Heathers (1989)

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Veronica mingles with Heather I, II and III to be as popular as them, even though she hates them. She hates them enough to wish they were dead, but she would never want to be their cause of death though. When she starts dating Jason Dean, however, she finds herself involved in the murdering of most of her enemies, covered up as suicides. (imdb)

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Directed By: Michael Lehmann

Written By: Daniel Waters

Starring: Christian Slater, Winona Ryder, Shannen Doherty, Glenn Shadix, Renée Estevez, Patrick Labyorteaux, Penelope Milford, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, Lance Fenton

Genres: Comedy, Crime

Franchise: Heathers

Country: USA

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Heathers belongs to 43 collections

1. Psychotronic Film and Video Guides (collaborative: moderated by Gregzilla - 40 stars)

2. Empire's 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time (public: Ross - 36 stars)

3. New York Times' The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made (collaborative: moderated by theficionado - 32 stars)

4. Black Comedy (collaborative: moderated by Dorkovsky - 30 stars)

5. The Guardian's 1000 films to see before you die (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 30 stars)

6. Netflix Instant (collaborative: moderated by somnivore - 29 stars)

7. Passed the Bechdel Test (collaborative: moderated by geohawk - 29 stars)

8. Onion AV Club: The New Cult Canon (collaborative: moderated by theficionado - 28 stars)

9. Female protagonist (collaborative: moderated by djross - 25 stars)

10. IMDb Top 250 Complete (collaborative: moderated by Jorg - 23 stars)

11. Women+ (collaborative: moderated by paulofilmo - 18 stars)

12. Edgar Wright 1000 Favorite Movies (Aug 2016) (collaborative: moderated by Aron Ericson - 17 stars)

13. Directorial debut (collaborative: moderated by djross - 16 stars)

14. B-Movie (collaborative - 15 stars)

15. Films available in HD (collaborative: moderated by kubricksucks - 13 stars)

16. Cinema Discusso Yearly Consensus (2008) (public: PeaceAnarchy - 10 stars)

17. Netflix USA (public: mpowell - 8 stars)

18. Teen Angst (collaborative - 7 stars)

19. High School (collaborative: moderated by Dorkovsky - 5 stars)

20. Top 3000 movies with the most votes on IMDb (public: fanfic - 5 stars)

21. Dream/Fantasy/Hallucination Sequence (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 4 stars)

22. Horror comedies (collaborative - 4 stars)

23. Adolescents And Their Descent Into Darkness (collaborative - 2 stars)

24. Vaporwave aesthetics (collaborative: moderated by Ghalea - 2 stars)

25. Netflix Watch Instantly (public: dgeiser13 - 2 stars)

26. mwgerb's Netflix Instant Queue (public: mwgerb - 2 stars)

27. Films adapted to Stage Musicals (collaborative: moderated by Xanadont - 1 star)

28. multiple endings (collaborative: moderated by Daria - 1 star)

29. Edgar Allan Poe Awards: Best Motion Picture (public: sianaa - 1 star)

30. Ratings (collaborative: moderated by cheapthrills)

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34. High School Satire (public: Vesey)

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TCI | Percentile | Date Rated | # Stars (Reviews)

