Review of Heathers (1989) by Arnold K — 15 Mar 2012

The movie starts simple enough, a bunch of high school girls in the cafeteria playing horrible pranks on innocent girls, just for laughs. However, it takes a quick dark turn, someone pulls a gun out and shoots two guys (luckily blanks) and quickly someone else gets killed. When it started off I thought maybe this was all in the head of the heroine, but boy am I wrong. As the movie progresses it becomes darker, but it retains it humor even in the more gruesome scenes. It becomes a movie about how society has one general leader and no matter how many times you kill this leader a new one grows in its place like a hydra. The film takes about the seriousness of suicide and pokes fun at how people react to it. It is a bold movie and the payoffs are well worth it. The film becomes a satire for our society in a high school setting.

In the beginning I was a little disturbed when the movie took its dark turn, but when I caught on to what it was about, I was enjoying it very much. The director does a great job of creating the tension, but not forgetting the humor. The script is incredibly smart and it never feels as though as the movie is preachy or talking down to its audience. While it loses what its trying to in the middle and right before the climax, it rounds itself up fairly well near the end. I was creeped out by the movie towards the end and well after it was over.

The characters are all lively and they poke fun at figures n society. From hippies, to rebels, to people who think they are better than everyone, to the average man, "Heathers" is filled relateable and colorful characters. Christian Slater steals the show though, JD, a psychotic rebel that only desires love. Fairly layered and his performance sent chills down my spine, even after the film was over. Winona Ryder does a good, job trying to match Slater.

Overall, "Heathers" is a great societal satire. With colorful character and spine tingling moments. The director does a great job of creating eerie feel and the script is just fantastic. Music is well used and adds to the whole creepy vibe. I give it, a very strong 4/5, great script, well acted, and really deep.

I highly recommend people check this movie out. It is a very good movie and it has so many layers that you wouldn't expect. I was surprised by the twists and turns the movie took and that rarely happens for me where I don't see something coming. Also if your a fan of "Fight Club" I couldn't help, but notice the similarities in tone and theme. It felt as "Fight Club" borrowed a lot from "Heather." Another movie that resembles and feels like it borrowed things from "Heathers" is "World's Greatest Dad.".

"Muy Caliente".