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 | Cheerleader | Mission

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
Mark DeCarlo	...	Coach
Thomas Jane	...	Zeph (as Tom Janes)
James Paradise	...	Buffy's Dad
David Sherrill	...	Knight
Liz Smith	...	Herself - Reporter
Paul M. Lane	...	Robert Berman
Toby Holguin	...	Vampire Fan
Eurlyne Epper	...	Graveyard Woman (as Eurlyne Epper-Woldman)
Andre Warren	...	Newscaster
Bob 'Swanie' Swanson	...	Referee
Erika Dittner	...	Cheerleader
J.T. Cole	...	Biker (as J. C. Cole)
Michael Kopelow	...	Student (as Michael S. Kopelow)
Ricky Dean Logan	...	Bloody Student
Bobby Aldridge	...	Vampire
Amanda Anka	...	Vampire
Chino Binamo	...	Vampire
Al Goto	...	Vampire
Terry Jackson	...	Vampire
Mike Johnson	...	Vampire
Sarah Lee Jones	...	Vampire
Kim Robert Koscki	...	Vampire (as Kim Robert Kosci)
Clint Lilley	...	Vampire
Chi Muoi Lo	...	Vampire (as Chi-Muoi Lo)
Jimmy N. Roberts	...	Vampire
David Rowden	...	Vampire
Kenny Sacha	...	Vampire
Ben Scott	...	Vampire (as Ben R. Scott)
Kurtis Epper	...	Vampire (as Kurtis Epper Sanders)
Sharon Schaffer	...	Vampire
Lincoln Simonds	...	Vampire
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ben Affleck	...	Basketball Player #10 (uncredited)
Bryan Goeres	...	Basketball Player (uncredited)
Ricki Lake	...	Charlotte (uncredited)
Paul Pesco	...	Vampire (uncredited)
Diamond Yukai	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Fran Rubel Kuzui

Writing credits (WGA)
Joss Whedon		(written by)

Produced by
Carol Baum	....	executive producer
Alex Butler	....	associate producer
Sandy Gallin	....	executive producer
Fran Rubel Kuzui	....	executive producer
Kaz Kuzui	....	producer
Dennis Stuart Murphy	....	co-producer
Howard Rosenman	....	producer

Original Music by
Carter Burwell

Cinematography by
James Hayman		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Jill Savitt
Camilla Toniolo

Casting by
Johanna Ray

Production Design by
Lawrence Miller

Art Direction by
James R. Barrows		(as James Barrows)
Randy Moore

Set Decoration by
Claire Jenora Bowin		(as Claire Bowin)

Costume Design by
Marie France

Makeup Department
Ann Brodie	....	makeup artist: Donald Sutherland
Michelle Bühler	....	key makeup artist
Bill Forsche	....	special makeup effects artist (as William Forsche)
Mark Maitre	....	special makeup effects artist
Angela Moos	....	makeup artist (as Angela Moos)
Barbara Olvera	....	key hair stylist
Thomas E. Surprenant	....	makeup artist
Tyger Tate	....	assistant makeup artist
Dean Gates	....	special makeup effects artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Helene Mulholland	....	post-production supervisor
David Witz	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Trey Batchelor	....	second second assistant director
Richard Brodsky	....	second second assistant director
Marcei A. Brown	....	second assistant director (as Marcei Brubaker)
Freddie Hice	....	second unit director: additional photography
Josh King	....	first assistant director
Jennifer Kingry	....	second assistant director: additional photography
Terry Leonard	....	second unit director (as Terry J. Leonard)
Harvey Waldman	....	first assistant director: additional photography

Art Department
Phillip Barnes	....	scenic artist
Bobby Bednar	....	propmaker
John Peter Bernardo	....	art department production assistant (as J.P. Bernardo)
Robb Bihun	....	storyboard artist
Andy Chilcoat	....	scenic artist
Tami Chilcoat	....	scenic artist
Larry A. Cornick	....	set dresser
Larry A. Cornick	....	swing gang
Mark Dillon	....	swing gang
Lisa Ferguson	....	art department production assistant
Pedro Fernandez	....	propmaker
Michael Grover Forster	....	propmaker
Daniel Frey	....	propmaker
Claudia Gilligan Ivanjack	....	head paint foreman
Claudia Gilligan Ivanjack	....	head scenic artist
Bret Hoffman	....	propmaker
Mark Hoffman	....	propmaker
Greg Hoyt	....	propmaker
Tom Ivanjack	....	paint foreman
Tom Ivanjack	....	second head scenic artist
Ann Knight	....	lead person
Mike Kraft	....	art department coordinator
Jeffrey A. Leake	....	propmaker
Donald Lehoux	....	propmaker
Walter Lucas	....	scenic artist
Seth Micklin	....	propmaker
Jerry Miller	....	head signwriter
Teri Miller	....	second signwriter
Tom O'Brien	....	scenic artist
Lisa Ozanne	....	swing gang
Tony Riedell	....	scenic artist
Keith Roberts	....	swing gang
Garner E. Ryan	....	propmaker
Rocky Slaymaker	....	on-set dresser
R. Vincent Smith	....	assistant props
Mick Strawn	....	propmaker
Mike Welch	....	construction coordinator
Perry Welch	....	lead foreman
Brook Yeaton	....	property master

