Before there was Mean Girls, there was Heathers. The 1980s cult classic features a high school terrorized by popular kids so horrifically bad that their demise was plotted by Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. The comedy may be very dark, but it also has some majorly quotable lines. Check out our favorites here, and add your own in the comments.
Ahh, Heathers: a sweet coming-of-age story about cliques, cruelty, and really cute clothes. Heathers is one of the most memorable high-school cult films out there — and if you can get past the teenage angst and murder plots, you'll notice that these menacing mean girls have a sick sense of style. Before Regina George, there were The Heathers — Duke, McNamara, and Chandler. They stayed suited up in plaid blazers (complete with shoulder pads, naturally), pleated skirts, colored tights, and sleek loafers. And before she split from the group to exact her revenge, Veronica Sawyer (portrayed by Winona Ryder) mimicked their preppy schoolgirl style, favoring bright blue tights, tiered skirts, and a barrage of brooches on her buttoned-up blouse. We also can't get past Veronica's collection of oversize hats, epic eye rolling, and the monocle she wore when writing in her diary — a sure sign of a stylish psychopath. Click below to shop our Heathers-inspired gear, and get ready to kill it at school this season.
This Friday we'll get a peek at Michael Cera's mustached, naughty alter ego, Francois, in the new release Youth in Revolt. Francois is a rebel, torching buildings and breaking into girls dorm rooms — and yes, naturally, he's French. In honor of his general badass-ness, I decided to round up some of my favorite Francois predecessors in film (warning: lots of greasy hair and leather jackets ahead). Check them out!
This news kinda gives me the urge to purge. Fox is reportedly updating the 1989 dark comedy Heathers — for the small screen. The folks at Lakeshore Entertainment, which holds the rights to the movie, had played with the idea of doing a film remake, but "doing it for TV seemed like a fresh and original idea." Here's more:
[Writer Mark] Rizzo is still kicking around ideas on how to update Heathers 20 years after the film became a favorite among the underground set. But the characters from the movie are all expected to be there — Veronica Sawyer (played in the movie by [Winona] Ryder), J.D. ([Christian] Slater), and the Heathers.
Ryder has gabbed a bit about a Heathers sequel and there's also talk of a stage musical, so the original movie is clearly still of interest, 20 years later. And movies like Parenthood and 10 Things I Hate About You have been brought back to life for the small screen lately, so it's not such a big surprise. I just can't imagine how they'll be able to adapt this dark movie as an ongoing Fox TV series. Thoughts?
You know, I could kind of understand the idea of Sleepless in Seattle becoming a stage musical. And then there came news of a London musical version of Ghost — which also makes about 1,000 times more sense than turning the beloved and darkly funny 1989 movie Heathers into a musical and bringing it to the stage. What's more, Kristen Bell has already taken part in a reading of the musical, playing Veronica (though it's not yet known if she'll actually star in the stage production). For more on this crazy news, read more
Lately there's been a glut of wholesome, good-natured teens (see Jonas Brothers, High School Musical, and Vanessa Hudgens's snuggly ode to sneakers). But this week's release of the 20th anniversary of the classic Heathers reminded me that onscreen teenagers can be really mean. Actually, they can be downright vicious.
The girl group in Heathers was so mean they were essentially psychopathic. And then there's the famous pack of mean teens that torments Lindsay Lohan in Tina Fey's Mean Girls. Rich girl Caroline Mulford in Sixteen Candles is incredibly cruel (well, until she spends an evening with the geeky Farmer Ted). And of course, they're not always girls: Ryan Phillippe's character in Cruel Intentions is about as scummy as it gets in terms of douchebag teen guys.
Clear your mind of Disney stars and tell me about the most memorable nasty onscreen teens.
Heathers is one of those movies that I'll always watch when it's randomly on TV. Just classic. It made a cameo on my screen just the other day and I had to bring one of their famous lunchtime polls to you. So, in the words of Heather and Veronica: You win five million dollars from Publishers Sweepstakes, but on the same day what's his face gives you the check, aliens land on earth and say they're going to blow up the world in two days. What would you do?
Every Wednesday on BuzzSugar, I post a Recast challenge, where I ask you to choose new actors for a classic TV show or movie. The reader who submits the best cast wins a BuzzSugar t-shirt!
When it comes to catty, vicious teenage girls, the Heathers take the cake. In recasting this movie, not only did people have to look like high schoolers, but they had to have that nasty edge that would make for a good Heather.
With so many excellent recast lists submitted this week, it was truly difficult to pick just one. CaterpillarGirl had some fantastic ideas, in particular the pick of Adrianne Palicki (Tyra from "Friday Night Lights") because, as she puts it, "she has that 'lick it up baby' look down pat." I also enjoyed all the picks for Evan Rachel Wood, and I think Joseph Gordon-Levitt could definitely do well with the role of J.D. as both collomtwin and Sascha9000 suggested.
My favorite list overall, however, comes from eaker! To see who eaker picked and a new cast picture, read more
