Clueless

Title:  Clueless

Director: Amy Heckerling
Released: 1995
Starring: Alica Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy, Paul Rudd, Donald Faison, Elisa Donovan, Breckin Meyer, Jeremy Sisto, Dan Hedaya, Wallace Shawn, Twink Caplan, Justin Walker

Plot: Cher (Silverstone) is a wealthy, popular and superficial high-school student in Beverly Hills who along with her best friend Dionne hold court over the school. However when she discovers a new found happiness in doing good deeds for others, she decides to take the unhip new girl Tai (Murphy) under her wing.

Review: Another modernised reworking of a classic piece of fiction an honour while largely reserved for Shakespeare plays has also worked memorably for other classics as memorably seen with “Les Liaison Dangereuses” which became the wonderful “Cruel Intentions”. Here though it’s the turn of Jane Austen’s  18^th century matchmaker “Emma” which director Amy Heckerling used as the basis for her script when Paramount asked her to write a film for teenagers and having read it as a teenager decided to create this modernised version of the classic novel.

While on the surface it might seem like any other disposable teen comedy of the 90’s there is something about this film which has meant that fifteen+ years later I still find myself as obsessed with it as I was back when I first saw it in the late 90’s and writing that now, boy does that make me feel old. Still while the fashions, soundtrack selection and pretty much every aspect of this film might reek of the era there is something still kind of timeless about this film as it’s world of wealthy high school students in Beverly Hills often feels like it’s part of its own fantastical little world than any kind of representation of a realistic high school. So hence students are shown constantly talking on brick sized mobile phones or bandaged from whatever plastic surgery they’ve just undergone, while teachers make minimal efforts to try and teach them while clearly knowing that their money will carry them much further than their education.

Despite her status as Queen Bee, Cher is surprisingly not the bitch you’d expect her to be as she bumbles her way through life with a generally good natured attitude. At the same time while she clearly sees certain student groups as being below her own, she just lets them be rather than launching any kind of spiteful attack on them, clearly believing that everyone has their place and that’s usually beneath her own group. In a way its only further reinforced by her bringing Tai into her social group and giving her a makeover as part of her efforts to mould her in her own image rather than just accept her for her skater / grunge styling.

The plot itself is pretty lightweight but boosted by natural comedy and the situations which Cher finds herself being drawn into as she plays matchmaker and embarks on her on quest to find the right guy which includes a failed hook up with the too hip for school Christian whose lack of interest in her is implied (but never confirmed) is down to him being gay in a surprisingly forward thinking moment especially for a film from this period.  On the whole its quick pacing means that it never overstays its welcome even though Cher and Dionne valley girl slack heavy dialogue could ohh so easily have made this a grating experience and the end while once in play is predictable it never feels like the film is trying to force anything.

True the film is unquestionably 90’s in its styling and appearance, which perhaps for myself growing up in the 90’s means that it carries for myself a lot of nostalgic gloss, especially from having watched and enjoyed it back then, so its comforting to see it surprisingly as one of the few films which still stands up and one which has arguable got better as its original audience return to it as older viewers uncovering the wealth of subtle jokes which are weaved into the film. It’s only the more of a shame that this would be the high water mark for director Heckerling’s career which also included the equally legendry 80’s school flick “Fast Times At Ridgemont High” with her follow up and possible attempt to direct a defining high school comedy in every decade falling flat with 2000’s “Loser” which in many ways felt like an attempt to cash in on the success of “American Pie” which is arguably the closest challenger to “Clueless” even if it lacked the subtlety of Heckerling’s film.

At the same time one of the main strength’s here is in its casting with perhaps none of the cast outside of Alicia Silverstone being especially well known and making it all the more amusing to see how many first appearances which can be clocked here with perhaps only Greg Araki’s “Nowhere” coming this close to its soothslayer esq casting. Silverstone owns the part of Cher, while Stacey Dash provides the perfect support for her to bounce dialogue off making sader that she never really had another role which came close to matching this one though she would be one of the few members of the cast who reprised their role for the spin off TV Series.  The most sad of all is off course Britney Murphy who whenever I see her especially in iconic roles like this and “Sin City” it just makes me wish that I had appreciated her all the more when she was alive as her performance here really hinted at some of the untapped potential she ultimately never got to show off outside of a few sporadic roles.

