As classic high school movies go, this one shoves the stereotype down the drain.  Popular kids may be all that, but how high and mighty are they while lying dead with a forged suicide note at their side?  Push aside Molly Ringwald with her birthday wishes and John Cusack holding a boom box and step into a dark satirical comedy about real high school issues.

Heathers, directed by Michael Lehmann, illuminates a new solution to ending the “in-crowd.” Veronica (Winona Ryder) is sick of the horrible antics and unsatisfactory lifestyle her three so-called best friends, each named Heather, live as part of the most popular clique in school.  Inspired by her new boyfriend, the dangerous but nonetheless alluring J.D. (Christian Slater), Veronica finds a new solution to get her revenge: murder.

After accidently tricking the leading Heather (Kim Walker) into swallowing drain cleaner, J.D. convinces Veronica to forge a suicide note.  The taste for murder apparently doesn’t leave J.D., who with the help of Veronica, plans the murders of two jocks who had been harassing Veronica.  As a cover, Veronica forges suicide notes again, this time proclaiming the two jocks had to hide their unapproved love for one another.  These suicides simply make the deceased teens even more popular, using them as martyrs for depression and homophobia.

Heathers provides a dark humor and a unique way of addressing social standings, teenage cruelty, homosexuality, and suicide within high school.  Though the execution of these issues may be overdramatized for the sake of film, the issues brought up still plague high schools 25 years later, as does the lack of proper methods of handling them.

Set in a fictional high school in Ohio, the film isn’t impressive or unimpressive for cinematography, though the explosion at the end of the film seems realistic enough.

With quality writing filled with satirical comebacks and sarcastic one liners that keeps the audience on their feet, as well as standout performances by Slater and Ryder, Heathers is a classic high school film with a bit of a twist.