|
 |
Heathers
|
by Starz / Anchor Bay
Sales Rank: 27430
Price: $9.49
|
|
|
This dark comedy from 1989 was a good showcase for Winona Ryder, playing a high school girl brought into a clique of bitchy classmates (all named Heather), and Christian Slater, doing his early Jack Nicholson thing. While Ryder's character mulls over the consequences of giving up one set of friends for another, her association with a new boy (Slater) in school turns out to have deadly consequences. Director Michael Lehmann turned this unusual film into something more than another teen-death flick. There is real wit and sharp satire afoot, and the very fusion of horror and comedy is provocative in itself. <i>Heathers</i> remains a kind of benchmark in contemporary cinema for bringing surreal intelligence into Hollywood films. <I>--Tom Keogh</I>
Viewer Reviews
Watching "The Truth About Cats and Dogs" director Michael Lehmann's audaciously abrasive comedy "Heathers" with Winona Ryder and Christian Slater is like spiking your morning orange juice with Drano. Although the unsavory shenanigans of Ryder and Slater are rather morbid and mean-spirited, the victims of their pranks fully deserve the consequences. No, audiences who adored John Hughes' delightful teen angst comedies would probably find it a supreme challenge to sit through this trenchant, traumatic tale. The same applies for uptight religious fanatics and self-conscious prudes without a sick sense of humor. Anybody that has ever suffered at the hands of snobbish people or bullies will relish this film thoroughly and ultimately want to add it to their film collection. Generally, most critics cite the Leonardo DiCaprio drama "The Basketball Diaries" as the stimulus for the dreadful Columbine high school massacre. In retrospect, "Heathers" surpasses "The Basketball Diaries" as a most likely candidate for the movie that triggered the shooting rampage that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold launched back in April 1999 as a result of the social cliques, subcultures, and bullying that pervaded their Colorado-based high school.
"Heathers" takes place at Westerburg High School in Sherwood, Ohio, where fashion-minded Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder of "Lost Souls") tries to fit in with three vain and vicious vixens all of whom share the same first name Heather: Heather Chandler (Kim Walker of "Say Anything"), Heather Duke (Shannen Doherty of "Mall Rats") and Heather McNamara (Lisanne Falk of "Suicide Kings"), that reserve nothing but venom for all that cross their paths. Veronica comes from a well-to-do but rather dysfunctional family, too. When her father (William Cort) wonders aloud why he reads spy novels and smokes cigarettes, Veronica reminds him that he is an "idiot." Strangely, while she lacks the cruelty that drives the Heathers, Veronica has a conscience and a kind word for most people, so she seems rather out-of-place with this terrible triumvirate. Indeed, she seems like a considerate Nazi that follows orders. The Heathers are grooming her and they use her uncanny ability to forge letters. For their first prank, Chandler coerces Veronica into forging a note from a jock to a Martha 'Dumptruck' Dunnstock (Carrie Lynn of "Disturbed"), a short, fat, ugly girl. While the Heathers and Veronica are up to these antics, Jason J.D. Dean (Christian Slater of "True Romance") watches this spectacle from the corner of the lunchroom. Dressed in a long, black coat, J.D. wears a squinty-eyed expression and delivers each line with a Jack Nicholson-esquire accent. Not only does J.D. attract Veronica's interest, but he also draws the attention of two letter-jacketed jocks, Ram Sweeney (Patrick Labyorteaux of "Ghoulies III") and Peter Dawson (Jeremy Applegate of "The Cable Guy"), who try to harass him. J.D. rises and pulls a pistol and shoots them. Later, we learn that he had loaded blanks in his gun.
"Heathers" was scenarist Daniel Waters' first screenplay. He went on to write "Hudson Hawk," "Demolition Man," and "Batman Returns." Waters' script drips with sarcasm galore. Look at the "Heathers" home page on IMDb.COM for these memorable barbs. Anyway, Lehmann and he skewer themes like teen suicide and peer pressure without a qualm. Audiences that cringe at the frequent usage of the F-word and the S-word are hereby warned. Eventually, Veronica joins forces with J.D., a loner who has spent his life moving around wherever his father's jobs take him in the construction industry. Like Veronica, J.D. enjoys a witty, irreverent relationship with his dad. Revealing anything else about this absolutely brilliant but politically incorrect chronicle would dilute its impact. Prepare yourself to be entertained and enlightened by one of the more clever example of the 1980s. Sadly, the careers of both Winona Ryder and Christian Slater lost them impact in the late 1999s. She got into trouble for shoplifting, while Slater repeatedly chose bad movies and eventually found himself in straight-to-video schlock with occasional exceptions like John Woo's "Windtalkers." Director Michael Lehmann helmed a couple of winners like "The Truth About Cats and Dogs" and the goofy "Airheads," but he has confined himself since to television. Nevertheless, "Heathers" remains a groundbreaking film that can be watch repeatedly.
Of course, the dark side of this film is that could be charged with creating the kind of moronic, anti-social imbeciles who engineered the Columbine massacre. And you know in our society, we always have to find a scapegoat--like a great movie--to blame what went wrong rather than the parents, administrators, and students that forged those monster.
Back To Top
|
Heathers
Available from Amazon
|
|
NOTICE: All product prices, availability, and specifications
are subject to verification by their respective retailers.
Copyright © 2009, Dominant Systems Corporation
info@HowlingVideo.com
Privacy Policy
Last Modified : 1-7-2009
|