Sound Department
Steve C. Aaron	....	sound mixer (as Steve Aaron)
Gregg Barbanell	....	foley artist
Glenn E. Berkovitz	....	sound mixer: additional photography (as Glen Berkovitz)
Tim Board	....	sound editor
Brad Brock	....	adr mixer
Chris David	....	sound re-recording mixer
Teri E. Dorman	....	sound editor
Ann Ducommun	....	assistant adr editor
Gary S. Gerlich	....	supervising sound editor
Laura Graham	....	adr editor
Douglas Greenfield	....	representative: Dolby
Ron S. Herbes	....	assistant sound editor
Pieter Hubbard	....	sound editor (as Pieter S. Hubbard)
Holly Huckins	....	supervising adr editor
William Jacobs	....	sound editor
Elliott Koretz	....	sound editor (as Elliott L. Koretz)
Jimmy Ling	....	sound editor
Diane Marshall	....	foley artist
Randy Pease	....	second boom operator
Robert Renga	....	sound recordist
Sergio Reyes	....	sound re-recording mixer
Monique Salvato	....	assistant adr editor
Victoria Rose Sampson	....	adr editor (as Vickie Sampson)
Hal Sanders	....	sound editor
Ron Sistare	....	key boom operator
Harry E. Snodgrass	....	sound designer
Harry E. Snodgrass	....	sound editor (as Harry Snodgrass)
Richard LeGrand Jr.	....	sound editor (uncredited)
Dean St. John	....	foley recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Joseph P. Mercurio	....	special effects (as Joseph Mercurio)
Vincent Montefusco	....	mechanical effects foreman
Randy Tarum	....	special effects assistant (as Randy Lee Tarum)
Beecher Tomlinson	....	special effects: pyro
Hank Carlson	....	special effects makeup (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Ted Rae	....	visual effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Steve Boyum	....	stunts
Eddie Braun	....	stunts
Michele Chong	....	stunts
Jani D. Davis	....	stunts: Buffy (as Jani Davis)
Steve M. Davison	....	stunts (as Steve Davison)
Donna Evans	....	stunts: Buffy
Freddie Hice	....	stunt coordinator: additional photography
Toby Holguin	....	stunts
Jeff Jensen	....	stunts (as Jeff L. Jensen)
Pat E. Johnson	....	stunts
Cynthia Kerr	....	stunts: Buffy
Terry Leonard	....	stunt coordinator (as Terry J. Leonard)
James Lew	....	stunts
Mike H. McGaughy	....	stunts (as Mike McGaughy)
Lisa Ratzin	....	stunts: Buffy
R.A. Rondell	....	stunts
Heather Ann Ryan	....	stunts: Buffy (as Heather Ryan)
John-Clay Scott	....	stunts
Mike Watson	....	stunts (as Michael Watson)
Terry Jackson	....	additional stunt double: Luke Perry (uncredited)
Jimmy N. Roberts	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Dana Arnold	....	electrician
Patrick Barry	....	grip
Martin Bosworth	....	electrician (as Marty Bosworth)
Ron Burchfield	....	rigging grip
Geb Byers	....	first assistant camera
Philippe Carr-Forster	....	camera operator: additional photography (as Philip Carr Forster)
Bobby Cataldo	....	electrician
John C. Cole	....	dolly grip (as J.C. Cole)
Tom Conway	....	grip
Stephen Crawford	....	gaffer
Anthony DeVito	....	best boy
Anthony DeVito	....	rigging gaffer
Thomas Enright	....	electrician (as Thomas 'Tom Cat' Enright)
Leigh Feitelberg	....	second assistant camera
Richard Fezzey	....	key grip
Mark Kline	....	grip
James A. Lebovitz	....	camera operator (as James Lebovitz)
Michael Molnar	....	best boy grip
Peter Norman	....	camera operator
Mark O'Kane	....	Steadicam operator
Ron Phillips	....	still photographer
Rebecca Revak	....	camera loader (as Becky Revak)
Rebecca Revak	....	second assistant camera (as Becky Revak)
Rich Stanford	....	electrician
Tim Suhrstedt	....	director of photography: additional photography
Paul Taylor	....	Steadicam operator
Ron Newburn	....	electrician (uncredited)

Casting Department
Barbara Harris	....	voice casting
Elaine J. Huzzar	....	casting associate (as Elaine Huzzar)
Johanna Ray	....	casting
Shannon Ward	....	casting assistant
Bess Gilbert	....	extras casting (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ed Fincher	....	costumer
Jered Green	....	wardrobe supervisor (as Jared Edd Green)
Garet Reilly	....	costumer
Sharon Rosenberg	....	costumer
Nancy Steiner	....	costumer
Kimberly A. Tillman	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Gary Burritt	....	negative cutter
Dave Caldwell	....	color timer
Jeff Canavan	....	apprentice editor
Richard Candib	....	additional film editor
Jeffrey Harlacker	....	assistant editor
Candib Linda Hempling	....	post-production coordinator
Elaine Moritz	....	apprentice editor
Nancy Novack	....	first assistant editor
Beriau Picard	....	assistant editor
David Smith	....	apprentice editor

