Better Off Dead/Trivia


 * Actor Allusion: When Beth (Amanda Wyss) shows up at the dance, there is someone behind her wearing Freddy Krueger's sweater. Wyss played Krueger's first victim in A Nightmare on Elm Street.
 * The Cameo: Twiki from Buck Rogers in the 25th Century appears in the background of the Christmas scene. Also an Actor Allusion of sorts -- Mel Blanc, the voice of Barney Rubble (who appears briefly on TV and addresses Lane) is also the voice of Twiki.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!:
 * Elizabeth Daily, the voice of Tommy and Buttercup, appears as the singer in the New Years dance.
 * Also, Lane's father is Major Winchester.
 * Also also, Lane's mom is Miri and Mattie Ross.
 * Charles is Dudley Dawson!
 * Vincent Schiavelli as Mr. Kerber, the math teacher.
 * Didn't that truck driver own a strip joint near Angel Beach?
 * Old Shame: For decades John Cusack refused to discuss this film and One Crazy Summer.  As of the late 2010s, though, he seems to have relaxed about it.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!:
 * Subversion: Rich Little as the voice of the Korean guy who learned to speak English from Howard Cosell.
 * Mel Blanc, as Barney Rubble.
 * Spiritual Successor: John Cusack traveled back in time to a 1980s ski resort in Hot Tub Time Machine. Somebody is even heard shouting "I want my two dollars!" at one point.
 * This is despite the fact that Cusack at the time considered this film to be an Old Shame.
 * Cusack's protagonist in Grosse Pointe Blank also grew up in the 1980s and also had a Hilariously Abusive Childhood. He ended up becoming a professional assassin. We first meet him