Script To Screen: “Heathers”

The final sequence in the 1988 Heathers, written by Daniel Waters.

Logline: A girl who half-heartedly tries to be part of the “in crowd” of her school meets a rebel who teaches her a more devious way to play social politics.

THE PREP ASSEMBLY The assembly mindlessly blares on. Cheerleader HEATHER
MCNAMARA rah-rah-rahs. RODNEY and the other Geeks pass around
a pair of opera glasses, all intensely scoping out the
cheerleaders. A group of STONERS toke away beneath the
bleachers, one of them lackadaisically leaning against a
thermal bomb. THE BOILER ROOM HALLWAY A snarling J.D. stands up, pulling VERONICA with him. J.D.
You think just because you started
this thing, you can end it? J.D. violently kisses/bites VERONICA. While kissing, VERONICA
sees a fire alarm on a nearby wall. She closes her eyes then
savagely knees J.D. in the groin. VERONICA bolts to the alarm
and pulls it down. Nothing happens. J.D. gasps. J.D.
You, really didn't think I'd, forget,
forget, to disconnect the.... VERONICA rockets her body down and picks up the gun. J.D.
grabs her and throws her against the steel boiler room door. A jostled VERONICA raises the gun. J.D. howls then bounds
toward VERONICA, causing them both to careen down the steel
steps of the boiler room. At the same time, he inadvertently
kicks the gym bag/bomb down along with them. The gun spins
from VERONICA's hand and slides away. The bomb flies out of
the bag onto the boiler room floor. A digital clock on
the bomb clicks on at 5:00....4:59....4:58... THE PEP ASSEMBLY The frenzied pep assembly crowd is now doing "The Wave". BETTY
FINN and her similar co-horts deliriously get into the act,
all sit in a circle at the bottom rows of the bleachers,
pouting as STUDENTS bounce up and down around them. EARL and
the other Jocks stand on the stage grinning and preening
before the crowd. THE BOILER ROOM VERONICA and J.D. are in a heap at the bottom of the boiler
room steps. VERONICA faintly works into a semi-sitting
position and gives an astonished glance to the bomb, its
digital clock clicking to 3:00. VERONICA crawls to the gun and
levels it at a rousing-up J.D. VERONICA
The bomb's gone on, J.D.! How do
you turn it off? Tell me! Fully standing, J.D. flicks open his switchblade. He gives
VERONICA "the finger," screaming in exploded saliva... J.D.
Fuck you! Seething, VERONICA shoots up at J.D. blowing off "the finger."
Shrieking in pain, J.D. drops the knife to hold this sudden
geyser of blood. VERONICA achingly stands, pointing the gun.
The bomb clicks down to 2:25. VERONICA
It's all over, J.D. Help me to stop it. J.D.
You want to wipe the slate clean as
much as I do. Okay, so maybe I am
killing everyone in the school
because nobody loves me. You have a
purpose though! Remember? Let's face
it, the only place different social
types can genuinely get along with
each other is in heaven. VERONICA fires the gun at J.D.'s feet. The bomb clicks to 1:49. VERONICA
How do you turn the fucker off? J.D.
You're not listening. People are
going to look at the ashes of
Westerburg and say there's a school
that self-destructed not because
society didn't care, but because
that school was society. Is that
deep or what? I'll let you put it in
your diary, babe. Free of charge. VERONICA
The bomb, asshole! J.D.
Just push the red button twice.
That's what stops it. If that's
what you want, babe? VERONICA
You know what I want, babe? J.D.
What? VERONICA fires the gun twice into J.D.'s throat. Coughing and
moaning, he splatters against a generator. VERONICA
Cool guys like you out of my life. VERONICA saunters to J.D.'s writhing body. VERONICA
But babe, don't worry, these here
were Ich Luge bullets. J.D. closes his eyes and slumps to the ground. VERONICA turns
to the bomb and crouches over it. A lit green light is next to
a green button. Above it, an unlit red light is next to a red
button. The bomb's digital clock clicks to 00:17. VERONICA