Stars	User	Rating
8	TimeCapsule	73 _70th
While its impact on future high school films and its status as a cult classic are well supported, something about the movie just keeps me from really loving it, and I can't exactly put my finger on why. Despite being instantly quotable and fairly funny throughout, with an original dark comedic take on the social conditioning program known as high school, something about the writing and direction makes the overall thing kind of clunky. However, it's still well worth the watch.
7	mattburgess	78 _83rd
Clearly the best teen movie ever, a big "fuck you" to those obnoxious John Hughes protagonists. All the 80s excess doesn't merely date the film it adds a weird, dream like bent with the garish colours, high shoulder pads and cheesy synths at odds with its pitch black heart.
6	Alex Watkins	6 _98th
Manages to caustically satirize its assorted targets (jocks and queen bees, of course, but also disaffected teens, dime-store rebels, oblivious parents, et al) while avoiding the pitfall of cheap cynicism. It's like the proto-Fight Club in its portrait of misdirected angst, but with a feminine bent. Winona is a perfect unattainable everywoman, Slater pulls off a careful balance of creepy yet alluring, and the slang is the best around ("So very" needs to make a comeback yesterday).
5	Pickpocket	5 _44th
I was expecting better with all the good reviews I saw but it turns out this movie is just average. Winona is so hot in this movie but Christian Slater is such a douche bag that every scene he was in I was cringing.
5	janus	80 _77th
Fast-paced, clever, dark teen comedy with oodles of quotables delivered by a great cast.
5	mwgerb	35 _20th
The message isn't as deep as it wants to be (it isn't really deep at all, actually), and the characters are all pretty unlikable, but the fact that this fully commits to its ridiculous black humor premise did win over some real laughs. Also, the reviews comparing Christian Slater to a young Jack Nicholson aren't complimentary; he literally seems like he's doing a weird mimic of Nicholson's cadence, and it's kind of off-putting.
5	Yiannos	48 _19th
Heathers' reputation as a smart teen satire is lost on me. It was a promising idea, but the script manages to somehow be simultaneously underwritten and overwritten. Plot and character development are seriously lacking, and the dialogue tries way too hard to be 'edgy' and 'cool'. Slater's angst filled monologues reek of pseudo-rebellion and are mostly cringeworthy, and Lehmann's tone is lazily misanthropic. It never feels truly subversive because it's all cartoon surface.
5	Hawkins	64 _33rd
I once attempted cow-tipping only to be dumbstruck upon finding that cows actually sleep lying down, which seems obvious in hindsight. Between that and quicksand I'm just not sure I can trust Hollywood anymore.
4	juntakinte99	85 _73rd
After almost 10 years of sickly-sweet John Hughes movies involving high schoolers facing benign obstacles, this film was welcome. Slater really hit home his sullen, brooding teenager vibe and the dark humor has a great way of going from horror to acceptance--as best exemplified in the jock funeral sequence. Still, laughing at some jokes could make you feel bad once you think about it. Which, in a way, makes it exactly like high school. Well done, and a perfect double bill with Scream.
3	Kojiless	70 _75th
Ah, a movie from the days when Slater was still trying to be Jack Nicholson...
3	BeardMilk	79 _39th
Pretty adequate dark comedy whose statement isn't as meaningful as it thinks it is.
3	Judge Holden	5 _69th
"School's canceled today cause they killed themselves in a repressed, homosexual, suicide pact!"
3	Paxton	71 _68th
I don't patronize bunny rabbits!
2	x-human	80 _66th
Dark but not quite dark enough, leaving something to be desired. Too much cleverness was spent on the dialogue but not on the plot which is different but not necessarily better for it. Something that probably could have been a lot more.
2	djross	30 _13th
Completely uninteresting movie. People see qualities where there are none. One of many examples where over-praise of a debut feature leads to a thoroughly mediocre career.
2	nuotio	60 _67th
A lot darker than I remembered, and most likely it wouldn't get made these days. Films like "Mean Girls" are clearly inspired by it, but they are a lot nicer and only flirting with darker issues, while "Heathers" really goes deeper. The style reminds me of John Waters mixed with Tim Burton. Slater plays a charismatic sociopath and Ryder is fine as well. The film looses some steam before the ending, but it should still be counted as one of the most unique teen films of all time.
