Heathers: 20th High School Reunion Edition

Heathers could be remembered for its unforgettable, taste making quotes alone: "Well, fuck me gently with a chainsaw,” "Ah, oh, uh! I like to suck big dicks. Mmmm! Mmmm! I can't get enough of ’em!” "Dear Diary, my teen-angst bullshit now has a body count” and "Jesus, God in Heaven, why’d you have to kill such hot snatch?” One of the blackest comedies of our time, Heathers hasn’t lost its dark touch throughout the last two decades, a time that has been subjected to considerable trauma brought on by school-related violence. Though the fashion may have dated, the razor-sharp, biting commentary on peer pressure, teen suicide and the harsh reality of high school life is as relevant and true as ever. Launching the careers of Winona Ryder (Veronica) and Christian Slater (J.D.), Heathers should be remembered as much for its perfect representation of the zeitgeist as for giving us "Big Fun.” Brand new featurette "Return to Westerburg High” goes deep into the high school experience, as the crew dig into their own traumatic pasts at first while confronting the recurring teen tragedy issues of today. In addition, there are a number of juicy titbits. Writer Daniel Waters dishes on the different endings, like Veronica’s suicide bombing in front of the school and Martha Dumptruck shooting Veronica in the mouth, as well as how Winona Ryder was the third choice for Veronica, after Justine Bateman and Jennifer Connelly, who both passed. Sadly, they also reveal the twisted fates of two of the movie’s stars: Kim Walker, who played the lead Heather and delivered the line, "Did you have a brain tumour for breakfast?” actually died in 2001 of a brain tumour, and Jeremy Applegate, who played geek Peter and said, "Dear Lord, please make sure this never happens to me because I don’t think I could handle suicide,” went on to kill himself in 2003. The commentary featuring Lehmann, writer Daniel Waters and producer Denise Di Novi is the same one that was included on the 2002 DVD release, much like the featurette "Swatch Dogs and Diet Coke Heads,” which is also included. Still, there’s plenty to gain from sitting through these again, like remembering that this film was almost cancelled when New World went bankrupt just weeks after its release.