The recent death of Shannen Doherty gives fans time to reflect on her legacy and her contribution to the zeitgeist of teen affections from fans.
Before her turn as Brenda Walsh in BEVERLY HILLS 90210 which sent her career into the stratosphere, it was her appearance in Michael Lehmann‘s cult teen black comedy HEATHERS, which sent Winona Ryder and Christian Slater in the world of superstardom. Although the film remains very much a cult favourite, there is much to enjoy if you take it in the right spirit.
Originally designed as the subversion of all those John Hughes films from the 1980s like PRETTY IN PINK, SIXTEEN CANDLES and THE BREAKFAST CLUB, HEATHERS sets the tone early on with ‘Mean Girl‘ Heather Chandler (the late Kim Walker) and backing whingers Heather Duke (Doherty) and Heather McNamara (Lisanne Falk) persuading Heather wannabe and journal obsessive Veronica Sawyer (Ryder) to come to the school cafeteria and forge a note from Kurt Kelly (Lance Fenton) and place on the lunch tray of obese student Martha Dunnstock (Carrie Lynn).
Watching the action is silent rebel ‘JD’ Jason Dean (Christian Slater) who takes a shine to Veronica, a fact not lost on Kurt and his best mate Ram Sweeney (Patrick Labyorteaux) who want to show their best jock spirit against him, which JD reciprocates by shooting a gun with blanks in their face.
A cool party beckons for Veronica and Heather C. which ends badly with Veronica throwing up and embarrassing Heather. JD then offers a game of strip croquet in Veronica’s back garden where they plan a revenge prank on Heather C.
Unfortunately, JD has a very twisted idea of revenge which he proves clearly when a cup of milk and orange juice intended gets mixed up with a cup of drain cleaner, which Heather C happily drinks before keeling over and dying. JD forces Veronica to forge a suicide note and their dark bond is cemented.
Before long however, JD has bigger and darker plans in store for others who cross the line….
Given that we have had MEAN GIRLS since the release of this film and black teen comedies have evolved, it is interesting to see how HEATHERS fits in with current reflections. In these enlightened times where mental health and a more sensitive woke mindset that appears to be creating an abscess of creativity for the more daring film-makers out there, HEATHERS might be misinterpreted as inappropriate, but the reality is that teenagers exist like this in some demographic and it isn’t designed to be a sugarcoating of serious adolescence.
Documentaries like BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE have highlighted the real psychological traits of troubled teens and with the explosion of social media, HEATHERS may be seen as more simplistic in nature. The fortunes of those who participated have fluctuated and varied (Lehmann went on to helm the troubled Bruce Willis caper comedy HUDSON HAWK, which has developed a cult following itself, given that it was one of Joel Silver‘s lesser films alongside STREETS OF FIRE. (Recommendation – please check it out, it is not as bad as what some said about it)
Since the release of HEATHERS, Ryder has had her fair share of success with Oscar nominations for THE AGE OF INNOCENCE and LITTLE WOMEN, before personal issues interjected – and a comeback in STRANGER THINGS amongst others. Slater has also success in the likes of PUMP UP THE VOLUME and ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES. Screenwriter Daniel Waters has gone on to write the likes of BATMAN RETURNS and DEMOLITION MAN amongst others, whilst producer Denise DiNovi has gone on to produce the likes of ED WOOD (1994) and LITTLE WOMEN (2019).
That’s not to take anything away from HEATHERS as a great experience. There are still-very-quotable lines (Heather C’s retort to Veronica near the outset in the cafeteria about the value of talking to different kinds of people is still as gloriously vitriolic as ever) and for the more geeky amongst us who went through tough times at school, you do sort of empathise with some aspects of the narrative.
Newer generations might be bemused, fans from the start will appreciate it always.
HEATHERS is out now in 4K on key home video formats.
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