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Killing the Teen Dream: Biting Into ‘Jawbreaker’ at 20

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Released in 800 theatres with minimal marketing, writer/director Darren Stein’s satirical black comedy Jawbreaker made its debut on Feb 19, 1999. Apparently, Columbia/Tri-Star never intended for the film to become a big theatrical success; the goal was to conquer the home video market. In this capacity, the plan succeeded: the $3.5M film brought in $3.1M, then went on to become a smash hit on the rental circuit. 20 years later, the film is a cult classic (particularly among gays and girls), celebrated as a canonical piece of teen pop culture history and acting as the 90s stepping stone between 1988’s Heathers and 2004’s Mean Girls.

Stein’s film rifts on Heathers’ basic premise by using the accidental murder of the most popular girl in high school as a launchpad to dissect the shark-infested waters of teen popularity. Jawbreaker opens on a birthday prank gone wrong: HS sweetheart Liz Purr (Charlotte Ayanna)’s fake home invasion ends in death when the titular jawbreaker gets lodged in her throat and she asphyxiates in the trunk of her friends’ car.

Immediately sociopathic queen bee Courtney (Rose McGowan), dim-witted follower Marcie (Julie Benz) and bland Julie (Rebecca Gayheart) come to a crossroads about how to proceed. Courtney and Marcie pressure Julie into covering the murder up, and eventually Courtney frames a lecherous stranger (Marilyn Manson) and makes over Fern Mayo (Judy Greer), the only witness to the crime, in order to buy her silence. From this point on, the clique dissolves into all-out warfare, all waged in killer clothes, bitchy one-liners and a shocking exposé of Courtney’s shameful acts that unfurls at – where else? – the prom.

Jawbreaker stars a cacophony of famous actresses coming off well-known hits (post-Scream McGowan, post-Urban Legends Gayheart, and post-Buffy The Vampire Slayer Benz) and features, in one of her earliest roles, what should have been a star-making performance by Greer. While the film falls firmly into teen film / black comedy territory, the gaggle of genre vets in supporting roles, including Carrie’s PJ Soles and William Katt, When A Stranger CallsCarol Kane and Foxy Brown herself, Pam Grier, makes this a fun watch for horror fans.

Aside from the litany of famous faces, there are two other reasons why the film has developed such a devoted fan base since its release two decades ago: the iconic costumes and Stein’s gleefully acerbic script.

Vikki Barrett, whose credits include the similarly memorable wardrobe from Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, was responsible for crafting the distinctive outfits for Jawbreaker’s teen dream team. Barrett worked closely with the four lead actresses to craft distinctive looks for each girl and the attention to detail pays off (particularly for Courtney and Fern/Vylette). The costumes are exceedingly stylized and adult, a mix of high fashion and light bondage wear (many of them look like leather or latex, but are actually shiny lycra); Barrett aimed to deliver a distinctive cross between 50s and 80s aesthetics, modelling the outfits in part on the candy colours found in the chalky treat for which the film is named.

Of course, Jawbreaker’s distinctive fashion lewks would only carry it in the public consciousness for so long without a script full of bitchy jabs, sexual come-ons and witty rejoinders. In 1999, teen films were a dime-a-dozen, but few feature the kind of fragmented sentences or bullet-fire staccato rhythm of Stein’s script. In two memorable exchanges, Courtney and Marcie give plasticized doppelganger Vylette the lay of the land, using food and then later nail polish as stand-ins to understand the high school landscape.

Courtney’s one-liners, in particular, are iconic: McGowan’s delivery of bon-mots like “Now get in there and strut your shit like everything is peachy fucking keen” and “It’s not like we kill people…on purpose” elevate the material into something between pure art and high camp. It’s the perfect marriage of actress and material and McGowan has never been better.

The film itself isn’t entirely without fault. Despite employing nearly every visual trick in the book (including zany sound effects and split screens), the film’s energy lags heading into the third act, particularly when do-gooder Julie and her new boyfriend Zack (Chad Christ) take up more screen time. And no, the rape/frame job subplot, involving McGowan’s then-boyfriend Manson, literally doesn’t make any sense. There’s also some antiquated LGBTQ stereotypes, which aren’t unusual from films of this period, but are odd considering Stein is a very publicly gay director who also includes an iconic homoerotic scene featuring hunky Dane (Ethan Erickson) fellating a popsicle.

Still, between the costuming, the cast and the film’s distinctive flair in comparison to say, studio stablemate Can’t Hardly Wait (a lovely, but unassuming entry in the teen film canon), Jawbreaker remains a marvelous time capsule film. Mention the film and fans will reference the opening credits set to Veruca Salt’s “Volcano Girls”, Fern’s Beetlejuice meets Frankenstein make-over montage, Courtney’s Carrie-esque dolly-tracking prom meltdown and, above all else, the girls’ slow-motion walk down the school hallway to Imperial Teen’s “Yoo Hoo” (which this Broadly oral history piece notes Mean Girls blatantly lifts, much to Stein’s chagrin).

Twenty years later, Jawbreaker, the dark little teen film that could, persists because it is unlike anything else from the late 90s teen era (save perhaps Cruel Intentions).

In the immortal words of the cruelest girls in high school: Learn It. Live It. Love It.

Joe is a TV addict with a background in Film Studies. He co-created TV/Film Fest blog QueerHorrorMovies and writes for Bloody Disgusting, Anatomy of a Scream, That Shelf, The Spool and Grim Magazine. He enjoys graphic novels, dark beer and plays multiple sports (adequately, never exceptionally). While he loves all horror, if given a choice, Joe always opts for slashers and creature features.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

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Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

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Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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