Heathers (1988)

A girl who half-heartedly tries to be part of the "in crowd" of her school meets a rebel who teaches her a more devious way to play social politics; killing the popular kids.

Director:

Michael Lehmann

Writer:

Daniel Waters

Stars:

Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty

3 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Winona Ryder	...	Veronica
Christian Slater	...	J.D.
Shannen Doherty	...	Heather Duke
Lisanne Falk	...	Heather McNamara
Kim Walker	...	Heather Chandler
Penelope Milford	...	Pauline Fleming
Glenn Shadix	...	Father Ripper
Lance Fenton	...	Kurt Kelly
Patrick Labyorteaux	...	Ram
Jeremy Applegate	...	Peter Dawson
Jon Shear	...	Rodney (as Jon Matthews)
Carrie Lynn	...	Martha 'Dumptruck' Dunnstock
Phill Lewis	...	Dennis
Renée Estevez	...	Betty Finn (as Reneé Estevez)
John Zarchen	...	Country Club Keith

Storyline

A regular girl, Veronica, tries to survive the social jungle of high school by sticking with the three most popular girls at school who are all called Heather. As she meets a sociopath named JD, her life spirals into a continuous cycle of hate, unintentional murder and indifference, as she exacts revenge on her enemies, also known as her best friends.

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Plot Keywords:

heather | clique | high school | suicide | sociopath | 

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Taglines:

Best friends, social trends and occasional murder.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 March 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fatal Game

Filming Locations:

Church of the Angels - 1100 Avenue 64, Pasadena, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$1,108,462 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New World Pictures, Cinemarque Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Christian Slater has stated that his performance was heavily inspired by Jack Nicholson. He claims that he wrote a letter to Nicholson asking him to watch the film but did not receive an answer.

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Goofs

After exiting the restroom and entering the cafeteria, Heather #1 is holding the red lunch poll clipboard. Heather #1 is still holding it when Veronica starts walking towards JD (and you can see both Veronica's hands are empty), but when Veronica arrives and asks JD the question, Veronica magically has the clipboard.

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Quotes

J.D.: I knew that loose was too noose... uh... noose too loose...

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Connections

Referenced in Fetching Cody (2005)

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Soundtracks

Que Sera, Sera
Written by Jay Livingston & Ray Evans
Performed by Sly and the Family Stone

User Reviews

so VERY!!!

Winona Ryder, back when she only used to steal movie scenes, plays Veronica Sawyer, a girl sick of being a lackey to the "Heathers" which is the cool girls clique. She meets J.D (Christian Slater), a deeply troubled young man who's quick to resort to violence (So Christian was PERFECT for the part). This film is what every dark comedy should seek to be. Biting, vicious, mean, and utterly hilarious. The 80's had so many good movies and this stands among the best. The funny thing is that if they stuck to their guns and kept the original ending as scripted it would've been even better, but that's just a minor nitpick. So the next time a teeny-bopper starts fawning over how "great" and "true to life" "Mean Girls" was, give them a copy of this and show them a REAL movie.

Anchor Bay S.E. DVD Extras: Audio commentary with director Michael Lehmann, producer Denise Di Novi and writer Daniel Waters ; "Swatch Dogs and Diet Coke Heads" documentary (30mins); Screenplay excerpt: original ending; Talent biogs; and Theatrical Trailer

My Grade: A+