DVD Review - Heathers (Out This Week)

HEATHERS, the classic cult teen angst movie returns in a 2-disc DVD set June 30th.

Included is a brand new documentary featuring interviews with writer, director and producer of the film.

Click below for film review and more details on the special edition DVD set.

The start of HEATHERS with the Doris Day song “Que Sera Sera” with an extended one act opening in the school cafeteria that introduces all its characters before ending literally in a bang (JD’s gun) promises the film to be a wicked satire on high school.  And the film delivers from the very start.

HEATHERS centres on Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder) who has established her important position in Westerburg High’s most impenetrable and bitchy social clique.  The group, all the members who happen to be called Heather, do the normal like humiliate others and look cool.  When a new kid, JD (Christian Slater doing his Jack Nicholson number from start to finish) enters, all hell, in the form of murder and death breaks lose.

Director Michael Lehman and writer Dan Waters have fashioned a school fantasy in nightmare mode.  There are lots of choice dialogue lines (example: My life is not perfect – I hate all my friends) to quote here.  Still, HEATHERS is down to earth dealing with guilt, obsession and escape.
What HEATHERS brilliantly achieves, which few movies do, is making the un-cool (example: the character Betty) cool and the cool un-cool (the HEATHERS clique).  HEATHERS is a basic good versus evil story done in the guise of the opposite in which the audience is misled to think that murder and bombings are ok. 

Time has come a long way – 20 years – since HEATHERS was initially released.  Certain scenes would probably not be included if the film were made today, such as the extreme ***censored***-phobic dialogue.  The film is not also without flaws.  All the adults, Veronica’s parents being the prime case in point, are treated as naïve or brainless, though to the writer’s credit, it could be argued that the film is looking primarily from the teens’ points of view.

HEATHERS paved the way for other successful cruel teen black comedies like SAVED, MEAN GIRLS and even JUNO.  The 20th High School Renunion Edition 2-DVD set makes a welcome collector’s item.

The 2 DVD set comes with
- a remastered feature presentation
- a NEW Return to Westerberg High documentary
This part contains candid interviews with the writer, director and producer
- Swatch Dogs and Diet Coke Heads documentary
- Theatrical trailer
- Original ending excerpt
- Audi commentary with writer, director and producer
and trailers of films with similar black themes released by AnchorBay.