BETTER OFF DEAD (1985)

BETTER OFF DEAD (1985)

Tagline: I have been going to this high school for seven years... I'm no dummy.

(Comedy, Skiing, I Want My Two Dollars) [PG]

Truly a sight to behold. A man beaten. The once great champ, now, a study in moppishness. No longer the victory-hungry stallion we've raced so many times before, but a pathetic, washed-up, aged ex-champion.

In this one Lane Meyer is a teenager obsessed with his girlfriend Beth Truss. Beth decides to leave him for an arrogant skier and Lane plunges into depression. Lane decides to enter a ski tournament to try and impress Lane, after finally deciding suicide isn’t an option. Lane ends up meeting a foreign exchange student named Monique who is staying close by. As it turns out, she knows how to ski and fix cars, but can Lane overcome his obsession with Beth before he loses what’s right in front of him?

If you start watching this and immediately think it’s a lot like ONE CRAZY SUMMER in regards to the animated bits, that is because both films were directed by Savage Steve Holland. Apparently, after this film John Cusack (HIGH FIDELITY) who plays Lane, hated working with Steve so much that he didn’t want to do ONE CRAZY SUMMER but was under contract too. For years he disavowed both films but eventually warmed up to BETTER OFF DEAD around 2013. Who knows what he thinks these days, in real life Cusack seems to have some sort of malfunction and says all kinds of crazy crap all the time. You would think if he was hating being involved in this movie these days, it would be because of creeper Dan Schneider who literally plays a creeper in this flick.

This one has a darker comedic tone than ONE CRAZY SUMMER, but I think this one is more consistently funny just because there are so many outlandish sequences. I liked some of the symbolism used in this as well. Some of it’s pretty subtle, but it shows attention to detail. As an example at the beginning of the movie, Lane has nothing but pictures of Beth everywhere in his house. As he is trying to get over her though, you start to see less and less of them. This isn’t to say he wasn’t still messed up over her, but little touches like that I think are visually giving us signals that at least he is trying to get over her, even if he can’t.

Acting wise Diane Franklin who isn’t French did a pretty great job of playing French foreign student Monique. Depending on your qualifications for what a scream queen is, she probably qualifies on at least one level, she was in TERRORVISION, a couple AMITYVILLE films, and an episode of “Freddy’s Nightmares”. The movie also features the ridiculously versatile Curtis Armstrong who plays Lane’s friend Charles. I don’t know if this is Curtis’s funniest role, but it’s way up there if you like this style of humor. He was also in ONE CRAZY SUMMER but is probably still best known for playing “Booger” in the REVENGE OF THE NERDS films. Japanese-American actor Yuji Okumoto might have been really good in this, but we will never know, because in the movie they dubbed over his Howard Cosell voice because he used an Asian accent when doing it. I guess he wasn’t too pissed about it, but that kind of sucks. I am sure that Amanda Wyss is a good actress, but I did not like her role in this as Beth. 

On a humor level a lot of this hits, but I am sure a lot of people that watch it these days will find one way or another to be offended because this thing isn’t PC at all. There is a dancing Claymation hamburger scene in this that stands out as one of the crazier moments in a comedy from the 80s and it’s absolutely glorious. I also thought the soundtrack was outstanding. Pacing wise it is slightly disjointed, but overall this turns out to be a pretty heartwarming and hopeful film in spite of Lane’s challenges. Lines like “I think all you need is a small taste of success and you will find it suits you” are absolutely classic. There is also a funny moment that reminds me of my brother when he was in high school. Lane has an assignment folded up in his pocket and it’s got gum on it. My brother never carried a folder around. He had every assignment folded up and shoved into his pants pockets. So he would often say “Let me check my folder” and reach into his pockets to try and find whatever assignment he was working on. 

This one gets a 6 out of 7. It’s probably just the tiniest notch better than ONE CRAZY SUMMER, but I grew up with that one. I didn’t see this till May of 2023 even after hearing how great it was for decades.

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