2	Barthalen	63 _42nd
A quirky and dark comedy with some interesting ideas and decent dialogue. Most concepts just didn't really gel together all that well. Goes from morbid to over the top too easily.
2	Alon Reter	65 _57th
Oddly paced and mean spirited. I'm really not sure what to think about it. I guess I tend to fall for highschool films, but there was something depressing here. It has some sort of sociopathic/moralistic charm, though, and the style is usually great. I still liked Clueless more - it's less "dark" and extreme but the characters are actually likable and the whole thing is enjoyable, while Heathers pretty much forces you to hate everyone and everything. Yes, it includes you, Winona and Christian.
2	eCitizen	30 _18th
Terrible stupid script. Ridiculous acting. Nonsensical plot. Asinine one liners are forced in and awkward. Christian Slater's psycho portrayal was unconvincing. All of the supporting cast are campy amateurs. Erratic pacing. Lame 80's music. Cheap special effects. Poor camera work. Laughable makeup. The directing was idiotic and childish. There is nothing much good about this except for seeing the beautiful young Winona Ryder, and the outdated commentary on high school social hierarchies.
2	hsncrspywl	86 _79th
It's great to see a film so ahead of it's time that when the modern-day equivalent (in the form of Mean Girls) was released it seems like a tame rehash of this. Incredibly dark but yet still very cynical and very funny, tied down by some good (and age-appropriate) performances from Ryder and Slater. Excellent use of colour and costume design too to designate roles and hierarchies, and fantastic direction and cinematography too - so much is said with small camera moves and repetition. Fantastic.
2	Quintonjamin	50 _36th
None of the characters were really compelling and the ending felt like it thought it was deep, but it really wasn't. It has a couple good laughs, though.
1	spoonerspot	89 _96th
Winona Ryder and Christian Slater live out every middle class high schooler's fantasy
1	TheDenizen	95 _98th
Best comedy about teen suicide ever. "I love my dead gay son" and "Fuck me gently with a chainsaw" are both immortal quotes.
1	Ytadel	8 _93rd
The darker and more violent mother of Mean Girls, this is a thrillingly jet-black high school comedy that would definitely not fly in these post-Columbine / Georgia Tech days, what with the school shooting being played for comedy and all. Love it. Also, teenage Winona Ryder makes me think the wrong thing.
1	Vince Leo (Qwipster's Movie Reviews)	72 _65th
Unlike previous teen films, this wasn't about trying to do whatever one could to become the popular girl or guy in school -- it was a complete rejection of the notion of popularity through conformity. [Full Review]
1	Nathan S	3 _45th
This movie wouldn't have a chance in hell of being made today. At least not with this absurdist inclination: a subversion of the Bonnie and Clyde ethos, and a dark satire of personality cults and high school cliques. It's all very funny, though I must say Christian Slater's cheap Jack Nicholson impersonation wears on my nerves.
1	twincinema	60 _36th
Christian Slater doing his best Jack Nicholson impression.
1	caiman	69 _34th
Nothing with this film clicked with me. I suppose the "ant-John Hughes" direction was interesting, but the motivations, the attitudes, the corny lingo and the overall message of the movie just didn't meld together to make me like this very much.
1	vesupria	8 _88th
Veronica is a prisoner of her own fantasy. She writes of death in her diary, but in reality all that remains is a perpetual stasis where she has no control. She's a passenger of someone else's desires. Life is a cruel mirror of what she wants. This is until JD arrives - together they possess a destructive chemistry against established order. Even so, she is still caged, this time by JD's rebellious social alienation. A great black comedy about the twilight zone between childhood and adulthood.
1	Shephard	60 _53rd
Snarky and fun. Very dated, but entertaining.
1	JakeAesthete	51 _48th
Stylized, ironic comedy about a beautiful Jewish high school girl who falls in love with a brooding outsider who wants to blow up buildings and has a strange relationship with his father... wait, wait, hold on a minute this isn't Trust?
1	chemical404	59 _55th
