Heathers (1989)

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Directed by Michael Lehmann.

Starring Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Kim Walker.

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A deliciously nasty black comedy, Heathers is set at a cliquish high school in Ohio. The most exclusive of those cliques is the Heathers, comprised of the prettiest and most popular girls in town. The group's leader is the manipulative Kim Walker, who orchestrates the humiliation of anyone who fails to meet her standards. Eventually, Heathers member Winona Ryder begins to exhibit a conscience; together with her hardcase boyfriend Christian Slater, Ryder plots to avenge all the unfortunate victims of the group. Before long, Heather (Kim Walker) ends up dead along with Kurt and Ram, with poignant suicide notes posted near their bodies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

Sex and Death 101 - Review
by mercurial in a filmblog

loved it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"With divine providence arriving neatly as an email in his inbox, Roderick Blank (Simon Baker) soon discovers that the powers that be have clued him into his future sexual proclivities and provided a list with the names of every person he will have sex with for the rest of his life. Scorned by a fetishisticly minded, abusive husband, Death Nell (Winona Ryder) becomes a champion of womanhood and embraces her own sadistic qualities as she leads the crusade / death march against those penis-wielding individuals that dare to scoff at the almighty power of the vagina. Together they amass a body count of victims (his orgasmic, hers comatose; i.e. Sex and Death 101) in this all too overwhelming slapstick, yet bordering romantic, comedy suffused with bits of erotica and horror that ultimately results in an putrid amalgam almost-could-have-been memorable film by that guy that made Heathers. " [More]

Re:TOP 5 MOVIES TO TEACH AN ALI ...
by chuggalug88 in Filmgaming

hasn't rated it.

"1. Dr Strangelove - it shows how loveably stupid and self-destructive we are (lesson 1 - DEATH) 2. The Apartment - it shows how stupidly loveable and self-destructive we all are (lesson 2 -SEX) 3. Fight Club - it shows how we want to be loveable yet self-destructive but also "carved outa wood" (lesson 3 - MEN) 4. Heathers - because this movie contains everything you need to know about humanity (lesson 4 - WOMEN) 5. Starman - well, because it's a movie about an alien trying to understand earth. Sort of like the "Earth for total idoits" guide. (lesson 5 - JEFF BRIDGES) " [More]

Re:Suburban Nightmare
by SkyPilot in Serialicious

hasn't rated it.

"I didn't see the Shia LaBeouf-in-a-suburb remake of Rear Window, it's called disturbia, but I thought that was an interesting twist. No one's going to believe a sixteen-year-old delinquent on house arrest. " [More]

Suburban Nightmare
by mercurial in Serialicious

loved it.

"Some of the scariest, and funniest, movies featuring serial killers have been those located in the "normal" surroundings of suburbia. Here's my tentative list: 1.) Scream - Butchering buxom high-schoolers for their lack of knowledge of horror movie trivia. Fun times. 2.) Serial Mom - Kathleen Turner as a June Cleaver-esque suburban housewife that just so happens to be obsessed with serial killers and begins her own fun-filled foray into the field she's so fascinated with. 3.) The 'Burbs - Suburban gossip mongers believe their new neighbors are serial killers. Cameo by Corey Feldman makes this a winner. 4.) Mr. Brooks - Respected community man moonlights as a psychopath. Yay. 5.) Freeway - Keifer Sutherland escapes the monotony of his suburban life and perfect wife (played amazingly by Brooke Shields) by crusing the freeway for nubile young girls to terrorize. Finding out what's in the man's shed is more than reason enough to watch the film. 6.) Arsenic and Old Lace - Two of the swe ... " [More]

Trailer of the Day: Sex and Dea ...
by SpoutBlog in SpoutBlog on spout.com

hasn't rated it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Never mind the fact that Sex and Death 101 reunites Heathers screenwriter Daniel Waters with that film’s star, Winona Ryder. After Ford Fairlane, Hudson Hawk, Batman Returns and Demolition Man (all movies I enjoy, yet on a much, much lower level), I’m not holding my breath. Heathers was a great, brilliant fluke or flash of genius, and I’m fine with its strengths not being repeated here or ever. The fact that it exists on its own makes it that much better. Instead, I’m more excited about seeing Mindy “Natalie from Facts of Life” Cohn in a supporting role, which, at least in the trailer, seems to be quite prominent (by the way, I never knew she voiced “Velma” in so many Scooby-Doo cartoons and video games). As you can see, other than reuniting us with “Natalie”, Sex and Death 101, which Waters also directed, doesn’t appear to have much going for it. However, the film did play at Cannes last year and at the Seattle International Film Festival, where it picked up an award for best dire ... " [More]

"A deliciously nasty black ...
by AlienLazer in AlienLazer Blog

loved it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Oh, yes. That discribes this perfectly. Christian Slater plays the perfact twisted, crazy outcast that will follow you everywhere; and you want him to, but you know better. Okay, maybe YOU know better. LOL! " [More]

Reese & Winona & Motion ...
by SpoutBlog in SpoutBlog on spout.com

hasn't rated it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Is Reese Witherspoon the great untapped comedic talent that David Denby thinks Vince Vaughn has been waiting for? The two stars will face off in a comedy called Four Christmases, which New Line is trying to hustle into production so as to be able to release it in tie for the 2008 holiday season. Anchor Bay has acquired some kind of distribution rights (home video? theatrical? The Variety story is vague) to Sex and Death 101. The film marks the long-awaited re-teaming of Heathers director Daniel Waters with the star of that 1989 film, Winona Ryder. With footage from Beowulf blowing Comic-con crowds away, the effects firm behind that film’s motion-capture technology has landed deals to develop effects for three additional projects, including an animated film about cavemen to be developed by Jon Favreau. Originally posted on:Spoutblog " [More]

Heathers
by sarcastig in As cool as a Fruitstand

liked it.

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"Oh why oh why did I not see this film when I was, say, fourteen or fifteen? I might have truly loved it then, watched it over and over and memorized every line. Now I was merely fascinated by it's bizarro twist and turns and the absurd grandiosity of its ambition. I was laughing out loud at some moments (the whole "eskimo" business is amazing), shaking my head at how far they were pushing the boundaries of logic in others.I don't think any movies get dated as quickly as high school movies. It's the need to differentiate between the popular people and the geeks, I suppose. We have to see who belongs to which group right away, but while geeks look more or less the same throughout the decades, the popular kids go through at least one fad every year. This is so clearly an 80's movie, with the shoulder pads and big hair, it's a little bit of a distraction.But I shouldn't whine. I can't think of any high school movie so deliberately strange and dark, so nasty. The only one in recent memo ... " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

liked it.

A more scathing and trenchant teen movie has rarely been made than Heathers. Packaged and sold as a film about a group of wanna-be Valley Girls, it turned out to be a deadly examination of cliques and teenage vengeance, a black comedy comparable in its own way to Lord of the Flies. Screenwriter Daniel Waters and writer-director Michael Lehmann took audiences by surprise with smart, telling dialogue and a diabolical plot. Playing the only member of an Ohio high school's ruling clique not named Heather, Winona Ryder did much to launch herself into stardom. The film also cemented the bad-girl reputation of TV star Shannen Doherty and featured Christian Slater in his first major starring role. Heathers was too dark to be as popular with mass audiences as it was with many viewers and critics. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Tags: peerpressure , suicide , teenagers , romance , angst
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