While this certainly might not be the deepest of films, especially as it wears its materialism proudly on its sleeve, this Beverly Hills high school fantasy has enough heart to carry it though and more than enough laughs to make it easy to understand why its become such a cult film all these years later.  

Dead Hooker In A Trunk

Title: Dead Hooker In A Trunk

Director: Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska

Released: 2009

Starring: Rikki Gagne, Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska, C.J. Wallis, Loyd Bateman, Farley M. Gagne, Tasha Moth, Carlos Gallardo, John Tench

Plot: Four friends The badass (Sylvia Soska), her sister the geek (Jen Soska) and their friends the junkie (Gagne) and the goody two shoes (Walis) find their world thrown into chaos when they discover the body of a dead hooker (Moth) in their trunk. Soon their plans to dispose of the body suffer further complications when they soon find themselves targeted by chainsaw welding triads, a cowboy pimp and a brutal serial killer as it seems that the troubles for the group are only just beginning.

Review: While the Soska sisters might now be best known for “American Mary” and their most recent film “See No Evil 2” but this rough and ready debut still makes for an intriguing watch, let alone another reminder of what a pair of hungry film makers can produce even with the most limited of resources. Infact had it not been for their less than stellar film school withdrawing their funding for their final short film then the twins might not have set out to make their own project, which it would seem is as much a fuck you to their former film school as it is their embodiment of the love for genre cinema.

Shot on a budget of $2500, with half the budget being used for effects the girls really faced an uphill struggle from the beginning for anyone whose attempted to venture into the world of film making will tell you that it can easily turn into an expensive venture. Still with a copy of Robert Rodriguez’s “Rebel without a Film Crew” to guide them they managed against all odds to get the film made. True the results might be grimy in quality let alone in content but it’s hard to deny that the film has that spark of raw talent that was only further highlighted once the Twins were given a proper budget for the films which followed, while they pay tribute to Rodriguez’s influence by casting the star of his debut “El Mariachi” Carlos Gallardo who here makes a fun cameo as God.

An eclectic mixture of characters make up the group followed here with each living up to their name, while the fun is seeing how this grisly misadventure changes them over the course of the film, which thanks to the sisters and their love of gruesome effects ensures that it’s both a physical as well as mental change. Each of these characters tend to live by their namesake which frustratingly is largely as far things mainly go in terms of characterisation with Sylvia handling most of the heavy lifting in terms of acting, especially when it comes to the action scenes were her character truly lives up to her name and something made only the more impressive when you consider that the girls here do all their own stunt work….alongside writing, directing producing and acting in the film. This multi-tasking due to budget limitation would equally stretch to Walis who was handling a large amount of the technical aspects of the film only to be brought in for the role of the goody two shoes after the original actor dropped out after the first two days of filming, leading to hasty re-writes and a sex change for Walis’s character who’d originally been female aswell and which I can’t help would have added to what I assume started as a throwback to the girl gang films of the 70’s.

The plotting feels much like the characterisation largely minimalistic as set pieces are strung together with the minimal amount of plot development, which does leave the film at time feeling like it is floundering over what way to take the plot next. However the strength of the set pieces such as a brutal triad attack and badass’s brawl with a cowboy pimp (complete with lasso and horse) do go a large away to covering for such flaws as when the film works it’s a lot of fun and only makes you wish that the sisters had a larger shooting budget. Still what it might lack in plot direction it certainly makes up for in inventiveness as geek loses an eye leading her to create a makeshift gaffa tape patch to cover the now empty socket while junkie loses an arm both injuries which would be serious to any regular character but here seems to be more of an inconvenience to these girls. There is also an attempt at working in a romance angle between goody two shoes and geek but for the most part it came of kind of flat, due to no real chemistry between Jen and Walis combined with it being pushed to the background in favour of another gory sequence.

While the budget might have been limited, the gore effects are still pretty effective not to mention ambitious as seen with the chainsaw attack sequence let alone the disembowelled drug dealer whose insides are being gleefully teased by a triad. Needless to say when it comes to gore the twins don’t like to hold back as surfaces and characters faces are frequently covered in huge gushes of blood and gore, while such sequences are shot with such high energy and gleeful voyeurism that perhaps at times it does feel perhaps alittle OTT.

