Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Movie That Launched the Popular Television Show
Written: Oct 08 '06
Product Rating:
Pros: Unique, entertaining movie. Donald Sutherland.
Cons: Not as good as the tv show. Corny.
The Bottom Line: Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the movie that launched Joss Whedon's very popular television show. It was entertaining even though it had some problems.
dragonfire88's Full Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
In 1992, a movie called Buffy the Vampire Slayer was released. At the time, most of the publicity seemed to be about the fact that Luke Perry was in it. The movie did well enough that Joss Whedon, the man who wrote the screenplay, was able to get a television show based on the movie on the air a few years later. The show went on to become very popular, running for seven seasons. Since I enjoyed the show once I started watching it, I decided to pick up the DVD of the movie when I found it cheap.
Buffy was a perky blonde cheerleader that was involved with planning the senior dance at her high school. Some teenagers were found dead around town with strange wounds on their necks. One day a man named Merrick showed up to talk to Buffy. He knew things about her and told her that she was the chosen one to kill vampires. She didn’t believe him at first but he managed to convince her and she started training to kill vampires. She was soon hunting vampires at night and juggling her school responsibilities with that. She received help from Pike, a guy that had dealt with a few vampires himself. Buffy was going to have to try to deal with Lothos, the very powerful vampire king who was behind the recent deaths around town.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was not a typical vampire movie. At first Buffy seemed like the typical victim in a horror movie, pretty, young, blonde, and just a bit flighty. Those types of characters tended to cower in a corner or something, waiting for some big, strong man to rescue her from the nasty vampire or whatever monster was after her. Buffy wasn’t like that at all. She didn’t need anyone to rescue her and in fact she was the one that did the rescuing. Merrick had talked about how the chosen vampire slayers had always been young women. It was rather nice to see such a strong female character in this type of movie.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer included a lot of comedy throughout the movie even though Buffy spent most of the movie fighting vampires or training to fight them. A lot of the humor was provided by things that Buffy said or did. She had a unique way of thinking and saying things at times. The movie did end up being kind of corny and silly. The movie took a more light hearted look at vampires than most other vampire movies have. People in the mood for a serious vampire movie should pick a different movie. I did read that a lot of changes were done to Whedon’s original script, which I think is why it was sillier than the television show. A scene or two tried to be more serious though they never reached the depths that Whedon created for his later television shows. Buffy did fight several vampires that added a small amount of action to the movie. Even with those scenes there really wasn’t much violence in the movie. The movie was rated PG-13, so parents may want to check out the movie before letting a child watch it.
Five years after this movie was released, Joss Whedon got a televison show about Buffy on the air. The series was on for seven seasons, gained a very large loyal fan base, and even lead to another show, Angel. The series picked up a little while after the end of the movie when Buffy and her mother moved to Sunnydale. Really the only thing that carried over to the series was Buffy’s name and the general idea of her being a vampire slayer. The movie wasn’t anywhere near as good as the television show. I’m pretty sure that Whedon had more control over the show, which would be why it was better. Certain things that were established in the movie were changed for the television show. Buffy went from being a senior in high school to a sophomore, her parents were divorced, and her mother Joyce played a bigger role. She didn’t even have a name in the movie. Once the show started, Buffy did mention some things that had happened before she moved to Sunnydale. At least one of those events had been in Whedon’s original screenplay and was then changed for the movie. I read that Whedon based the show on his original screenplay instead of what was in the movie.
Most people that are even somewhat familiar with the Buffy television show know that Giles was her watcher. When Merrick told Buffy about her being the slayer, he never called himself a watcher and never mentioned the council or that there were other watchers. He said things that indicated that he’d known and trained all the previous slayers. He talked about knowing from birth each time that he was meant to help the slayer, so it was like he’d been reincarnated over and over. That was very different from how it was for the television show. I do think I remember Buffy talking about Merrick and calling him her watcher during the television series. Since I found out how much the script was originally changed, I have wondered if things about the watchers and the council was in it at first.
The vampires had a very different look in this movie than they would have in the television show. In the movie, the vampires looked strange with pathetic fangs and pointy ears. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a vampire in any other movie that had pointy ears. That was just strange. The vampires really didn’t look scary or menacing. I think the vampires looked much better in the television show. When a vampire was staked in the movie, nothing much happened. They just fell over, sometimes grabbing the stake in the process of falling. There weren’t any special effects used when the vampires were staked. The scenes when vampires were staked did seem a bit corny, especially one scene in particular. For some reason, one vampire had a more drawn out death after being staked that involved him moaning and groaning and making stupid faces.
Buffy showed a few signs of the Buffy from the television show every so often during the movie though overall she was not as mature and a bit sillier. Part of why Buffy seemed more responsible and mature in the television show was probably because of a few things Buffy had to deal with before she moved to Sunnydale. Buffy did start off acting a bit flighty in the movie, only caring about getting to cheerleading practice, spending time with her boyfriend, and planning the perfect senior dance. She did start changing after she actually dealt with some vampires, acting a little more like the Buffy from the television show. Kristy Swanson was all right in the part. She was believable, especially in the scenes when Buffy was more of a ditz. Buffy’s mother was only around in a few brief scenes and she was as dingy as her daughter.
Merrick knew that Buffy was the chosen slayer and set out to train her to fight vampires. He was an important character since he was the one that got Buffy to fight vampires, but there really wasn’t too much shared about him. Donald Sutherland was good in the part. Pike and his friend Benny didn’t seem to have jobs and they weren’t in high school. They were basically bums. Pike realized there were vampires around town and ended up helping Buffy and Merrick. The only publicity I remember the movie getting was because of the fact that Luke Perry was in the movie. He was all right as Pike, though nothing special. David Arquette was around in a few scenes as Benny. The character was a bit goofy like others I’ve seen him play. Lothos was the very powerful vampire that was planning to take over the town. He did look more normal than the other vampires. Rutger Hauer was fine in the part. Paul Reubens had a small part as Amilyn, a vampire that was sort of an assistant to Lothos. Hillary Swank turned up as one of the girls in Buffy’s class.
Cast
David Arquette - Benny
Rutger Hauer - Lothos
Luke Perry - Pike
Paul Reubens - Amilyn
Donald Sutherland - Merrick
Hillary Swank - Kimberly
Kristy Swanson - Buffy
Fran Rubel Kuzui - Director
DVD Information
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is available on DVD. I found my copy for just over $5 at Wal-Mart, so it can be found cheap. The DVD has the movie in the widescreen format and surround sound is available. There were a few extras that included the theatrical trailer, two different trailers that ran on television and a short featurette about the movie. I think the featurette was made for the FOX network to help promote the fact that Luke Perry, who was on Beverly Hills 90210 at the time, was in the movie.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was entertaining, though it isn’t as good as the television show. I did think it was interesting to see the first version of Buffy after enjoying the show. It was silly and corny, so people should keep that in mind when deciding to see the movie.
A fully accessorized L.A. high school cheerleader is informed by a mysterious stranger that she is destined to battle vampires. Soon she's wreaking ha...More at Family Video
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