''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is a 1992 American
comedy horror
Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary genre, literary, television genre, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three ty ...
film directed by
Fran Rubel Kuzui
Fran Rubel Kuzui is an American film director and producer. She received her master's degree from New York University and was a script supervisor for a decade, prior to her first film, 1988's ''Tokyo Pop'', which she co-wrote and directed. The mo ...
and starring
Kristy Swanson
Kristen Noel Swanson (born December 19, 1969) is an American actress. She is best recognized for having played Buffy Summers in the 1992 film '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and appeared in the 1996 film ''The Phantom''.
Her first starring role w ...
,
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films ''Citizen X'' (1995) an ...
,
Paul Reubens
Paul Reubens (; born Rubenfeld; August 27, 1952) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and children's entertainer. He is known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s, an ...
,
Rutger Hauer
Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century.
Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...
,
Luke Perry
Coy Luther "Luke" Perry III (October 11, 1966 – March 4, 2019) was an American actor. He became a teen idol for playing Dylan McKay on the Fox television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' from 1990 to 1995, and again from 1998 to 2000. He ...
,
Hilary Swank
Hilary Ann Swank (born July 30, 1974) is an American actress and film producer. She first became known in 1992 for her role on the television series '' Camp Wilder'' and made her film debut with a minor role in ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1992 ...
, and
David Arquette
David Arquette (born September 8, 1971) is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film franchise ''Scream'', for which he won a Teen Choice Award and two Blockbuster Enter ...
. It follows a
Valley Girl
A valley girl is a socioeconomic, linguistic, and youth subcultural stereotype and stock character originating during the 1980s: any materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocal and California dialect features, ...
cheerleader
Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...
named
Buffy who learns that it is her fate to
hunt
Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, e ...
vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
s. It was a moderate success at the box office, but received mixed reception from critics.
The film took a different direction from that which its writer,
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series: ...
, intended. Five years later, he created the darker, and critically acclaimed, television series
of the same name.
Plot
Buffy Summers
Buffy Anne Summers is the title character of the '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' franchise. She first appeared in the 1992 film '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' before going on to appear in The WB/UPN 1997–2003 television series and subsequent 1998 ...
is a cheerleader at Hemery High School in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. Her main concerns are shopping and spending time with her rich, snooty friends and her boyfriend, Jeffrey. While at school one day, she is approached by a man who calls himself
Merrick. He informs her that she is
The Slayer, or Chosen One, destined to
kill vampires and his duty is to guide and train her. She initially rejects his claim but changes her mind when he vividly describes a recurring dream of hers. Additionally, Buffy is exhibiting abilities not known to her, including heightened agility, senses, and endurance, yet she repeatedly tries Merrick's patience with her frivolous nature, indifference to slaying, and sharp-tongued remarks.
Conflict starts with local vampire king, Lothos, and his acolyte, Amilyn. Two young men,
Oliver Pike and Benny, are out drinking when they're attacked by Amilyn. Benny is turned, but Pike is saved by Merrick. As a vampire, Benny visits his friend Pike and tries to get him to join him. Amilyn also abducts Cassandra, a girl from Buffy's class, and sacrifices her to Lothos.
Pike decides to leave town when he realizes he is no longer safe. His plan is thwarted when he encounters Amilyn and his gang of vampires. Buffy and Merrick rescue him. After this encounter, Buffy and Pike start a friendship that eventually becomes romantic, and Pike becomes Buffy's partner in fighting the undead.
Buffy discovers her friend Grueller is a vampire. Shortly after he is dispatched, Buffy encounters Lothos and Amilyn. The vampire king puts Buffy into a hypnotic trance. Merrick intervenes, but he is killed by Lothos when he attempts to stake him. As Merrick dies, he tells Buffy to do things her own way rather than live by the rules of others.
At school, Buffy attempts to explain things to her friends, but they refuse to understand her, as they are more concerned with an upcoming school dance. Buffy falls out with them as she realizes she has outgrown their immature, selfish behavior.
At the senior dance, Buffy is dismayed to find Jeffrey has dumped her for one of her friends. She meets with Pike, and dances with him instead. Lothos sends his army of vampire minions to the school to attack the dance. During the attack, students and attendants try to fight off the vampires in the gym. Pike fights and kills Benny, while Buffy confronts Amilyn and Lothos in the school’s basement. She kills Amilyn, but Lothos starts to hypnotize her again. The trance is broken when Buffy is reminded of Merricks’s last words and she defends herself against Lothos.
Buffy returns to the gym and Lothos suddenly emerges with a sword. The Slayer and vampire king duel, and Buffy manages to defeat him. The survivors leave, Buffy and Pike share another dance and the couple ride away on a motorcycle.