True this might be a zero budget film, but unlike so many debuts from aspiring those aspiring film makers who shun film school and pumps their fees into their debut film, this film has an element of polish to it, while managing to sidestep the usual pitfalls which tend to befall these films and while it might not be perfect it’s nice to see how they used the film as a learning experience for their superior “American Mary. At the same time its neo-grindhouse charm makes this a fun movie to watch with like-minded friends and an open non-judgemental mind set.

Predator

Title: Predator

Director: John McTiernan

Released: 1987

Staring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, Sonny Landham, Richard Chaves, Shane Black, Elpidia Carrillo, Kevin Peter Hall

Plot: An elite Special Forces team lead by Dutch (Schwarzenegger) are sent on a rescue mission deep in guerrilla territory in Central America, unaware that his team are soon being hunted for sport by an extraterrestrial hunter.

Review: Another film from Arnie’s Golden period, this time towards the end of this career period, yet still showcasing all the usual trademarks I.E: One liners, cigars and a healthy dose of OTT action sequences, it is also one of my favourite Arnie movies and perhaps only rivaled by “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” for the number one spot, especially seeing how he is shown here at the peak of his career having established himself as a household name for 80’s action, a reputation he more than lives up to here.

Originally inspire by a joke regarding who Rocky would fight next following the release of “Rocky IV” were it seemed that he had run out of earthly opponents and hence meaning his next opponent would have to be an alien. Needless to say this was all the inspiration that writers Jim and John Thomas would need for their debut (aswell as thier best seeing how they would also be responsible for the likes of cinematic trash like “Wild Wild West”) script which was originally titled “Hunter”. Bizarrely Jean-Claude Van Damme was originally cast at the titular predator whose original design was that of an alien ninja, but proved to be a lot more clumsy than the now familiar Predator design created by Stan Winston with additional imput from James Cameron who would be responsible for the new look Predator design gaining a set of Mandibles, with the new design being commissioned after a frustrated Van Damme, tired of overheating in the clumsy original suit head butted a cameraman before storming off set and leaving the door open for  the 7’2 Kevin Peter Hall to take over the role and bringing the new look creature to life, while the voice was provided by Peter Cullen who is probably best known for voicing Optimus Prime and Winnie-the-Pooh’s Eeyore.

The film itself is a classic slice of 80’s action, especially considering that Dutch’s team are supposed to be a covert unit, yet not one of them is armed with a subtle weapon between them from Poncho’s (Chaves) grenade launcher to the memorable Minigun “Ol’ Painless” welded by Blain (Ventura) and in many ways they could be seen as the blueprint for the “The Expendables”, especially with their OTT antics as they clear out a guerrilla encampment, with Arnie spitting out some of his best one liners with nearly each bad guy he dispatches in what is possibly one of his best action sequences ever. Still up until this point the film is very much a men on a mission style movie, which is only given the sci-fi twist after this point with the introduction of the Predator. No doubt its a twist which would have been more effective back when the film was originally released than it is now, were the Predator like the xenomorph’s in “Alien” have become such iconic creations that you would be hard pushed to find someone who is still surprised to see the appearance of the Predator. Still it is a flawless switch in genres as the hunters soon become the hunted, with the technological advances and early nods to the warrior code of the Predator giving the film a nice twist, especially when the group are forced to resort to guerrilla tactics to defeat their foe, after memorably and downright bizzarely exhausting their ammo supplies shooting up a small section of empty jungle, not once to really question what exactly they are supposed to be shooting at in yet another classic moment of 80’s excess.   

This comparison to “The Expendables” can also be carried over to the rest of Dutch’s crew whom are mainly played by action heroes of the era with Weathers, Duke and Landham all having appeared in other 80’s action movies, meanwhile Shane Black who appears as the groups comic relief Hawkins was mainly cast to keep an eye on director McTiernan who’d previously only directed one feature previous to being given this film and whose inexperience in the directors chair worried producer Joel Silver, though ultimately history would show that this would be unheeded especially when McTiernan would go on from this film to direct the equally epic “Die Hard” while Black would use the time to work on his script for “The Last Boy Scout”. Still it would be a real baptism of fire of McTiernan into big budget action movies especially after his misfire of a debut “Nomads”, with the cast and crew having to deal with cold temperatures of the surrounding jungle which required heat lamps to be used at all times, while frequently working on rough terrain. Equally problematic was the new Predator design meaning that Hall was working blind, leading to numerous occasions during the final showdown between Arnie and the predator were he was hitting him in the face by accident. Unsurprisingly Hall would remember the experience as being more of a “survival story” with even McTiernan breaking his wrist during filming.