High school comedy with a dark twist. One of those movies I knew of for ages but was saving watching them for the right time. I think I'm way too late with this one though. The sardonic satire about high school life would probably work better if it was still relevant for me. Enjoyable style, good acting, but the plot wasn't very interesting for me.
1	Cinema_Asia	70 _56th
It is often weighed down by its own heavy handed social satire. However, it is also prophetic in some ways when it comes to the dark descent of America's youth. The flaw of this film is that it doesn't delve into the issues much more than with standard depictions of 80's social cliques. Even though this film predicted the school blood bath what was to come it failed to understand the underlying reasons. Watching a young Ryder and Slater act is a treat but at face value it is a shallow film.
1	redacted	62 _32nd
Greetings and salutations, Heathers is a film that just keeps escalating and as it does, it stumbles further and further into absurdity until it rivals a 1989 - Hobo With a Shotgun (what's your damage?). We explore teen angst, cliques, popularity, bleach poisoning, gay-venge & extreme lack of consequence.
1	Matthew Parkinson (CineMarter)	70 _77th
A very dark comedy that deconstructs high school cliques in a way that is rarely seen. Heathers is a lot of fun and served as an inspiration to so many high school movies that followed.
1	glumpy_99	51 _10th
Unpleasantly abrasive and nihilistic satire gets some points for turning the sensibilities of the typical John Hughes teen comedy on its head - but it's difficult to ascertain what the point of the film is, as Ryder's character never comes into focus, and the strange, stilted performances generally make it difficult to connect with the baseline "reality" of the situation. Slater is by far the highlight (doing his best Nicholson) and his spirited, charismatic performance is by far the highpoint.
1	auhasarderik	5 _23rd
Stupid, sick and wears "dark comedy" as fashionable makeup.
1	guy piranha	69 _61st
good and bad are pretty balanced, e.g. winona ryder is about as stunning as christian slater is irritating. the plot is appealing, but the pacing is off. the main characters are interesting, but lack depth. it feels more like a first draft of a movie that's going to be good. however, the underlying themes ring true, there's signature 80s flair and a sweet little message on top. and which geek didn't at one point picture shooting some jock in the face?
1	SpikyCactus	80 _78th
Top badass moment? As a gardener I was looking forward to a documentary about the UK's 6 native species of heather, but instead got confronted with a film about posh girls playing croquet. I switched off immediately, melted the DVD in my toaster, wrote a scathing review on Amazon about how crap the site is for not warning me about the content, and then ordered a new toaster from it to replace my recently broken one. No cats, chainsaws or decapitations, but a chainsaw does get a mention (winces).
1	Hofschneider	82 _72nd
Winona Ryder is such a bad actress and nobody (including me) cares.
1	Trooth	74 _67th
"Whether to kill yourself or not is one of the most important decisions a teenager can make." This movie was full of memorable dialogue, and having seen it for the first time 30 years after release, I'm realizing that several movies I've seen since have been weak imitations.
1	brandons	88 _86th
Dark, cynical, and subversive, Heathers gently applies a chainsaw to the conventions of the high school movie - changing the game for teen comedies to follow.
1	JSchlansky	74 _64th
The social commentary is laughable, but thankfully, so are the jokes
1	amazedemon	64 _50th
Heathers darkly amuses as it deconstructs high school stereotypes. Ryder is good as the aloof Veronica, who after getting her wish of eliminating certain classmates comes to the realisation that it's a pointless venture that is to no avail. There are insightful moments like her parents pointing out her hypocrisy over being treated like an adult; as well as silly ones surrounding the nature of the murders, and the film's ability to balance the two makes it enjoyable despite its many flaws.
1	simsorut	0 _0th
Did you have a brain tumor for breakfast?
1	nobamba	70 _76th
So silly and teen angsty but I think that was the point. The social messaging was very blunt. Fav scene: happy ending
1	shinySinger	71 _30th
OG Mean Girls. I like more the musical tho.
1	JPFerguson	50 _27th
Not nearly as clever or transgressive as its fans claim it to be. However, there is no doubt that it is entertaining, mostly due to Waters' razor sharp writing (lots of memorable lines and zingers).

Average Percentile 58.76% from 3548 Ratings