Among several other spooky and horror-esque тιтles, actress Winona Ryder is remembered for the ’80s cult classic Heathers, a depiction of toxic clique culture taken to an extreme. Ryder is considered to have broken out in Hollywood the same year with her performance as Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice, a role she reprised in 2024’s legacy sequel. Ryder went on to star in other gothic movies like Edward Scissorhands and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, as well as earning an Oscar nomination for the more heartwarming Little Women. Her career has continued in modern times with the role of Joyce in Stranger Things.

Meanwhile, Ryder’s Heathers co-star Christian Slater gained attention mainly through this movie, appeared in тιтles such as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Interview with the Vampire in the 1990s, and is now a member of the cast of Dexter: Original Sin. Known for their respective portrayals of the edgy girl and bad boy personas (which at least partially originated with Heathers), Ryder and Slater delivered a dangerous and captivating dynamic in the classic slasher. However, Heathers was not popular when it was released, but attained cult status later.

Heathers Wasn’t A Hit In 1988, But Has Slowly Become A Cult Classic

Heathers’ Dark Tone Didn’t Originally Land With Audiences

Heathers follows Veronica Sawyer (Ryder), an introverted teenager who has been accepted into the school’s queen bee clique, made up of three other girls all named Heather. Yet Veronica is completely miserable when her so-called new “friends” are all terrible bullies. She then meets new student Jason “J.D.” Dean (Slater), whom she finds to be an attractive rebel, and they begin a relationship. However, J.D. begins killing students he thinks deserve it, with Veronica’s somewhat unwilling help. Heathers received good reviews at the time of its release but barely made $1 million against a $2-3 million budget (via Box Office Mojo).

Some things about Heathers don’t hold up particularly great today when the movie covers a lot of sensitive subject matter and not all of it is handled well. Themes including teen violence, suicide, drug abuse, and overall cynicism made it difficult for Heathers to land with audiences in the 1980s, a decade that thrived on feel-good movies overlapping with many subgenres. Most critics got that Heathers’ dark nature was the whole point, even if audiences didn’t. For instance, Desson Thompson of The Washington Post said back then:

“[Heathers] may be the nastiest, cruelest fun you can have without actually having to study law or gird leather products. If movies were food, Heathers would be a cynic’s chocolate binge.”

Heathers was likely able to enter cult classic territory as Winona Ryder became a more popular star for movies that boasted a darker tone, encouraging people to give this one a try. The film never entirely escaped some of its more controversial material, which partially became the reason that a Heathers TV show was canceled. Heathers may have ultimately been more of a ’90s movie than an ’80s one (despite the predominant fashion trends present), and people came to love its nihilism, especially about the high school experience.

Why Heathers Is THE Quintessential ’80s Cult Classic

Heathers Goes Against The Grain Of The 1980s

Heathers is arguably a perversion of the coming-of-age movies that dominated the 1980s, largely the productions of John Hughes and the Brat Pack. In these movies, teenagers are dealing with serious matters, but their interactions with each other are largely wholesome as they support one another in their home and school lives. Even Stand by Me, which revolves around a child’s death, focuses on the bonds of friendship. Heathers, on the other hand, is the epitomal ’80s cult classic because it blends the high school setting with the violence of the decade’s defining horror movies.

Heathers is very ’80s in its style, but it takes a sledgehammer to the notion that high school is a time of unforgettable fun and life-long bonds or mature romantic relationships being forged. Underneath all its cynicism, it is ultimately promoting kindness and connection à la Mean Girls but still presents high school itself as empty. Something like this might have been hard to sell within the short timeframe of a theatrical run against the backdrop of the Breakfast Club era, but once people had more time to digest it, they found that Heathers spoke to them.