Heathers

**Heathers** is a 1988 American black comedy  teen film written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, in both of their respective film debuts. It stars Winona Ryder, Kim Walker, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk and Christian Slater. The film portrays four teenage girls, three of whom are named Heather in a clique at an Ohio high school, whose lives are disrupted by the arrival of a psychotic misanthrope intent on murdering the popular students and staging their deaths as suicides.

Daniel wrote Heathers as a spec script and originally wanted Stanley Kubrick to direct the film, out of admiration for Stanley's own black comedy film, *Dr. Strangelove* Daniel intended for Heathers to contrast the more optimistic teen movies of the era, particularly those written by John Hughes by presenting a realistic depiction of high school imbued with dark satire.

Heathers brought director, Michael and producer, Denise Di Novi the 1990 Independent Spirit Awards for Best First Feature. Daniel also gained recognition for his screenplay, which won a 1990 Edgar Award. Despite high critical praise, the film failed at the box office but later became popular as a cult film. In 2015, it was ranked #5 on the *Entertainment Weekly* list of the "50 Best High School Movies". It was ranked #412 on *Empire'*s list of "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time". Heathers has since been adapted into a musical and a TV series.

## Plot

   Veronica Sawyer is one of the popular girls at Westerburg High School in Sherwood, Ohio. She is part of a popular but feared clique that also consists of three other wealthy and beautiful girls with the same first name, Heather Chandler, Heather Duke and Heather McNamara. She grows tired of them and longs to return to her old life with her "nerdy" friends.

One day, a new student and rebellious outsider J.D. pulls a gun and fires blanks on the jocks Kurt Kelly and Ram Sweeney in response to them bullying him. Veronica observes this and finds herself fascinated. She later attends a frat party with Heather C. After refusing to have sex with a frat boy and vomiting on Heather C., she later vows to destroy her reputation. J.D. shows up at Veronica's house and they end up having sex outside. They express to each other their mutual hatred of Heather C.'s tyranny. The next morning, Veronica and J.D. break into Heather C.'s house. J.D. jokingly puts drain cleaner in a mug with the intention of giving it to Heather C. but Veronica quickly shuts him down. She mixes orange juice and milk together instead as an attempt to make her throw up and get revenge. However, she gets the cups mixed up. J.D. notices this and hands Heather C. the mug with the drain cleaner. She drinks it, crashes through a glass table and dies. Veronica panics but J.D. urges her to forge a dramatic suicide note in Heather C.'s handwriting. The school and community look on Heather C.'s apparent suicide as a tragic decision made by a troubled teenager, making her more worshipped in death than in life. Heather D. soon steps into the role of clique leader and begins wearing a red scrunchie that had belonged to Heather C.

Heather M. convinces Veronica to go with her, Kurt and Ram on a double date, during which the boys end up drunk and pass out in cow manure. The following day, they spread a false rumor about Veronica performing oral sex on them, ruining her reputation. J.D. proposes that she lure them into the woods with the promise to "make the rumors true", then shoot them with nonfatal bullets. J.D. shoots and kills Ram but Veronica misses Kurt, who runs away. J.D. chases Kurt back towards Veronica, who fatally shoots him. J.D. plants materials next to the boys implying that they were “gay” and a note stating the two were lovers participating in a suicide pact. Veronica then realises the bullets were real. At their funeral, the boys are made into martyrs against homophobia. Although she keeps dating J.D., Veronica is increasingly disturbed by his behavior. Martha Dunnstock, an obese student, pins a suicide note to her chest and walks into traffic. She survives but is badly injured and she is mocked for trying to "act like the popular kids". Heather M. calls a radio show one night while Veronica and Heather D. are listening and talks of depression in life, the next day, Heather D. tells the entire school about the radio call. Heather M. attempts to take her life by overdosing in the girls bathroom but she is saved by Veronica. She tells J.D. that she will not participate in any more killings.