Unsurprisingly being an 80’s action movie, the gore quota is unrestrained here with skinned bodies hanging from trees, exploding bloody holes shot through characters and a weighty body count (mainly at the hands of Arnie) all being the order of the day. However despite the graphic nature of these scenes, the film is still for the most part largely restrained and only gives the audience its graphic moments when realistically needed rather than just because McTernan can.

What truly makes this film so effective though is the soundtrack composed by Alan Silvestri, whose manages to effectively control the mood throughout with the film using two distinct styles throughout, with Dutch’s team being represented by the heavily orchestral moments of score which holds a processes a real military feel to it, while the predator is represented by heavy tribal drumming whose intensity, frequently grows the closer the creature is and suitably builds a natural sense of tension, with these two styles effectivly being combined when we witness both Dutch and the predator preparing for their final showdown. Still Silvestri's soundtrack would prove to be highly influential and it's influence can still be heard in modern action movies today.

To view the film as a solo entry, it is hard to see how the Predator managed to spawn such a franchise, especially when it works so well as a stand alone film and while they continue to try and find a way to make the Aliens vs. Predator franchise work the Predator films have turned into a fairly decent trilogy and one which can certainly hold its own against the Alien saga, even if if never achieved the same level of scope. Still this film remains a stone cold classic and one of those rare occasions in film making were everything just works. Yes it's loud and dumb....but by god is it alot of fun!!

Thank God It's Friday

Title: Thank God It's Friday

Director: Robert Klane

Released:1978

Staring: Jeff Goldblum, Marya Small, Chick Vennera, Mark Lonow, Andrea Howard, Ray Vitte, Chuck Sacci

Plot: Set over the course of one night at the hip LA night club “The Zoo” following the intertwining stories of the patrons and staff on the night of their big dance contest.

Review: "Thank God It's Friday! is the greatest Disco movie ever made! Now no doubt there will be those of you who will immediately question such a statement by immediately bringing up disco mainstay “Saturday Night Fever” the movie which most folks would (misguidedly)  bestow such a title upon and it’s unsurprisingly seeing how that film has over the years since it’s release has become such a cult movie spawning Broadway musicals, a soundtrack which is reportedly the best selling soundtrack album ever, a really questionable sequel directed bizarrely enough by Sylvester Stallone let alone the numerous imitators which followed in it’s wake including the cringe worthy “Xanadu” a movie doubly painful for myself being the huge ELO fan that I am. “Thank God It’s Friday” (TGIF) is certainly not one of those imitators as it surpasses “Saturday Night Fever” (SNF), not only in terms of the story, but especially with the soundtrack were it substitutes The Bee Gee’s for the much cooler choices of “The Commodores” and disco legend Donna Summer, both of which also get to play prominent parts in the film, with “The Commodores” playing themselves as the club’s headline act, while Donna Summer plays aspiring disco singer Nicole, which essentially is a way to link in her performance of “Last Dance” which Summer would go on  to win the “Best Song” Oscar for….hmm now where’s your Oscar SNF??

The cast of characters are a certainly a colorful bunch to say the least, including the uber sleazy Tony Di Marco (Jeff Goldblum) who uses the club as his personal pick up joint, Jackie (Marya Small) who by day is a dental hygienist and drugged up disco freak come the weekend and the self confessed leather man as well as spontaneous disco dancer Marv (Chick Vennera) to name but a few of the fun characters we meet through the course of the night as they all pursue their own personal goals of hooking up, dancing or just trying to get to the club as in the case of the Floyd (DeWayne Jessie) the roadie for “The Commodores” who frequently can’t seem to catch a break as he tries desperately to get to the club in time for their set. Still despite the numourous story lines the main story at the heart of the film is that of the young straight edge couple Dave (Mark Lonow) and Sue (Andrea Howard), celebrating their wedding anniversary and end up going to “The Zoo” after an impulsive decision to go dancing by Sue. What soon follows is their wide eyed induction into the crazy disco scene, as Sue finds herself the target of Club Owner Tony’s advances after he makes a bet with The Zoo’s resident DJ Bobby Speed (Ray Vitte), meanwhile Dave is soon taken under the spaced out wing of Disco freak Jackie who soon has him hopped up on drugs and referring to himself by his new alter ego “Babbakazoo”.

