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Tuesday February 11th 2025

Heathers | 1989

Heathers location: Osaka Sangyo University of Los Angeles, Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Studio City, San Fernando Valley
Heathers location: ‘Westerburg High’: Osaka Sangyo University of Los Angeles, Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Studio City, San Fernando Valley

Teenage fantasies of revenge on the revolting, snobby ‘Heathers’ and the macho jocks are cranked up to murderous heights when mean‘n’moody crackpot JD (Christian Slater) moves into the high school of Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder).

This superbly dark comedy would have been even darker had the original ending been kept.

Set in ‘Sherwood, Ohio’, ‘Westerburg High’ is a conflation of several schools, but the main location was the old Corvalis High School, Studio City in the San Fernando Valley. The school closed in 1987, and it's now Osaka Sangyo University of Los Angeles, 3921 Laurel Canyon Boulevard at Maxwellton Road about half a mile from Ventura Boulevard.

The funerals of the victims (“I love my dead, gay son...”) are held at the Church of the Angels, 1100 Avenue 64 in Pasadena. A screen veteran, the church was the site of the wedding of Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy in 2003 comedy Just Married, and has appeared in countless TV shows.

Heathers location: Church of the Angels, 1100 Ave 64, Pasadena
Heathers location: the funerals: Church of the Angels, 1100 Ave 64, Pasadena

The gym is that of Verdugo Hills High School, 10625 Plainview Avenue, Tujunga, seen in many other movies, including The Craft, 187 and River’s Edge.

Heathers location: John Adams Middle School, 16th Street, Santa Monica, Los Angeles
Heathers location: The ending on the steps of ‘Westerburg High’: John Adams Middle School, 16th Street, Santa Monica, Los Angeles

The explosive ending takes place on the steps of the auditorium at John Adams Middle School, 2425 16th Street, Santa Monica.

The name ‘Westerburg’ is a nod to Paul Westerburg, lead singer of Winona Ryder’s fave band of the time, The Replacements.

Oh, and the jocks’ ‘cow pushing’ takes place in a quiet corner of Griffith Park, Los Angeles.