Michael Lehmann's film 'Heathers' is a hard one to rate. It is a very dark comedy that wouldn't be funny at all if it weren't for little moments and certain characters. Much of the humor, as seen by the writers, is geared towards older teen-agers but there are moments that are very much for the adults; like the cynical teachers smoking in the meeting room and the sinister minister at the various funerals, Heather No. 3 dabbing her forehead from water at the holy fount in the church, and the quarterback's father who says "I love my dead gay son." I remember when this film was released in 1989 and it caused a sensation with the industry cognoscenti in West Hollywood and became an instant cult movie. Whether it is now a classic cult film is questionable.
Certainly Winona Ryder and Christian Slater went on to great careers and it's good to see them here so young and fresh and, especially in Slater's case, uninhibited in his acting and very impressive as such.
Shannen Doherty, as Heather No. 2, was very new on the scene as well and she is probably the funniest of the leads, coming into her own after Heather No. 1 is murdered and Doherty takes over the mantel of the most popular girl at Westerberg High School.
The parents are all portrayed as near idiots which fits the view of most 16 year olds. Every clichéd group of students is on display here. The Heathers and Veronica, the beautiful girls who rule the roost, the nerds (who are very funny), the dumpy and dull girls and the jocks.
The film takes aim at all of these entities and sets out to destroy the popular students and the jocks. Christian Slater, the outsider, has come to town and like Jehovah sets off on a killing spree of Biblical proportions, using the disgruntled Veronica (Ryder) to innocently, at first, help him.
The movie basically is mocking the over-emotionalism of young people, the phony hypocrisy of the teachers and the comatose indifference of parents. It hits bull's eyes in all three of these intentions.
But the whole leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, even with the strangely happy and surreal ending with the change of order coming about as Veronica takes over the mantel of most popular girl and befriends the overweight and friendless Martha, a nice bit of understated comedy played by Carrie Lynn who doesn't speak a single line until the very end, when she gets the last words in the movie.
'Heathers' not as clever as it once seemed and I can't rate it all that high as comedy, and as satire it really is too dark and disturbing to be really funny. It has a bitterness and cynicism that was rather a new thing in teen films at the time, and has spawned a number of copycat movies and TV shows.
But the movie has a strange impact, like a spiked date-rape drink, followed by a corn nut chaser to blow all the poison out of the system. And it certainly lingers in the memory, especially the opening and closing versions of the song 'Che sera sera'.
It's a good solid entertainment for younger adults and older teens but it's not one of the great dark comedies or cult classics that the promoters told us it was when it was released.
Certainly Winona Ryder and Christian Slater went on to great careers and it's good to see them here so young and fresh and, especially in Slater's case, uninhibited in his acting and very impressive as such.
Shannen Doherty, as Heather No. 2, was very new on the scene as well and she is probably the funniest of the leads, coming into her own after Heather No. 1 is murdered and Doherty takes over the mantel of the most popular girl at Westerberg High School.
The parents are all portrayed as near idiots which fits the view of most 16 year olds. Every clichéd group of students is on display here. The Heathers and Veronica, the beautiful girls who rule the roost, the nerds (who are very funny), the dumpy and dull girls and the jocks.
The film takes aim at all of these entities and sets out to destroy the popular students and the jocks. Christian Slater, the outsider, has come to town and like Jehovah sets off on a killing spree of Biblical proportions, using the disgruntled Veronica (Ryder) to innocently, at first, help him.
The movie basically is mocking the over-emotionalism of young people, the phony hypocrisy of the teachers and the comatose indifference of parents. It hits bull's eyes in all three of these intentions.
But the whole leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, even with the strangely happy and surreal ending with the change of order coming about as Veronica takes over the mantel of most popular girl and befriends the overweight and friendless Martha, a nice bit of understated comedy played by Carrie Lynn who doesn't speak a single line until the very end, when she gets the last words in the movie.
'Heathers' not as clever as it once seemed and I can't rate it all that high as comedy, and as satire it really is too dark and disturbing to be really funny. It has a bitterness and cynicism that was rather a new thing in teen films at the time, and has spawned a number of copycat movies and TV shows.
But the movie has a strange impact, like a spiked date-rape drink, followed by a corn nut chaser to blow all the poison out of the system. And it certainly lingers in the memory, especially the opening and closing versions of the song 'Che sera sera'.
It's a good solid entertainment for younger adults and older teens but it's not one of the great dark comedies or cult classics that the promoters told us it was when it was released.