Despite being a largely no name cast with the always enjoyable Goldblum being pretty much the only named actor making another memorable early appearance, having only just established himself as an actor after playing various bit roles including his memorable debut as one of the thugs in “Death Wish” . Still despite the lack of named actors, all of the cast are more than believable in their roles even when it comes to the more flamboyant and fantastical characters which could easily have turned out irritating such walking punchline such as Gus (Chuck Sacci) who not only has a serious temper, but also the questionable catchphrase of “You bet your sweet ass your sorry” when not looking for his date, as he sets about causing random acts of destruction or just generally threatening anyone who happens to bump into him, in what is just one of the numerous running jokes, aswell as Floyd’s constantly being stopped by the cops on his way to the club or just people constantly crashing into Tony’s Porsche. A car which he seemingly loves almost as much as himself. Thankfully Director Klane restrains from running them into the ground just because they prove to be funny more than once. The humour of the film really is an advantage that TGIF has over the other disco movies, a key ingredient that would be missing from many of the other disco movies, which tended to play to more straight as if trying to provide a snapshot of the disco era, which arguably is somthing that TGIF also does better not only capturing the funky sounds and certainly questionable fashions of the era, but also feels so self contained, almost like a postcard from the era as it almost perfectly captures the year of it’s release on film, as Director Robert Klane feels free to move through the club as he pleases stopping off with one character before moving on to the next to help carve a colourful and fun picture of the disco scene, while also using real nightclub “Osko’s” which not only boasted four dance floors but also an ice cavern themed room known as “The Cave” all of which can be seen throughout the film (including some brutal footage of the club’s strobe lights), as can the club’s owner Osko Karaghassian, who puts in a cameo as a club bouncer. The club has however since been demolished making this film perhaps the only real document of the club’s existence.

The other advantage the film has is it’s refusal to turn into a moralistic tale about the dangers of drugs or promiscuous sex, by flat out refusing to let anyone spoil the fun by becoming overly serious, instead focusing on leaving you with the same euphoric feeling of a great night out and it largely succeeds even with the majority of the mainstream (for it’s time) humour and numerous storyline that Director Klane somehow manages to juggle throughout.

Sadly the film would prove to be both a critical and commercial failure, with film critic Leonard Maltin, not only rating the film as “BOMB” but also going on record to say that it was “Perhaps the worst film to ever win any kind of Academy Award” but then this is the same man who didn’t get Fulci’s “The Beyond” either. Today it seems that the film has largely forgotten and it was only by chance that I stumbled across it on late night TV and this also can also be seen with it’s current availability, with the film currently only been released on region 1 DVD which is good news If you have access to a multi region DVD player or live stateside, otherwise it can be picked up pretty cheap on VHS for those of you like myself who never threw out their Video players when the rest of the world upgraded to DVD.

While other clubbing movies would follow in the wake of the death of Disco all trying to create a time capsule of the clubbing scene they represent such as “Human Traffic”  and it’s portrayal of the 90’s clubbing scene or Avangelina Ao’s little seen “Nightlife trilogy” (for those of you who like underground indie movies), would come close yet ultimately would get caught up with their genre restrictions, while even the biopic “54”  about the famous New York club “Studio 54” also fell foul of bringing morals into the actions of it’s characters, rather than focusing on the decadence the club was more famous for and perhaps this is what makes this such a special and unique film and worth watching for what is truly the essential snapshot of the days of disco.

BloodSport

Title: Bloodsport
Director: Newt Arnold
Released: 1988
Staring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Glibb, Bolo Yeung, Norman Burton, Forest Whitaker, Leah Ayres

Plot: Frank Dux (Van Damme) has spent his life being training by his adopted father figure Tanaka, to compete in the Kumite, the ultimate and highly illegal underground martial arts competition were serious and injury are common place, while the current champion Chong Li (Yeung) is equally keen to retain his title at any cost.