Cast
Production
Writer Whedon sold the film to country singer
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...
's production company, Sandollar, in the fall of 1991. Production was limited to five weeks to accommodate
Luke Perry
Coy Luther "Luke" Perry III (October 11, 1966 – March 4, 2019) was an American actor. He became a teen idol for playing Dylan McKay on the Fox television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' from 1990 to 1995, and again from 1998 to 2000. He ...
's ''
Beverly Hills, 90210
''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran fo ...
'' filming schedule.
Whedon was involved in an advisory role early in the production but departed after becoming dissatisfied with the direction the film was taking.
Executives at
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
removed many of Whedon's jokes, believing the humor to be too abstract for audiences. They also disliked the darker elements in Whedon's original script, wanting to make it a lighter comedy. Merrick's suicide was replaced with his being killed by Lothos, and Buffy's burning down her high school gym to kill all the vampires was eliminated altogether.
All this led Whedon to finally walk off the set.
He has been highly critical of actor Donald Sutherland's behavior on set, describing him as entitled and difficult to work with.
Sutherland had a penchant for improvising or altering his lines in the script, which director Rubel Kuzui allowed him to do freely because he was the film's most high-profile star. Whedon felt this made Merrick's dialogue in the film disjointed and unintelligible.
Filming in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
included the ballroom of the
Park Plaza Hotel, where Merrick lives and trains Buffy,
John Marshall High School in
Los Feliz
LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to:
Science and technology
* Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation
* Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers
* Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...
, and the gymnasium of
University High School in
West Los Angeles
West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped differently by di ...
, where the high school dance and vampire attack was filmed.
Reception
Box office
The film debuted at #5 at the North American box office and eventually grossed $16,624,456 against a $7 million production budget.
Critical reception
On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of 36%, based on 53 reviews, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The consensus reads, "''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''s supernatural coming of age tale is let down by poor directing and even poorer plotting -- though Kristy Swanson and Paul Reubens' game performances still manage to slay."
On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Home media
The film was released on
VHS and
Laserdisc
The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...
in the U.S. in November 1992 and in the U.K. in April 1993 by
Fox Video and re-released in 1995 under the Twentieth Century Fox Selections banner. It was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
in the U.S. in 2001 and on
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
in 2011.
Television
The film was taken in a different direction from what one of its writers
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series: ...
intended, and five years later, he created the darker and acclaimed TV series
of the same name.
Many of the details given in the film differ from
those of the later television series. For example, Buffy's age and history are dissimilar; she is a senior in high school in the film, but the series starts with her as a sophomore. The film does portray who the Buffy of the TV series was before she learned of her destiny as the Slayer: a popular but selfish and superficial cheerleader. In the film, her parents are wealthy but negligent socialites who care little for her and spend their time at parties and golf tournaments; in the TV series, Buffy has a caring, newly divorced mother named
Joyce. The supernatural abilities of both vampires and the Slayer are depicted differently. The vampires in the film die like humans; in the TV series, they turn to dust. Unlike the TV series, their faces remain human albeit pale, fanged, and with notched ears, whereas in the TV series, they take on a demonic aspect, especially when newly raised. The TV series suggests that new vampires must consciously learn to maintain a human appearance. In the film, Merrick is hundreds of years old, having lived many lives training many Slayers; in the TV series, Watchers are mortal and specially trained for their role and mission. Merrick's British accent and the manner of his death are different when he appears in flashbacks in the TV series.
Joss Whedon has expressed his dissatisfaction with the film's interpretation of the script,
stating, "I finally sat down and had written it and somebody had made it into a movie, and I felt like — well, that's not quite her. It's a start, but it's not quite the girl."
According to the ''Official Buffy Watcher's Guide'', Whedon wrote the pilot to the TV series as a sequel to his original script, which is why the TV series makes references to events that did not occur in the film. In 1999,
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...
released a graphic novel adaptation of Whedon's original script under the title ''
The Origin''. Whedon stated: "The ''Origin'' comic, though I have issues with it, CAN pretty much be accepted as canonical. They did a cool job of combining the movie script with the series, that was nice, and using the series Merrick and not a certain OTHER thespian who shall remain hated."
Soundtrack
Other songs featured in the film but not the soundtrack album include: "
Everybody Hurts
"Everybody Hurts" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. from their eighth studio album, '' Automatic for the People'' (1992), and released as a single in April 1993. It peaked at number 29 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and reached the top ...
" by
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...
