Heathers MOVIE TALK

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Because I've recently become an absolute superfan of Heathers the musical, I had to watch the original movie, especially as I'm going to see the musical at the West End in October!!!
The movie, made all the way back in 1988, was utterly brilliant and had the lovely style of dark comedy that works so well for this story. If you've never seen or heard of Heathers, I'd describe it as Mean Girls with lots of death and psychopaths thrown into the mix. Because, why not?
I had so much fun picking up the similarities and differences between the movie and the musical and it's just an all-round entertaining film. I couldn't help but mentally identify where each song from the musical fit in but that made it even more fun.
Heathers Soundtrack Act 1 Review
Heathers Soundtrack Act 2 Review

TRAILER

AMAZON

SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD
I thought Winona Ryder played a brilliant Veronica. She had great comedic timing and gave Veronica the perfect kind of attitude. However, I will say that I prefer Musical Veronica because I think she has more compassion than Movie Veronica. I also found it interesting that, in the movie, we start with Veronica already being a Heather whereas the musical starts with Veronica being unpopular and then becoming a Heather. I think this may factor into why I prefer Musical Veronica because I can relate to her a whole lot more from the beginning.

And then we have JD who was absolutely awesome. Despite being a heavily flawed character (no one can deny that), JD still manages to be oddly lovable with his sarcasm and cynicism.... you now, as lovable as a psychopath can be. Christian Slater is a perfect JD and my favourite scenes were all the ones with him in.
Again though, I prefer Musical JD because he has more moments of compassion and vulnerability. I was super shocked at how much more aggressive and abusive JD was in the movie- forcibly kissing Veronica, fighting her, and using her burn as a way to light his cigarette! Yes, this movie may have a lot of feminist issues but, considering it was made in 1988, you kind of have to take it all with a pinch of salt.

I think the Musical is a lot tamer with these issues and Veronica is more of a willing participant in everything. Sure, she's manipulated by JD through a lot of things but she also has an active role in a lot of terrible decisions (eg. Dead Girl Walking).
I just think JD is a lot more vulnerable in the Musical- like in the songs Freeze Your Brain, Seventeen and the end of Meant to Be Yours. It's nice to see a softer side to him.

And then we have the Heathers. H. Chandler was pretty good but honestly, she's nowhere near my favourite of the three of them. She's pretty forgettable after she dies.
I didn't mind H. McNamara but I still prefer her in the musical. In the movie, she's actually quite mean and cruel when, in the musical, she's a bit more of a follower. But again, she has a great character arc and is the most changed of the Heathers throughout the movie.
H. Duke was the interesting one, though. I felt a lot more sympathy for her character- especially the focus on her eating disorder. She seemed almost bullied by Chandler and McNamara in the beginning and there was a lot more insecurity in her character than I've ever considered before.

Kurt and Ram were brainless air-heads as usual but I was disappointed with how little we see of them in the movie. I completely understand that Kurt and Ram are far from decent human beings but I can't help finding them hilarious. They have such a larger presence in the musical which I prefer because it creates such good humour.

The plot between the movie and the musical are essentially all the same but I did find the relationship with Martha interesting. Understandably, the movie has a lot more side characters that the musical doesn't, such as Veronica's old friend Betty. Martha isn't really friends with anyone in the movie but I like how the musical changed Martha's character so she sort of replaced Betty's role. Martha is a really important character and I love that, in the musical, we really get to see more of her personality.

This movie obviously came out in the 80s so some of it is definitely dated but I still loved it! Especially the humour. The comedy still works now and it's the perfect blend of darkness and humour. It was such an entertaining film and gives deeper meaning to the songs from the musical.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment your thoughts. Stay amazing!
Chloe