Nasty, bitchy, funny and so 'very'

The premise of a teen comedy starring Winona Ryder, Christian Slater and Shannen Doherty may seem about as irresistible as a 'Blossom' Reunion Tour, but this is a surprisingly dark and cynical satire that is sharper than anything released since.

The 'Heathers' are a select clique of croquet-playing meanies all called Heather. Winona Ryder's character is desperate to join the group - strange considering she spends most of the film complaining about them - but it's not until she meets Christian Slater's mysterious outsider that she finally decides to use murder as a means of social cleansing.

It's slow to start with, but once Slater and Ryder begin their Bonnie and Clyde-style antics, the true power of 'Heathers' is achieved. It delivers wickedly funny jabs at middle-class students, laid-back parents and fluffy-minded educators; its real target is hypocrisy and self-importance, and even though the high school setting ties it down a bit at the beginning and the end, the film as a whole is brilliantly effective.