Review of Better Off Dead... (1985) by Marlan M — 22 Apr 2009

I probably would have liked this film a lot more if I had actually seen it in 1985 as a 16 year old. I saw most of the other teen flicks of that year (Weird Science, The Sure Thing, The Breakfast Club, Teen Wolf, quite a year for teen movies), even though I was in New Guinea at the time, so I"m not sure how I missed this one.

But like all of those movies, Better off Dead just don't have the same impact when you are 40 in 2009 as it would on a 16 year old in 1985. It's quirky, but not quite quirky enough to be memorable. Dark, but not quite dark enough to have an impact. Thie film just doesn't have the weirdness factor to be a cult classic, or the quality and timelessness to be a conventional one.