Top 10 Jaw-Dropping Moments From Jawbreaker

"Jawbreaker" is a film about bad girls doing bad girl things, but it wasn't the first to go down this road. In fact, the film is indebted stylistically to both old school, "girl gang" exploitation cinema of the fifties, sixties and seventies, as well as the eighties black comedy "Heathers." Director Darren Stein was quoted in the New York Times describing the sickeningly sweet duality of youthful innocence versus the dark underbelly of high school hormones and ruthless social climbing. These themes would be mined by other films after Stein's vision hit movie screens, but it's still not unfair to say that just as there would likely be no "Mean Girls" without "Jawbreaker," there would also be no "Jawbreaker" without "Heathers."

Courtney Shayne is not one to let a slight, any slight, go unchallenged. As such, this tense bathroom standoff with Vylette adds further fuel to the Flawless Four implosion. Here, Vylette is enjoying her newfound popularity so much that she feels untouchable, and laughs it off when Courtney tells her to respect her place in the clique. Shayne then exposes Vylette's true identity as school outcast Fern Mayo to the entire school, destroying in one fell swoop what she earlier had helped create. It establishes Shayne as a nearly untouchable presence within the school, showcasing her dangerousness as well as lifting her to the apex of her role as lead antagonist.

The next moment on our list isn't so much specific, as it is referencing the film's overall style and tone. "Jawbreaker" adopts a purposefully gaudy color palette, to the point where director Darren Stein reportedly forbid his actresses to wear black. Instead, his crew raided Los Angeles thrift stores for the tightest and brightest duds around, decking out his leads in 1950s pencil skirts, cardigans and corsets for a sexy update of retro chic. The cast never feels exploited by showing a ton of skin, but they always remain sexy, strong and in charge. Perhaps this is why the fashion sense of "Jawbreaker" has endured so long after other nineties teen films have fallen by the wayside.

Taking things back for a moment, we just have to discuss the murder of Liz Purr once again. Specifically, the scene where Liz's body is discovered, unresponsive, in the trunk is the film's grisliest and most extreme scene. Maybe it's the gross lump in Liz's throat from the jawbreaker, or the creepy bruised skin, but this discovery makes it clearly evident that Purr is NOT coming back, and that the Flawless Four have one serious situation on their hands. Although much of "Jawbreaker" is played for satirical laughs, there's nothing funny about the sad demise of Liz Purr, the teen dream.

We've discussed Vylette and Fern Mayo a bit so far, but the next moment in our list is that all important scene when the character is inducted into the Flawless Four as its newest member. The reasoning behind this is due to the fact that it’s Fern who stumbles across Courtney, Marcie and Julie as they're arranging Liz's body in the bed. Although Courtney attempts to spin Liz's death as being the result of a sexual assault, they convince Fern to keep quiet by giving her a makeover and a new identity. Thus, Vylette the Exchange Student is born as a means to cover up Liz's death via some good, old fashioned bribery.

Speaking of "cover-ups," let it not be said that Courney Shayne isn't extremely thorough when it comes to covering her tracks. This dark and creepy scene is revealed as one of the Four, Julie, is having a crisis of faith. She learns that Courtney picked up a sleazy stranger in a bar and had sex with him in Liz's bed to further distance herself from the murder. The fact that the stranger is played up to the hilt by Rose McGowan's then-boyfriend Marilyn Manson only accentuates the blurred-reality lines of the scene. Furthermore, it showcases that there's literally nothing that Courtney won't do to save her own skin.

Every good villain deserves some truly sweet comeuppance, right? Well, this is exactly what happens to Courtney Shayne at the end of "Jawbreaker," and it all takes place at the pivotal high school prom. We've already mentioned how Julie's character has turned away from the Flawless Four at this point, but when a recordable birthday card accidentally captures Courtney's full confession? Well, it's just desserts, as Julie and her boyfriend play the evidence in front of the whole school (including The Donnas, who appear in a brief cameo), who immediately turn on Courtney, pelting her with garbage and insults. Shayne is exposed and humiliated, but most importantly: she's going to prison.

It's the scene for which "Jawbreaker" is best known; a picture-perfect visual sequence if there ever was one. Maybe it's the slow motion strut, the awesome wardrobe or the Queen Bee confidence, but the Flawless Four KILL it during their introduction. Courtney, Julie, Marcie and Liz Purr saunter their way through the high school halls as Imperial Teen's "Yoo Hoo" sounds off as the group's unofficial theme. Yet, we also see Liz as the only one to help out Fern Mayo when she drops her books. Given that we don't get to spend all that much time with Purr when she's alive, this scene offers up a nice bit of humanizing character development before the titular jawbreaker puts out Liz's lights for good.