J.D. blackmails Heather D. into getting everyone to sign a petition that unbeknownst to her is intended to act as a mass suicide note. Veronica has a nightmare where J.D. kills Heather D. and sees the undead Heather C. at the funeral. She wakes up and writes what appears to be a suicide note in her diary, then stages her suicide for J.D. to see as he climbs into her room with a revolver. Assuming she is dead, J.D. rambles about his intent to kill her, had she not committed suicide and his plan to blow up the school during a pep rally. Veronica reveals to her mother that she is not dead and the next day, she confronts J.D. in the boiler room while he is planting dynamite. She shoots him when he refuses to stop the bombing. As J.D. collapses, his switchblade cuts the wires to the detonator and it stops. Veronica walks out through the pep rally while everyone is cheering. The severely injured J.D. follows her outside with a bomb strapped to his chest, offers a personal eulogy and detonates the bomb. She confronts Heather D., takes the red scrunchie and vows to change the way things are. She then invites Martha to hang out on prom night and watch movies with her. Martha and Veronica head down the hallway while Heather D. watches.

## Cast

* Winona Ryder as Veronica Sawyer

* Christian Slater as J.D.

* Kim Walker as Heather Chandler

* Shannen Doherty as Heather Duke

* Lisanne Falk as Heather McNamara

* Carrie Lynn as Martha Dunnstock

* Lance Fenton as Kurt Kelly

* Patrick Labyorteaux as Ram Sweeney

* Penelope Milford as Ms. Fleming

* Renée Estevez as Betty Finn

* Sherrie Wills as Courtney

* John Zarchen as Keith

* Curtiss Marlowe as Geek

* Andrew Benne as Big Cynic

* Kevin Hardesty as Matt

* Jeremy Applegate as Peter Dawson

* Josh Richman as Clyde

* Bess Meyer as Tracy

* William Cort as Mr. Sawyer

* Jennifer Rhodes as Mrs. Sawyer

* Larry Cox as David

* Kent Stoddard as Brad

* Stuart Mabray as Mr. Hyde

* John Ingle as Mr. Gowan

* Betty Ramey as Mrs. Pope

* Aaron Mendelsohn as Nerd

* Kirk Scott as Big Bud Dean

* Glenn Shadix as Father Ripper

* Jon Shear as Rodney

* Phill Lewis as Dennis

* Mark Bringelson as Officer McCord

* Chuck Lafont as Officer Milner

* Christie Mellor as Squealing Girl

* Mark Carlton as Paul Kelly

* James Trenton as D.J.

* Adrian Drake as Gruff Teacher

## Production

### Development

Daniel Waters wanted his screenplay to be directed by Stanley Kubrick, not only out of admiration for him, but also from a perception that "Stanley was the only person that could get away with a 3-hour film". After a number of failed attempts to get the script to Stanley, Daniel approached director, Michael Lehmann who agreed to helm the film with producer, Denise Di Novi

In the original version of the script, J.D. successfully blows up Westerburg High and the final scene features a surreal prom gathering of all the students in heaven. Executives at New World Pictures agreed to finance the film, but they disliked the dark ending and insisted that it be changed.

Some reviewers have discussed similarities between Heathers and *Massacre At Central High*, a low-budget 1976 film. Heathers screenwriter, Daniel has stated that he had not seen *Massacre At Central High* at the time he wrote Heathers, but that he had read a review of it in Danny Peary's book, Cult Movies and that the earlier film may have been "rattling around somewhere in my subconscious".

### Casting

Many actors and actresses turned down the project because of its dark subject matter. Early choices for Veronica Sawyer were Drew Barrymore, Justine Bateman and Jennifer Connelly, who turned down the role. Winona Ryder, who was 16 at the time of filming and badly wanted the part, begged Daniel to cast her as Veronica. Daniel at first didn't think Winona was pretty enough and Winona herself commented that "at the time, I didn't look that different from my character in *Beetlejuice*. I was very pale. I had blue-black dyed hair. I went to Macy's at the Beverly Center and had them do a makeover on me." Winona's agent was so opposed to her pursuing the role that she got down on her hands and knees to beg her not to take it, warning her that it would ruin her career. Eventually, she was given the role, with Christian Slater being signed to play J.D. shortly thereafter. Christian stated later that he channeled Jack Nicholson in the film.

Heather Graham, then 17 was offered the part of Heather Chandler, but turned it down. Kim Walker, who was dating Christian at the time, was offered the role instead. Heather was then cast as Heather McNamara, but her mother refused to allow her to accept the role, so Lisanne Falk was given the role instead. 17-year-old Shannen Doherty wanted the role of Veronica, but Winona had been cast, so the producers asked her to audition for Heather C. Shannen was more interested in playing Heather Duke and ended up giving an "amazing" reading as Heather D. which secured her the part. The producers wanted her to dye her hair blonde to match the other Heathers, which Shannen refused, so they compromised on her having red hair.