Music Department
J.J. George	....	music editor
Peter McCabe	....	associate music supervisor
Steve Mccroskey	....	music editor (as Steve McCroskey)
Ralph Sall	....	executive music producer

Transportation Department
Wayne Nelson	....	transportation coordinator (as Wayne Ray Nelson)
Wayne Williams	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Ed Allen	....	set production assistant
Avi Ariav	....	intern
Marilyn Bailey	....	script supervisor
Christopher Baker	....	assistant: Howard Rosenman
Jeffrey Berk	....	assistant production coordinator
Matt Bilski	....	office production assistant
Jeffrey Buhler	....	set production assistant
Bundy Chanock	....	set medic
Sean Corrigan	....	set production assistant
Elizabeth Ervin	....	production coordinator
Lisa Estrada	....	choreographer: cheerleading
Russ Fega	....	assistant locations
Christy Fiero	....	assistant accountant (as Christy Susskind)
Marilyn Heston	....	unit publicist
Sam Hurwitz	....	video sequences
Pat E. Johnson	....	martial arts trainer
Talia Jones	....	assistant: Kaz Kuzui
Shannon Kane	....	assistant accountant
Ross Katz	....	set production assistant
Leland LeBarre	....	set production assistant
James Lew	....	martial arts trainer
Lori Lombardo	....	assistant: Fran Rubel Kuzui
Benny Lopez	....	caterer
Elia Martinez	....	assistant: Dennis Stuart Murphy
Dylan McKenna	....	accounting assistant
George McQuade	....	craft service
Arturo Padilla	....	caterer
Rick Rothen	....	location manager
Scott Shiffman	....	production accountant
Eddie Simbana	....	office production assistant
B.J. Witz	....	medic
Jeff Coopwood	....	adr voice (uncredited)
Christopher Landry	....	extras coordinator (uncredited)

Thanks
Ron Bricke	....	thanks
Martin Fink	....	thanks
Michael Hill	....	thanks
Motoji Hiruta	....	thanks
Hidetoshi Kimura	....	thanks
Lynn Roddy	....	thanks
Irene Speiser	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
• Kuzui Enterprises
• Sandollar

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (as Twentieth Century Fox)
• Fox Video (USA) (VHS)
• Fox Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (DVD)
• Fox Network (1995) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1996) (Finland) (TV)
• Oy Europa Vision AB (1993) (Finland) (video)
• Premiere (1994) (Germany) (TV)
• Pro 7 (199?) (Germany) (TV)
• SubTV (2006) (Finland) (TV)
• TM 3 (????) (Germany) (TV)
• Vox (????) (Germany) (TV)

Other Companies

• CD Casting  extras casting
• Mario's Catering  catering
• Kona Cutting  negative cutting
• American Humane Association, The  animal action supervision
• Denon  thanks
• Poetic Justice  title design: main titles
• Cinema Research  titles and opticals
• Columbia Records  soundtrack released by

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:

Buffy's last name is never mentioned in the movie. Not until the release of the series was she referred to as Buffy Summers.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Wires are visible when Robert Berman flies up out of his grave for the first time.

Quotes:

Lothos: You and I are one.
Buffy: One what? Cute couple? I don't THINK so.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Best! Movies! Ever!: Proms (#1.17)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

MAN SMART, WOMAN SMARTER

Tongue-in-cheek but it doesn't make a great movie

First off I have to say my review of this movie may be somewhat coloured by my adoration of the television series. Despite sharing a few superficial elements - a character called Buffy who slays vampires and who has a watcher - the two are quite distinctive (even if Joss Whedon penned them both).

"Buffy" here is very much played with a tongue-in-cheek. It's Clueless meets Dracula. Buffy and her cohorts are shallower than an evaporated puddle and Buffy can only learn to grow up when heaped with the responsibility of being the Chosen One, destined to slay vampires. The vampires in question are just people with white faces played up in quite a camp manner and bare little resemblance to the sharp, wise, smart vampires favored by both the TV series and other movies.

There's no acting of any note and the plot is wet-paper thin. The direction isn't memorable... so what stops the movie getting a 0 or a 1? The humour. The movie is played for laughs, taking a bit of a dig at pop culture and vampire lore. There's some great lines in it - particularly the "kill him A LOT!" line. Watch the coach at the basketball game for similar humour, and there is an unforgettable vampire staking towards the movie end that's very amusing.

The movie looks like it was shot on a shoe-string budget (adding to the camp tongue-in-cheek parody feel) and has none of the production values we'd see Whedon employ later on. What it does have is a sometimes very amusing line in black humour offset somewhat by an irritating need to follow the "Clueless" mould of teenagers (which was, admittedly, the trend at the time). It's not an awfully bad movie but it's not really all that good. In the end it's a 5.5/10 from me.