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:

Seth Green, the only person in the movie to be in the spin-off show, was cut from the movie, but still appears on the video cover

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:

Buffy's Dad: Ok Honey, be good.
[Kisses Buffy]
Buffy's Dad: And stay away from the Jag!
Buffy: Good bye.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Dark Age (#2.8)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

INNER MIND

"I Didn't Even Break A Nail!"

Buffy (Kristy Swanson) is a stereotypical South California high school girl who is informed by a man named Merrick (Donald Sutherland) that she is "The Chosen One" of her generation and that she will have to fulfill her destiny as a hunter and destroyer of vampires. Right away she has to go to work as vampire leader Lothos (Rutger Hauer) and his sidekick (Paul Reubens, in one of his best non-Pee Wee Herman roles) are gobbling up the young population of L.A.

Light, air-headed 1990's L.A. spin on vampire stories is reasonably fun. You could do worse than this.

High marks for the cast. Swanson is perfect for her role and ably supported by Sutherland, Reubens, Hauer, Luke Perry, David Arquette, and Hilary Swank (in a pre-Oscar role).

As we all know by now, this was the film that inspired the subsequent TV series starring Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy.

Slightly above average so I give it six out of ten.