Entertainment
Winona Ryder’s Raunchy, R-Rated 80s Comedy Still Shocks Audiences Today
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Old-timers love to wax philosophic about the good old days of cinema and how modern Hollywood just can’t create anything quite like the hit movies of yesteryear. A frequent theme of these complaints is that certain subjects have become taboo, which is why we no longer get R-rated comedies filled with nudity and transgressive humor. Most of the time, these gripes are overblown. While there are still plenty of transgressive movies out there, studio execs prefer to play it safe with big celebrity films for fear of scaring off the audience.
Back in 1988, though, we got Heathers, a star-studded film that could absolutely never be made today. That’s because this black comedy explores some of the most taboo subjects modern audiences can imagine, including school shootings and teen suicide, and it does so in the funniest possible way. If you’re ready for the most mean-spirited, hilarious movie of the ‘80s, then it’s time to grab your favorite flavor of corn nuts and stream Heathers for free on Tubi.
The ’80s Are Sexier Than Ever
The premise of Heathers is that the high school of a sleepy Ohio suburb is ruled with an iron fist by three popular and ruthless students: the titular Heathers. New girl Veronica desperately wants to join their clique, but her priorities seem to change when she meets a brooding and mysterious transfer student. When he helps her with a prank that turns out to be deadly, it’s soon clear that nobody’s lives will ever be the same.
The young cast of Heathers has some titanic talent, including the late, great Kim Walker (best known outside this film for Say Anything) as the ruthless leader of the Heathers, a shark trawling her high school for prey. That would-be prey includes a character played by ‘80s icon Winona Ryder (best known for Little Women) and a fellow Heather played by ‘90s icon Shannon Doherty (best known for Beverly Hills, 90210). But the real star of this black comedy is Christian Slater (best known for Very Bad Things), who does his best Jack Nicholson impression while creating one of the most compelling villains in cinematic history.
The Film That Blew Critics Away
Even though it was a critical darling (more on this very soon), Heathers was a box office bomb upon release, earning a paltry $1.1 million against its modest budget of $3 million. However, it quickly gained a cult following on home video, and this eventually led to two very different follow-up projects. The first was a short-lived television series that only got 10 episodes, while the second was an immensely successful Broadway musical, which can currently be streamed for free (check it out, it’s weirdly good!) on The Roku Channel.
When Heathers came out, it hit the critical world with all the impact of a bomb blast. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 95 percent, with critics praising the film for its dark humor, cynical characters, and subversive plot line. They also noted that this movie was a serious game-changer, one that left a permanent mark on every teen comedy that followed in Heathers’ bloody footsteps.
Heads Up, Hollywood: There’s A New Sheriff In Town
Heathers is one of those black comedies that never pulls any punches, and the film is that much stronger for it. It’s a movie where two characters make an accidental murder look like a suicide, and they keep doing so to cut out the worst of the student body like a cancer.
That’s already bleak enough, but the cherry on top is that the idiotic high school leaders assume this is part of a nationwide problem where youngsters view suicide as trendy. In a modern age where influencers can’t even say the word “suicide,” the movie’s in-universe song lyrics “Teenage suicide/ Don’t do it!” are transgressively funnier than ever before.
In the wrong writer’s hands, the ghoulish plot would be as dead as our main characters’ growing number of victims. But the script by first-time screenwriter Daniel Waters (he would go on to write such ‘90s bangers as Batman Returns and Demolition Man) will keep you laughing, even when the subject material is something you’re never supposed to laugh at. Heck, this is a film that dares to transform topics as taboo as school shootings into just another macabre punchline.
You’ll Definitely Preach About This Movie
It helps that Waters has such a solid handle on writing for young characters, and he does a pitch-perfect job of transforming the fictional Heathers high school into something universally recognizable. You might not have had to deal with a literal group of Heathers growing up, but every high school has their imperious, “too cool for school” cliques, just as every high school has a quirky new kid who tries to look like a mysterious rebel. High school is all about trying different identities on for size, and Heathers is shockingly adept at comedically navigating the gap between how we appear today and what we hope to look like tomorrow.
Of course, this tight script would be nothing without killer performances from actors like Christian Slater, who is at his charismatic best as a new kid out to make his daddy issues everyone else’s problem. Winona Ryder, meanwhile, is perfect as an ingenue who can’t decide whether she wants to join the elites of her high school, or take the time to discover what she really wants (which may or may not involve the cute new boy who keeps causing trouble). But the biggest revelation of this film is the late, great Kim Walker, whose Heather Chandler character is the perfect embodiment of sarcasm, style, and sex appeal (not to mention corn nuts).
Punch It In
With lines like “f*ck me gently with a chainsaw,” Heathers established itself as one of the greatest black comedies ever made. Will you enjoy watching this ‘80s classic, or will it leave you wanting to kill this film and make it look like an accident? The only way to find out is to grab your remote (preferably with a Big Gulp Slurpee from 7-Eleven in your other hand) and stream Heathers for free on Tubi.