Better Off Dead was often overlooked in favor of the classic John Hughes teen comedies, but it for those with a dark sense of humor, it's just as good, if not better. For those that love the film, this trivia on Mental Floss is not to be missed as it's filled with all kinds of surprising facts about the movie. For example, the fact that it's semi-autobiographical, including writer and director Steve Holland's attempted and botched suicide:
I went into the garage, and I put an extension cord on a pipe, and I’m on a garbage can, and I’m thinking, ‘Should I do this? Maybe this isn’t a good idea.’ Anyway, it was a plastic garbage can, and my weight just like crashed through it and I fell, and the pipe broke! And it starts pouring water everywhere. And I’m basically in a garbage can, drowning. And my mom comes and starts yelling at me for breaking a pipe, which is what any mom would do.
Another fun fact: John Cusack absolutely hated the movie when it came out though now his feelings have softened a little and he claims he never actually hated it, he just "didn’t really have a feel for it.”
So check out the full list of trivia tidbits at Mental Floss.