Review: “Bloodsport” is a true nostalgic relic from the golden age of action movies which was the 80’s, with the film also providing the much needed showcase for the Kickboxing talents of Van Damme, which in turn launched him to superstar status and while his more recent efforts might be more forgettable like so many of the era’s action stars, it still remains one of his most talked about movies. So after being frequently reminded of it, while checking out “The Jaded Viewer” who has replaced the more traditional stars / thumbs up rating for one of the more iconic screenshots from this film, which honestly is a lot cooler, I thought I'd finally sit down and watch it.

Opening with the various fighters going through their assorted training regimes, Director Arnold wastes little time in setting the mood for what sort of movie your gonna be watching, with the true highlight of this sequence including the weird Zulu warrior punching coconuts while generally leaping around like a frenzied chimp, which does have me questioning how some of these fighters like this joker in particular even know about the tournament. Still the most badass fighter of all of them Chong Li, gets the best of these first introductions, as we are treated to the sight of him breaking blocks of ice with only the utmost ease. Essentially this is what the film is about. Fighters showing off their skills and beating the hell out of each other, with the plot only being something to string these assorted showcase pieces together.

Supposedly based on the real life of Martial Artist Frank Dux, who also wrote the original story which the film is based on, but seeing how the validity of many of his personal claims have frequently been disputed by both “Soldier of Fortune” and the “Los Angeles Times” feel free to believe what you want when it comes to credibility, as personally I seriously doubted the "based on real events" tagline and just thought it was just fun, rather than any kind of biopic. Still What struck me first about this film was just how young Van Damme looks here, as the fresh faced Frank, which was also his first leading role and despite not being the most convincing actor (well I guess something just never change) he allow his skills instead to do most of the talking, finding time to include his now trademark moves while relying on raw charisma for the rest to help carry him through. This film also established the trend with his early films for the training montages to usually involve torturing him as part of the part to being the ultimate fighter with the rack making the first of its memorable appearances, during a stupidly long flashback sequence, which frequently cuts to a close up of Franks eyes whenever the scene changes.

The fight scenes are all pretty fantastic even when none of the named fighters are competing, with the tournament attracting a wide range of fighting styles which only helps keep things interesting, from the kickboxing style of Frank to the more powerhouse style of Chong Li, who is perfectly written for Yeung who here, despite being 50 at the time of filming, looks absolutely monstrous and more bulked up then usual, though the script writers clearly doubted him being able to pull of the English dialogue, which might go a way to explaining why Chong Li only rarely speaks and when he does it’s usually to say something badass like

“You break my record, now I break you, like I break your friend”

Still like Van Damme, Yeung also lets his actions do a lot of the talking, as he demolishes all those who challenge him, frequently (and graphically) breaking bones and generally providing the deaths which the tournaments’ reputation promises, which judging by the unfazed reaction of the crowd, would seem usually happens a lot more frequently than it does with this tournament, with most of the fighters preferring bizarrely enough an honourable defeat over a more permanent one.

Outside of the fighting which honestly is most of the movie, we get the aforementioned attempts at plotting which pretty much boil down to the half assed attempts of the Military Police Officers Helmer (Burton) and Rawlins (Whitaker), who basically spend a lot of time running around and failing Frank to turn himself in having gone AWOL to compete in the tournament. The other unnecessary plot thread involves undercover journalist Janice (Ayres), who despite wanting to expose the Kumite, seems to forget about this as soon as she gets involved with Frank, with her sole obsession from that point being constantly telling Frank that he’s crazy for competiting, when perhaps she should be more worried about the Hole in the Ozone she’s creating with the sheer amount of hairspray she must be using to keep her huge hair in place, with her role as a romantic interest unneeded here, as it’s basically another excuse for Van Damme not to put on his shirt. Finally we have Ray (Gibb) the loud mouthed and brash American fighter, who is also competing in the Kumite and becomes a kind of Big Brother to Frank and is one of the few supporting characters who doesn’t feel like they are being included to fill screen time, even though Frank earns his respect by beating him on an arcade game rather than anything resembling fighting ability, which makes him a pretty easy person to impress it would seem.

“Bloodsport” is a fun piece of nostalgia of a more exciting time for action cinema and despite being a film which relies solely on it’s action sequences, it works surprisingly well, if meaning as a result that it is anything but high art, but then weren’t the best of Bruce Lee’s movies like this? Still it’s a fun movie and worth watching to see an action hero in his prime, especially as it was pretty much a downward spiral from this point onwards and the less said about “Street Fighter” the better really.