### Filming

Principal photography took place over 33 days in July and August 1988, on a budget of $3 million. Although set in Ohio, filming was done entirely in Los Angeles. Westerburg High School is an amalgam of Corvallis High School, now Bridges Academy in Studio City, Verdugo Hills High School in Tujunga and John Adams Middle School in Santa Monica. The auditorium scenes were shot at Verdugo Hills High and the climactic scene on the stairs was filmed outside John Adams Middle School. The funeral scenes were filmed at Church of the Angels in Pasadena, California, a location used in other media including *Buffy The Vampire Slayer* and *Just Married*.

Michael has called Shannen "a bit of a handful" on set, in part because she objected to the swearing in the script and refused to say some of the more explicit lines. Lisanne stated that Shannen "didn't have much of a sense of humour and she took herself a little seriously" and Denise said "I don't think Shannen really got what Heathers was and that worked for us. She made that character real." When the cast first viewed the film, Shannen ended up running out crying because the film was a dark comedy and not the drama she was expecting.

## Soundtrack

The film uses two versions of the song "Que Sera, Sera", the first by singer Syd Straw and another over the end credits by Sly And The Family Stone. On the film's DVD commentary, Denise mentions that the filmmakers wanted to use the original Doris Day version of the song, but Doris would not lend her name to any project using profanity.

The song "Teenage Suicide" by the fictional band Big Fun was written and produced for the film by musician Don Dixon and performed by the ad hoc group "Big Fun", which consisted of Don, Mitch Easter, Angie Carlson and Marti Jones. The song is included on Don's 1992 greatest hits album, If I'm A Ham, Well You're A Sausage.

The film's electronic score was composed and performed by David Newman and a soundtrack CD was subsequently released.

## Release

### Critical reception and box office failure

The film was considered a flop when it was released, earning $177,247 in its opening weekend and ultimately grossing $1.1 million in the United States over five weeks. At the time of its release, Desson Thomson of *The Washington Post* wrote that the film "may be the nastiest, cruelest fun you can have without actually having to study law or gird leather products. If movies were food, Heathers would be a cynic's chocolate binge". Roger Ebert gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4 and wrote that the film "is a morbid comedy about peer pressure in high school, about teenage suicide and about the deadliness of cliques that not only exclude but also maim and kill".

### Cult success and subsequent home media

New World Video released Heathers on VHS and LaserDisc in 1989 and it developed a cult following after being unsuccessful at the box office. It was released again on LaserDisc on September 16th, 1996 as a Widescreen Edition digitally transferred from Trans Atlantic Pictures's interpositive print under the supervision of cinematographer Francis Kenny. The sound was mastered from the magnetic sound elements. The film was then first released on DVD on March 30th, 1999 in a bare-bones edition. In 2001, a multi-region special edition THX DVD was released from Anchor Bay Entertainment in Dolby Digital 5.1. The DVD was released in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe and achieved high sales. Each release included a different front cover featuring Veronica Sawyer, J.D., Heather Chandler, Heather Duke and Heather McNamara.

In 2004, a limited edition DVD set of only 15,000 copies was released. The set contained an audio commentary with director, Michael Lehmann, producer, Denise Di Novi and writer, Daniel Waters, a 30-minute documentary titled Swatch Dogs and Diet Cokeheads, featuring interviews with Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Michael, Daniel, Denise, director of photography, Francis and editor Norman Hollyn. It also includes a theatrical trailer, screenplay excerpt, original ending, biographies, 10-page full-color fold-out with photos and liner notes, an 8 cm "Heathers Rules!" ruler and a 48-page full-color yearbook style booklet with rare photos. The film was then re-released on Blu-ray by Image Entertainment in 2011 as a bare-bones edition 2 years after Anchor Bay

In June 2018, Arrow Films reported that Heathers would be re-released on August 8th 2018 in cinemas and on September 10th on Blu-ray, in a new 4K restoration. On July 1st, 2008 a new 20th anniversary special edition DVD set was released by Anchor Bay to coincide with the DVD of writer Daniel’s new film, *Sex And Death 101*. The DVD features a new documentary, Return To Westerburg High. On November 18th, 2008, Anchor Bay released a Blu-ray with all the special features from the 20th anniversary DVD and a soundtrack in Dolby TrueHD 5.1. On November 12th, 2019, Image Entertainment released a 30th Anniversary steelbook edition on Blu-ray. This release did not utilize Arrow Films's 4K restoration and featured new and previous special features.

