thompson

Dennis Young

Patrick Rush

Sandra Araya Jensen

Beverly Kline

Lizz Wolf

Dennis Brookins

Mike Milliken

Perry Patterson

Edward Flotard

Kimberly Edwards

Caroline Pham

Bundy Chanock

Comedy

Crime

Heathers

New World Pictures

Cinemarque Entertainment

United States of America

RELEASED IN 1989 and directed by Michael Lehmann, “Heathers” stars Winona Ryder as Veronica, a high school student in Ohio who has sold herself out to join the popular clique of three girls, all coincidently named Heather (Kim Walker, Lisanne Falk & Shannen Doherty). The more she spends time with them, however, the more she discovers she can’t stand them. Enter mysterious new kid, JD (Christian Slater), who has a macabre solution to Veronica’s conundrum.   

This is an oddball teen movie that tries to be edgy and amusing with its black humor and overt cussing. Future movies were influenced by it, like “Jawbreaker” (1999) and maybe even “Mean Girls” (2004). The commentary on peer pressure, teen suicide and the maiming destructiveness of cliques is potent. Teens can be misled by the “popular” students, yes, but they can also be misled by the outcasts.   

Slater stands out as a sorta dark Fonz of the late 80s, easily one of his best roles ever. Ryder is surprisingly good as the protagonist. I say “surprisingly” because I was never big on her (although I didn’t dislike her either). The first act is quite good, but the story gets humdrum in the middle; thankfully, the last 20 minutes perk up. The late 80’s ambiance is to die for.

I’m not going to give it away, but the original ending was way more morbid. They had an alternative ending that they didn’t go with either. Apparently the studio pressured the writer/director to go with the theatrical ending, which I approve. It’s a story of redemption. Being misled by corrupt people for a season doesn’t define a person forever.                       

THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hours & 43 minutes and was shot in Los Angeles (the high school) and surrounding area (Santa Monica, Tujunga and Pasadena). WRITER: Daniel Waters.

GRADE: B-/C+

This movie is a high school satire done absolutely amazingly. It's everything current high school dramas wish they were. It's dark, funny, but does not lose any of its meaning to stupid jokes. It perfectly shows the hell that is high school (and society as a whole). Just like in high school, there are Marthas and Heathers everywhere in life. 

J.D. is a great villain, because even though from his very introduction, we know he's a messed up person who does bad things, yet you start to empathize with him just like Veronica. It shows that, as a society, we go to great lengths to defend white men and their actions. 

Heathers is furthermore also obviously a critique on the social hierarchies that exist in the world. It shows this on a smaller scale, high school. As J.D. nicely sums up towards the end of the movie: ".. because high school IS society". The Heathers rule the school and this movie really shows as to why that is. It's a system, that puts certain people at the top, like Heathers, and other _Martha's_ at the bottom. Murdering Heather Chandler might seem like a way to disrupt this hierarchy, and restore society to a pure form, but that is not the case. Heather Chandler does not equal her power, that's just a role she filled in the bigger system around them. Her being gone doesn't remove that role, it just passes it on to the next best fit. 

In this movie, colors play a significant role. Heather Chandler being red represents anger and her dominance. Heather McNamara being yellow represents her kind soul, but also her weakness. Heather Duke's green represents her jealousy of Chandler. Veronica's signature color is blue which represents intelligence, but after having murdered Heather Chandler she wears a purple outfit. As you may know, blue and red make purple. I see this as Heather Chandlers 'evilness' affecting Veronica as well. Veronica might think she's rid the world of evil, yet she's simply become evil herself.

"Heathers" is almost like a jet black version of "Rebel Without A Cause" (1955) or some such as it steadfastly plumbs the complicated labyrinthine depths of teenage angst and comes up with a radical and downright homicidal anti-social solution. It is overflowing with the largely inconsequential concerns of the hierarchy which exists in all schools to a greater or lesser degree and it provides some harsh examples of this at its most cruel and unforgiving. Who would want to be a teenager again? Anyway, no matter how dark this film becomes and no matter how close Veronica is to ridding her life of the Heathers of the title, she still demurs at the last  moment and stops short (she even prevents the eager J.D. from blowing the school up with explosives). The message here is a simple one: The wholesale destruction of the school and all it represents to disenfranchised teenagers everywhere is not the answer to life's innumerable problems.

English

Are you a Heather?

Big Blue

Slushie

Official Trailer

Heathers (1989) | TCM Slumberground

Mark Kermode reviews Heathers (1989) | BFI Player

Q&A with Michael Lehmann and Lisanne Falk

The Arrow Video Story

In conversation with... Heathers director Michael Lehmann and actor Lisanne Falk