Initially met with mixed reviews on release, it has since developed a cult following[citation needed] for its unconventionally surreal and absurdist humor.

In the town of Greendale[a], Northern California, high school student Lane Meyer's two main interests are skiing and his girlfriend of six months, Beth.

Lane lives in a suburban development with his mother Jenny, a ditzy housewife who routinely concocts creepy (and creeping) family meals; his genius little brother Badger, who never speaks but at the age of "almost 8" can build powerful lasers and attract trashy women from "How-to" books; and his lawyer father, Al, who daily tries to stop the menacing paperboy, Johnny, from breaking his garage door windows with thrown newspapers.

As Lane attempts to either end his life or win back his ex-girlfriend, he gradually gets to know a new girl: a French foreign-exchange student named Monique, who has a crush on him.

She is staying with Lane's overbearing neighbor Mrs. Smith, who continually tries to force Monique into being a girlfriend for her socially awkward son Ricky.

Lane and Monique are last seen kissing on home plate at Dodger Stadium, with Johnny bicycling towards them, while in a mid-credit scene Badger launches a homemade space shuttle from his room through the roof of the house.

Anaya also played bully Grover Dill in A Christmas Story (1983) and young Michael Anthony in the music video for Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher" (1984).

[5] Better Off Dead was one of the few films critics Siskel & Ebert featured on their weekly television show At the Movies while bypassing entirely in their respective Chicago newspapers.

[6][7] Bill Cosford of The Miami Herald wrote, "Better Off Dead has the body of a tired teen comedy but the soul of an inspired student film; it's the first movie in a long time to interrupt itself periodically with flights of animated fancy.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Better Off Dead is an anarchic mix of black humor and surreal comedy anchored by John Cusack's winsome, charming performance.

The opening track, "With One Look (The Wildest Dream)", was produced by Hine and features Cy Curnin and Jamie West-Oram of the Fixx on lead vocals and guitars, respectively.

"Come to Your Rescue" was performed by Thinkman, a group formed by, and including, Hine for the purpose of restoring his solo career without the music press knowing about it.

", Neil Sedaka's "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do", Paul Simon's "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover", Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady", Frank Sinatra singing "A Man Alone" by Rod McKuen, Hall & Oates' "She's Gone", and Muddy Waters' "Mannish Boy".