, "
In the Wind
''In the Wind'' is the third album by the American folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary, released in October 1963, a few months before the arrival of the Beatles heralded the British Invasion. It was reissued on audio CD in 1990.
The lead-off s ...
" by
War Babies
War children are those born to a native parent and a parent belonging to a foreign military force (usually an occupying force, but also military personnel stationed at military bases on foreign soil). Having a child by a member of a belligerent ...
, and "Inner Mind" by
Eon
Eon or Eons may refer to: Time
* Aeon, an indefinite long period of time
* Eon (geology), a division of the geologic time scale
Arts and entertainment
Fictional characters
* Eon, in the 2007 film '' Ben 10: Race Against Time''
* Eon, in the ...
.
Possible remake
On May 25, 2009, ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' reported that
Roy Lee
Roy Lee (born March 23, 1969) is an American film producer. Lee's production company, Vertigo Entertainment, has a first-look deal with Warner Bros.
Early life
Lee was born in 1969 at Wyckoff Heights Hospital, in Brooklyn, New York, to Korean p ...
and Doug Davison of
Vertigo Entertainment
Vertigo Entertainment is an American film and television production company based in Los Angeles, founded in 2001 by Roy Lee and Doug Davison.
History
In 2001, after leaving BenderSpink, Roy Lee started Vertigo Entertainment with partner Doug ...
were working with Fran Rubel Kuzui and Kaz Kuzui on a re-envisioning or relaunch of the ''Buffy'' film for the big screen. The film would not be a
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
or
prequel
A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work.
The term " ...
to the existing film or television franchise, and
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series: ...
would have no involvement in the project. None of the characters, cast, or crew from the television series would be featured. Television series executive producer
Marti Noxon
Martha Mills Noxon (born August 25, 1964) is an American television and film writer, director, and producer. She is best known for her work as a screenwriter and executive producer on the supernatural drama series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' ...
later reflected that this story might have been produced by the studio in order to frighten Whedon into taking the reins of the project. On November 22, 2010, ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' confirmed that Warner Bros. had picked up the movie rights to the remake. The film was set for release sometime in 2012. 20th Century Fox, which usually holds the rights to both ''Buffy'' and ''
Angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
'' television series, would retain merchandising and some distribution rights.
The idea of the remake caused wrath among fans of the TV series, since Whedon was not involved. The project did not have any connection with the show and would not conform to the
continuity maintained with the ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight'' is a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics from 2007 to 2011. The series serves as a canonical continuation of the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', and follows the events of that ...
'' and ''
Season Nine
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
''
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
titles. Not only the fandom, but the main cast members of both the ''Buffy'' and ''
Angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
'' series expressed disagreement with the report on Twitter and in recent interviews.
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Prinze ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American actress. After being spotted at the age of four in New York City, she made her screen acting debut in the television film ''An Invasion of Privacy'' (1983). A leading role on the te ...
said, "I think it's a horrible idea. To try to do a ''Buffy'' without Joss Whedon... to be incredibly non-eloquent: that's the dumbest idea I've ever heard." Proposed shooting locations included Black Wood and other areas in rural England, due to budgetary constraints and the potential setting being outside of the city, an unusual change for the franchise.
In December 2011, more than a year after the official reboot announcement, the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' site reported that Whit Anderson, the writer picked for the new ''Buffy'' movie, had her script rejected by the producers behind the project, and that a new writer was being sought. Sources also stated that "If you're going to bring it back, you have to do it right.
ndersoncame in with some great ideas and she had reinvented some of the lore and it was pretty cool but in the end there just wasn't enough on the page."
As of July 2018, Joss Whedon announced at San Diego Comic Con that he was working on a reboot of the series and that it might feature a slayer of color.
See also
* ''
The Origin'', a comic book reinterpretation of the movie script
*
Vampire film
Vampire films have been a staple in world cinema since the era of silent films, so much so that the depiction of vampires in popular culture is strongly based upon their depiction in films throughout the years. The most popular cinematic adaptat ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Film)
1990s comedy horror films
1990s high school films
1990s teen comedy films
1990s teen horror films
1992 films
1992 horror films
20th Century Fox films
20th Century Studios franchises
American comedy horror films
American dark fantasy films
American high school films
American supernatural horror films
American teen comedy films
American teen horror films
Cheerleading films
Supernatural comedy films
Supernatural fantasy films
1990s feminist films
Films about proms
Films adapted into television shows
Films scored by Carter Burwell
Films set in Los Angeles
Films shot in Los Angeles
Films with screenplays by Joss Whedon
Vampire comedy films
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
American feminist comedy films
American action comedy films
American action horror films
1992 action comedy films
1990s English-language films
1990s American films