Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Fran Rubel Kuzui

Writer (WGA):

Joss Whedon (written by)

Release Date:

31 July 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Comedy | Action

Tagline:

Pert. Wholesome. Way Lethal.

Plot:

A flighty teenage girl learns that she is her generation's destined battler of vampires.

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Chosen One | Cheerleading | School | Basketball

Cast

Kristy Swanson	...	Buffy
Donald Sutherland	...	Merrick
Paul Reubens	...	Amilyn
Rutger Hauer	...	Lothos
Luke Perry	...	Pike
Michele Abrams	...	Jennifer
Hilary Swank	...	Kimberly
Paris Vaughan	...	Nicole 'Nicki'
David Arquette	...	Benny
Randall Batinkoff	...	Jeffrey
Andrew Lowery	...	Andy
Sasha Jenson	...	Grueller
Stephen Root	...	Gary Murray
Natasha Gregson Wagner	...	Cassandra
Candy Clark	...	Buffy's Mom

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for comic vampire violence and drug references.

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Finland:K-16 | Australia:PG | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | UK:15 (video rating) (1993) (cut) | UK:15 (video rating) (2002) (uncut) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #31838) | UK:12 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Ballroom, Park Plaza Hotel - 607 S. Park View Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

In the original version of the script, Merrick committed suicide to escape being turned into a vampire by Lothos, who wanted to know the Slayer's identity so he could dispatch with her.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When trying to 'bond' with Buffy, the school administrator confesses he used drugs while watching the Doobie Brothers in the ‘60s. The band didn't form until 1970.

Quotes:

Lothos: [Buffy holds up a cross] This is your defense? Puh-lease. Your puny faith?
Buffy: No.
[the cross ignites in flames and she tosses the cap off a hairspray can]
Buffy: My keen fashion sense.
[she sprays the flames, shooting them at his face]

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Buffy the Vamp (1992) (V)

Soundtrack:

KEEP IT COMING (DANCE 'TILL YOU CAN'T DANCE NO MORE)

Different films earn stars in Different ways....

Buffy the vampire slayer is not a terrific film. It is not the type of cinema that leaves you breathless and reeling, nor is it the type of cinema that idles at first creeps through your dreams with pervasive intensity. No, this is Time Capsule Cinema, a voyage to the neon panoply of early 90's California in the self described "Lite Age."

Kristy Swanson is lovely as the wise cracking eponymous star, nicely alternating between clinical sarcasm and tenderness in what is, essentially, a limited role. Donald Sutherland and Rutger Howard are hilarious as ancient figures who just happen to be hip to the slangy nature of late 20th century teen dialog. Luke Perry, David Arquette and Hillary Swank (far from her best role, but my favorite film of hers!) and a few others are fine as the assemblage of irreverent teenagers, eye rolling to the max! A highlight of the film is Stephen Root, playing the principal, regaling Buffy with a cautionary tale of his experiences with LSD in the 60's..."I was at a Doobie Brothers concert..."

Oh, and by the way, that's PEE WEE FREAKIN HERMAN as the fanged creep Lefty. Boy he got outta jail just soon enough. Paul Ruebens is phenomenal, of course, and it may be his presence that allows me to shamelessly enjoy the rest of the film through my rose colored glasses of guilty nostalgia!

Too many serious films reek of Los Angeles- you can almost taste the soy burgers and smog- when they take place elsewhere. This makes it difficult to differentiate the cast of actors from the characters they are paid to represent. This film revels in LA's lack of charm and sophistication. I half expected an In-N-Out Burger commercial to pop up half way through. Not enough comedies are as unselfconscious as this one, content to poke fun at themselves till the vampires come home!

7*/10 CAMPY FUN