presses the red button twice, turning on the red light and
stopping the clock. VERONICA falls back into a sitting
position and sorely exhales, tears streaming down her face. THE PEP ASSEMBLY A cheerleader does a cartwheel in slow motion as eerie music
plays. The manic crowd in the bleachers vibrates in slow
motion as well. At normal speed, VERONICA walks to the doors of the Gym and
peers in. The panorama of roaring students, posing jocks, and
prancing cheerleaders continues to unfold in slow motion.
VERONICA walks away from the gym. EXT. THE FRONT OF THE SCHOOL DAY VERONICA wearily pushes open the front door and emerges
outside of the school. She closes her eyes to therapeutically
bask in the sun's rays. A slight smile trembles onto her face.
A strange voice kills it. J.D. (O.S.)
Color me impressed. J.D. stands starkly in the distance before her, blood spurting
from his throat onto his gunslinger coat. He painfully speaks
through his assasinated vocal cords. J.D.
You really fucked me up, Veronica. VERONICA
(vertigo city)
I thought I...you.. J.D.
You've got power, Veronica. Power I
didn't think you had. The slate is
clean. J.D. pulls open his coat revealing that the bomb is attached to
his torso. The green light is on and the clock says
00:10..00:09. J.D.
Pretend I did blow up the school. All
the schools. Now that you're dead,
what are you gonna do with your life? VERONICA takes the unlit cigrette from her blazer pocket and
puts it in her mouth. She then folsd her arms. VERONICA
Perfecto. J.D. raises his arms in a crucifixion pose as the bomb clicks
to 0:00. Nothing happens. An annoyed J.D. breaks out of his
crucifixion stance and raps the bomb with his palm. THE PEP ASSEMBLY The sound of the bomb explosion plunges the cheering up-and-
down pep assembly into chaos. Wailing students pour out of the
bleachers screaming less out of fear than a "Whoa Dude" sense
of excitement. THE FRONT OF THE SCHOOL VERONICA stands in the same position in front of the school
with her arms still folded. Only now her cigarette is lit and
her face and clothes are blackened in ash. Flames flicker in
bushes behind her. VERONICA drags on the cigarette and turns
to go inside. INT. THE FRONT HALLWAY VERONICA strolls into the school and into a hallway of howling
students, some of whom are tearing down Prom banners for the
thrill of it. HEATHER DUKE rushes up to VERONICA and grimaces. HEATHER DUKE
Veronica, you look like hell. VERONICA
Yeah, I just got back. VERONICA tosses away the cigarette. She then grabs HEATHER
DUKE by the shoulders and forcibly turns her around. HEATHER DUKE
What are you doing? VERONICA
Heather, my love, there's a
new sheriff in town. VERONICA takes off HEATHER DUKE's red ribbon and ties it
around the hair of her own head. She kisses HEATHER DUKE on
the cheek, leaving a black stain. VERONICA calls off. VERONICA
Hey, Martha, wait up. MARTHA DUNNSTOCK/DUMPTRUCK revealed to be in an electric
wheelchair, brakes to a stop and looks to Veronica, confused.
VERONICA walks up beside her. MARTHA starts up her wheelchair
and accompanies VERONICA away into a deserted hallway. VERONICA
My date for the prom kind of flaked
out on me, so I thought if you
weren't doing anything that night
we could go to the video store and
rent some new releases or something.
Maybe pop some popcorn. MARTHA
I'd like that. VERONICA
So would I. VERONICA and MARTHA continue gliding down the hall
Bogart/Rains style.

The movie version of the scene:

This is a fine movie with an interesting concept, strong script and excellent performances. There are many differences between the script and screen, some pretty subtle. What do you see?

See you in comments for your thoughts about the movie Heathers.

One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a weekly series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.

For more articles in the Script To Screen series, go here.