Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Rating:
Summary: Buffy, Un-Vamped
Review: (...) With an open mind, I watched the film, and this is what I saw. Buffy Summers is your average 80's child. "Like" is her most frequently heard figure of speech, fashion is everything, and shopping is life. One day she meets a mysterious old man who tells her she is the Slayer, a girl chosen in each generation to battle the forces of the undead (a.k.a. vampires). At first, Buffy hesitates to believe this, but soon, she finds that she can not escape her destiny as a cheerleader. Merrick soon changes her mind, however, and she becomes a (...) blond. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is, as entertainment genius Joss Whedon has said, the product of "way too much time on my hands". Whedon's genius had not yet begun to show when this film was written, so those of you expecting a film resembling Whedon's later work will be disappointed. Kristy Swanson as Buffy is great for this film, but can't compare with Sarah Michelle Gellar for (...) perfection. Sutherland is terrific; Beverly Hills 90210's Luke Perry is fine; and Rutger Hauer makes a perfect
king for the vampires. The film's true highlight, I suppose, would be the soundtrack, which was great for the times. Other than that,it is somewhat entertaining, but it's also cheesy and dull compared to the television show that followed. I'm
afraid you just can't get through this film without making comparisons to the TV show.All in all, I would say the film version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is for fans of the shows only. Horror buffs may find some slight interest in the film, but not many other people will.

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the TV series
Review: After watching the outstanding television series, you'd be forgiven if you had high expectations of the movie of which it is a spin-off. The story has popular cheerleader Buffy (Swanson) find out that she is in fact the Chosen One, the vampire slayer. Now she has to choose between pom-poms and stakes, best friends or vampires.

Unfortunately, the central premise and witty script by Joss Whedon are almost completely ruined by Kazui's camp direction. Thankfully at least we have the TV show to know that this was actually a well-conceived idea that works well. Here we have shots of Swanson (not a patch on Sarah Michelle Gellar, whose acting ability, alongside the rest of the cast, is a key element to the TV series) backflipping and performing flying somersaults. This high camp element isn't best helped by the casting of Haur as the villain, as he just doesn't fit, no matter how much he tries to look sinister in the shadows.

However, the show isn't a total loss. Whedon's script and its supporting cast - including Pee Wee Herman, David Arquette and Hilary Swank - make it an interesting movie that is probably worth seeing for fans of the TV series. Still, next to that this is just a good idea ruined by an amateurish director.

Rating:
Summary: Campy Horror At Its Best
Review: As many know, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is now a cult hit tv show. This is what started it all. Joss Whedon wrote the script for the movie, but always envisioned it as a tv series. And although his script was tinkered with, for the movie, I think the movie turned out good. Of course, it's campy and cheesy. But that's what makes it good. Kristy Swanson stars as Buffy, she who must rid the world of the forces of darkness. She is guided by Merrick, her watcher, played by Donald Sutherland and a friend, Pike, played by Luke Perry. There are also appearances by the then up & coming David Arquette and Hilary Swank. When Buffy finds out her destiny as the Slayer, she must help Merrick slay a very powerful vampire, played by Rutger Hauer. Of course, chaos ensues, but Buffy saves the day in a final showdown worthy of all the one-liners shot out by Rutger and Kristy. Although the hit show created by Joss is superbly better, the movie still holds it own and will go down as a cult classic.

Rating:
Summary: Charming mix of horror & Comedy!
Review: Buffy Sommers ( Kristy Swanson) is a beautiful blonde high schooler living in modern day california who's like your average valley girl. An odd man ( Donald Sutherland) tells her that her anchestors were vampire killers, she doesn't believe him until she meets & kills a real one and now she is assisted by a lovable rebel without a cause ( Luke Perry) to destroy vampires in the city of Los Angeles. The high vampire lord Lothos ( Rutger Hauer from Blade Runner) with his nobel assistant Lefy ( Paul "Pee-Wee Herman" Ruebens) have vowed to destroy any chosen vampire killers, only Buffy can stop these bloodsuckers.

Entertaining, charming and somewhat goofy horror comedy spoof that parodies the usual high school teen movie with vampire elements thrown into it with black comedy thrown into it. It's not really too bad, it may not be as excellent as the TV show that came 6 years after it came out but it's worth watching for fans of the TV show to understand her origin of how she fought the undead.