## Critical response and impact on pop culture

Rotten Tomatoes reports that 93% of critics gave the film a positive review based on a sample of 56 reviews both contemporary and current and an average rating of 7.73/10. The site's critical consensus reads "Dark, cynical and subversive, Heathers gently applies a chainsaw to the conventions of the high school movie, changing the game for teen comedies to follow". On Metacritic, the film earned a rating of 72/100 based on 20 reviews by mainstream critics. Academics have likened Heathers to other films popular during the 1980s and early 1990s which characterized domestic youth narratives as part and parcel of the "culture war".

Daniel created a specific set of slang and style of speech for the film, wanting to ensure that the language in the film would have "timeless" quality instead of just reflecting teen slang at the time. Much of the language made into the popular vernacular and the film is among the most cited in the Oxford English Dictionary as a result.

## Related projects

### Possible sequel

On June 2nd, 2009, *Entertainment Weekly* reported that Winona had claimed that there would be a sequel to Heathers with Christian coming back "as a kind of Obi-Wan character". However, Michael denied development of a sequel, saying "Winona's been talking about this for years, she brings it up every once in a while and Dan Waters and I will joke about it, but as far as I know there's no script and no plans to do the sequel".

### Musical

In 2010, Heathers was adapted into a stage musical directed by Andy Fickman. Andy also worked on the musical, Reefer Madness a parody of the anti-cannabis film of the same name which was turned into a feature film. Heathers: The Musical, which opens with a number depicting Veronica Sawyer's acceptance into The Heathers's clique, received several readings in workshops in Los Angeles and a three-show concert presentation at Joe's Pub in New York City on September 13th - 14th, 2010. The cast of the Joe's Pub concert included Annaleigh Ashford as Veronica Sawyer, Jenna Leigh Green as Heather Chandler and Jeremy Jordan as J.D.

The musical played at the Off-Broadway's New World Stages with performances beginning March 15th, 2014 and an opening night on March 31st. The original cast of the Off-Broadway production included Barrett Wilbert Weed as Veronica Sawyer, Jessica Keenan Wynn as Heather Chandler, Ryan McCartan as J.D., Alice Lee as Heather Duke and Elle McLemore as Heather McNamara. It closed on August 4th, 2014.

An Off-West End production of Heathers: The Musical, directed by Andy Fickman, played at The Other Palace in London with performances between June 19th - August 4th, 2018. Its cast included Carrie Hope Fletcher as Veronica Sawyer, Jodie Steele as Heather Chandler, Jamie Muscato as J.D., T’Shan Williams as Heather Duke and Sophie Isaacs as Heather McNamara. It transferred to West End in September 2018, playing in Theatre Royal Haymarket, London. A high school production of the musical is the focus of "Chapter Fifty-One: Big Fun" episode of *Riverdale*.

### TV Series

In March 2016, TV Land ordered a TV series as an anthology dark comedy series set in the present day, with a very different Veronica Sawyer dealing with a very different but equally vicious group of The Heathers. The series was written by Jason Micallef and Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi was the executive producer. In January 2017 Heathers was ordered to a TV series at TV Land. Original star, Shannen Doherty guest-starred in the pilot.

In March 2017, it was reported that the series was moved to the then upcoming Paramount Network. Selma Blair has a recurring role in the series. A trailer for the rebooted series was released in August 2017. The TV series stars Grace Victoria Cox as Veronica Sawyer, James Scully as J.D., Melanie Field as Heather Chandler, Brendan Scannell as Heather Duke, Jasmine Mathews as Heather McNamara, Birgundi Baker as Lizzy Jackson and Cameron Gellman as Kurt Kelly. The TV series was set to premiere on March 7th, 2018 but on February 28th, 2018, it was announced that the premiere would be delayed in light of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.