Heathers

Title: Heathers
Director: Michael Lehmann
Released: 1989

Staring: Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, Glenn Shadix, Lance Fenton, Patrick Labyorteaux, Carrie Lynn

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Plot: The Heathers are the most popular social clique at their high school, spending their time making fun of Martha “Dumptruck” Dunnstock (Lynn) and the other social outcasts, or running stupid polls with their fellow students. Veronica (Ryder) is sick of being part of this group and longs to break free, finding her opportunity to strike back with the mysterious new boy and rebel JD (Slater).



Review: It’s funny how often to find the most interesting work of an establish actor, you have to go back to their early films, when they were more willing to task risks with their art and certainly before, they moulded themselves to fit in with the Hollywood studio system and this is especially true here for the two leads, Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, whose later years would fail repeatedly to produce anything as interesting, as they sacrificed what raw talent might be seen here, in a haze of drink, drugs, shoplifting and Uwe Boll movies, which makes you forget that either of them, had such a movie in them. Still interestingly enough the lead roles were at one point associated with both Brad Pitt (who was turned down for being too nice) and Jennifer Connolly (who just turned it down), making for an more intriguing version of the film, but still both Ryder and Slater suit their respective roles well, with Ryder portraying Veronica as kind of a lost soul, who doesn’t see herself belonging to any of the various cliques and would rather everyone just get along, while Slater as the rebellious and later utterly homicidal JD, gives us his best Jack Nicolson impression while clearly playing by his own rules, with some truly creepy scenes in which Veronica meets his dad and witnesses their role reversal style relationship, which also includes the slightest of hints to the true colours of JD.

The humour throughout is strictly dark, which is kind of unsurprising when you consider that the main focus, is on Veronica and JD killing various popular kids and making their deaths look like suicides, which might not make for the most comfortable viewing for some people, especially if you prefer you comedies a little more light hearted, than frequent musings on teenage suicide, making it in many ways a forerunner to the likes of John Waters “Serial Mom” (1994) Todd Solondz’s “Welcome to the Dollhouse” (1995). Still despite being dark, it never quite pushes the boundaries in the same way that later films would and at times, seems to be playing more with the dark humour, than fully committing itself whole heartedly to this style of humour, which becomes increasingly more evident towards the end, as Veronicas doubts increase. Still when comparing the film to the original script and the tales of failed test viewings which lead to the ending being dramatically changed, it only further eludes to the darker version we could have seen, had director Lehmann gone with his instincts, as these darker parts are definatly the stronger parts of the film, while I felt my interest waning the lighter the film got.

Throughout the film I found myself constantly questioning just how Naïve Veronica really is, seeing how she buys pretty much any bullshit that JD can spin, even after she watches him deliberately poison the ring leader of the Heathers (Doherty) by having her drink drain cleaner. Still no matter how many of the popular kids they kill, she still seems to get convinced each time that it’s all a prank, only changing her mind around the third quarter, when JD starts to really show his true colours. It is also worth questioning her amazing ability of copying other people’s handwriting, when her own writing style is so frenzied, that she might as well hold the pen between her fist to write.

It was only really while revisiting this film, that I wondered why this film is never referenced as being an influence whenever some high school kid decides to bring a gun to school, or performs some equally shocking act of violence, with the media usually targeting the music of Marilyn Manson and the more obvious film titles such as “The Matrix” (1999), with only the occasional more well watched journalist perhaps naming “The Basketball Diaries” (1995) which features it’s own school shooting daydream. Yet with “Heathers” it’s almost like a troubled youth revenge fantasy placed on the screen, as it is essentially about the bullied kids striking back at their tormentors and eventually the school, this being especially potent with it’s climax involving a plot to blow up the school along with the majority of the student body, it only makes it all the more surprising that it never receives even the slightest of mentions.

Despite Ryder constantly hinting at a sequel being made, no doubt to prop up her flagging career, it’s a film which doesn’t need a half baked sequel and says all that it needs to say with this film and certainly doesn’t need a half baked sequel to add anything to it as a film, as it’s fun but slightly disposable piece of film making, for as fun as some of the characters might be, they aren’t the kind your pretty much through being with by the time the credits roll, while at the same time hinting at what could have possibly been, with the performances given by both Slater and Ryder, for both of them it still remains a career high point.