The DVD's got excellent surround sound with decent picture, there is a few good extras like featurette, TV Spots and Trailer with trailers to other fox movies.
Also recommended: " Clueless", "Vamp", " From Dusk Till Dawn", " Vampire Hunter D", " Vampire's Kiss", " Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust", " Fright Night", "Fright Night 2", "Shaun of the Dead", "An American Werewolf in London", " The Return of the Living Dead", " Bram Stoker's Dracula", " The Forsaken", "Heathers", " Scream", " Evil Dead II" and " Fright Night 2".

Rating:
Summary: The Bad Buffy
Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer is definetly not as successful as it's counterpart T.V. series but it served up a pretty well rounded story.The characters were fairly likeable.Joss Whedon is very creative and intelligant ; I give him thumbs up for trying something new.I just kinda felt weird after watching it.I guess I expected to much from it.If you watch it ; thinking it will be sucky you probably won't feel as bad.Luke Perry did a pretty good job with Kristy Swanson who got very annoying after an hour and a half.The plot was really good but they didn't use it the right way.The vampires seemed to fake and when Buffy staked them they did not turn to dust; I always enjoyed that from the T.V. series.Check this one out only if you have nothing better to do.Blonde, bouncy Buffy is your typical high school cheerleader - her goal is to "marry Christian Slater and die" and nothing gets in her way when it's time to shop.But all that changes when a strange man informs her she's been chosen by ill fate to kill vampires.With the help of a romantic rebel, Buffy is soon spending school nights protecting L.A. from Lothos, The Vampire King, his sidekick, Lefty, and their determined gang of bloodsuckers.It's everything you'd expect from a teen queen in the valley.

"Not bad but pales to the terrific TV show."
-- Gerry Shamray, SUN NEWSPAPERS OF CLEVELAND

Rating:
Summary: The real BUFFY!
Review: Buffy the Vampire Slayer rules. It's hip cheasy fun. If your a Dylan fan from 90210 you can see luke perry in this movie
he has a good part in the movie. Kristy Swanson rocks.
Very Entertaining Movie.


Rating:
Summary: Tuff Buff and Wet Fish
Review: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, an eclectic if not eccentric mix of pompoms and the walking undead, is matched in strangeness (and, perhaps, unsuitability) of material only by the casting of Donald Sutherland with Luke Perry in the same movie. Perry, looking too much like an anorexic James Dean, and acting too much like the only piece of wood not thrown by Buffy at a snarling vampire, was cast as Pike solely because 1992 was the year of BEVERLY HILLS 90210 and Dylan McKay. A more potent explanation of why an old "It" boy of an old "It" show was used to further emphasize the movie's sense of camp and cynicism is given in the scene in which Pike decides to shave off his sideburns: it's not Pike, but Dylan, who affects a shallow transformation of character before the mirror; not Buffy who will reap the consequences of this haircut, but Brenda and Kelly. It's also testimony to the strength of Kristy Swanson's acting that she is able to generate any kind of chemistry between The Slayer and The Fish without overly compensating for Perry's lack of emotion and presence. Buffy, indeed, is a gem: an imaginative creation of a vacuous and obnoxious high school cheerleader who suddenly wakes from Valley Land to find herself visiting grave yards on school nights, using her cheerleading athleticism to drive wooden stakes through the hearts of the lurking undead, and kissing fish at the Senior Dance.

Buffy is both dynamic and funny - a brutal realist who must now accept ghouls lurking on the horizon of her Bel Air landscape, and the problem of a burgeoning romance with a fish. Transformed from a girl whose personal ambitions were limited to traveling to Europe, marrying Christian Slater, and then dying, as well as a mantra of "buy, buyer, buying...to buy", Buffy, assassin of the underworld, often gives the movie a true burst of refreshing energy and quirkiness when it is most needed. Donald Sutherland, as the long-suffering Merrick who dreams of being a boot-maker (if only he could quit his day job of training slayers generation after generation), is truly wonderful in his restrained role of mentor - adding touches of genuine pathos to his scenes, despite the sea of camp in which he is carried and eventually swept away.

Cheerleading and vampires may make strange bedfellows, but Buffy is tough enough to reconcile both worlds - even if she does end up riding into the sunset with a fish.


