Comment by Magic Marmalade:
A cut above the rest.
Finally took the plunge, and snagged myself a DVD copy of this - frankly exhausted waiting for it to reappear on TV...
...And having rewatched it, I can now see there is definitely very good reason for that:
This is probably one of those movies that parents do not want their kids to see, and any network is terrified of showing for that reason - That in the current climate, and in this modern world where teens in particular seem to be very nihilistic, not top mention "stabby" and "shooty" - with scarcely a week going by when they are not having at each other - seriously, it seems like it's becoming a hobby or a pastime for "kids these days" (<old man speaking! :)...
...But perhaps I shouldn't make light of this topic... But then, this does exactly that.
Whereas other movies deal with such issues in a lighter manner, such as Mean Girls, and The Craft (Both clearly inspired by this): A gang of popular girls set against the protagonist and making life hell for all the other kids at the school, and you may say that behind the serious frowny face they give, there's something of a wry smile, this is the opposite: having, as it does, behind the wry smile of a jet black humour, something more, well despairing and malignant.
So, with the "Heathers" running the place, one girl, on the periphery of the group, uneasy about being in their clique, takes up with "rebellious", edgy new guy, played by Christian Slater, and thence ensues a Bonnie and Clyde exacting of revenge on them, but kicks up a gear in the final third when she tries to free herself now, not from their influence, but his, as her turns out to be a genuine psycho, way beyond any romantic, Romeo And Juliet visions she had or conceptions of what they were about together... and form there, it turns into a prototype Joker and Harley Quinn dynamic: She's trying to stop him manipulating her, and at the same time, stopping his psychotic, evil schemes.
The one liners in this are grade A writing, my faves being deadpan nuggets like: "Well F"$k me gently with a chainsaw!", and: "Did you have a brain tumour for breakfast?"
In style and tone, I can only describe it as being like a John Hughes teen drama counterpoint in the style of Mean Girls, but scripted and produced by the Coen brothers and directed by David Lynch, in one of his more "Blue Velvet" moments.
Probably one of those like Joker, that powers that be are terrified it's target audience will watch, as it may strike too close to home, and makes everyone distinctly uneasy about, in case it "puts ideas in people's heads - but conversely, maybe that's the exact reason it should be watched, having grown, disturbingly, in relevance over time.
Well, at least it's not a musical... that would be misguided, cynical, and truly sinister.
(I hate musicals, by the way, with a fiery passion... drama, or music dude? pick a lane!)