Rating:
Summary: Better than the show
Review: Buffy, the TV series, is nothing to the original movie. Yes, the series has better effects. Yes, it's acting is generally better. Yes, the vampires look and act as though they could actually kill something. But the movie will always remain my favorite of the two. There's something endearing about the bad 80's feel of the movie. It's refreshing to see a movie that bashes fitting into a lame crowd (as demonstrated when Buffy realizes that her shallow life before slaying was, in her words, "STUPID."). Kristy Swanson plays the role of Buffy. She delivers lines like "Does the word 'Duh' mean anything to you?" with perfect teenage exasperation. Donald Sutherland plays a fantastic Merrick, bringing an endearing eccentricity to his role as Buffy's tutor (or Watcher, as the term would later be coined on the TV show).
If you're ever ridiculously bored, rent Buffy, pop a bowl of popcorn, and settle in for a fun, light-hearted movie.

Rating:
Summary: Stake it!
Review: Don't tread on Buffy. She may look like your average valley girl, mallrat, gum chewing, fashion expert. But she's got what it takes to slay vampires like nobody's business. And now that her guide Merrick has finally found her- it's time to do some real damage. Because right as she speaks, and speaks, and speaks some more, the evil Lothos and his right hand henchman Pee Wee Herman (I couldn't resist) are massing an army of undead bloodsuckers to... I don't know- bite people and wreak havoc.

The plot is a little thin, and sad, but the actors do a totally rad job of not depressing the audience just because they're too damn old to be in High School. The effects are mostly physical and a bit stiffly choreographed considering that 90% of all the vamps come off as disposable stunt-persons. That's my one major beef with the movie. That the baddies aren't very convincing. That Buffy's ex-best friend and ex-boyfriend can make out in a parked car, with the top down, less than 6 feet away from snarling, clawing vampires on either side of the lot fence, and not even notice... Yeah, like I said, thin on plot.

What it's rich in, however, is character development. And not quite like on that stupid TV show either. When actors in this movie are being snooty and quippy, they give it all they've got. And that's worth something, in the name of satire. On TV, it's just annoying. Buffy undergoes a certain transformation. She realizes that she is too good to devalue herself by hanging out with a group of sheepish friends who are slaves to popular trends, and don't really care about anything. She learns some very valuable lessons, and comes out fighting all the way. Granted, the extent of the circumstances she faces are slim. But, for a teenager who has to deal with school and boys and parents AND vampires- all at the same time...

It's okay. The performances, lent something credible by the casting of well-respected Donald Sutherland and Rutger Hauer. Luke Perry is actually kind of cute and endearing in this film. Paul Reubens is a RIOT as the sidekick who takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin', even after he's staked in the heart, in a really funny prolonged death scene. Both Ricki Lake and Ben Affleck appear in unbilled roles as a waitress and a basketball player.

And let's talk about Hilary Swank for a second. If any actress was about to win a major award for playing the part of a valley girl- it's Hilary. She was born to play this role, and for this to catapult her to a real acting career. I was always surprised that Kristy Swanson never seemed to be doing much after this film... It seemed like she was about to make a comeback with memorable parts in both Dude Where's My Car(?) and Big Daddy. Alas, she's gone quiet again.

And I very much loved the music soundtrack. Matthew Sweet, The Divinyls, Susanna Hoffs, Ozzy Osbourne, Toad the Wet Sprocket, and the awesome "Keep it Comin' (Dance Till You Can't Dance No More)" from C+C Music Factory. There's just a certain magic about this movie. And who could ever forget that famous line, "you broke up with my machine?!"

Rating:
Summary: Painful to Endure
Review: I am an avid follower of the TV Series of Buffy (which I cannot recommend highly enough). I heard that the movie was weak compared to the series, but I thought I ought to see it - if nothing else for posterity's sake.

Sitting through this film was painful. The intention of the film was to embody "CAMP". (over the whit that Whedon founded the humor of the series on later.) The acting is so poor you feel as though the actors are cut from cardboard. The lines drop stiffly from their mouths. The effects are embarrassing. (I am so glad the vampires in the series don't float and fly. You can literally feel the wires tugging them upward here.) My husband who is a staunch Buffy fan got up and left halfway through because he just couldn't endure it anymore.

One quirk - look for a cameo of a very adolescent Ben Affleck during the basketball game.

This movie did give me one thing - a deeper appreciation of Joss Whedon for rising above the failure of the original movie, starting over fresh, and creating an amazing series.