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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 37 Reviews)

Joss, I feel your pain!
Having come late to the Buffy party as it was (I discovered the show midway through season 7), I have since devoured all things Slayer-related, but until last night, had never seen the movie that started it all. Like most fans, I knew that Joss felt the movie was a complete letdown and had been ruined by the studio and the director, but I figured, "How bad could it be? I mean, if he wrote it, there'll be humor and pathos and great backgrounding and fun dialogue. And I'll finally get to see how Buffy first felt about being chosen, see her burn down the gym, maybe see her old buddy Ford in his first incarnation." NOT!

Having now forced myself to sit through the movie I cannot believe that a) Joss wrote this thing, and b) that someone had the daft idea to adapt it for TV. There are moments, of course, but the worst part about those moments is that I could hear how Sarah Michelle or Nick Brandon or Tony Head or James Marsters might have read those same lines in my head; could see the way they would look saying them, and what was on screen paled sharply in comparison. The mother...yikes! Kristine Sutherland I salute you for never playing Joyce like that!

Swanson, Sutherland, Hauer, Reubens, Perry, Swank and so many others who appear in this movie all have talent. We've seen it. Swank has two Oscars for heavens' sake! But you'd never guess it from what is on screen here. These actors in these roles not only lack even one iota of their tv counterparts' style, grace or depth, but they don't even seem to be trying to be good. It doesn't help that the script lacks the style, grace and depth of even the worst episode of the tv series, but that's not Joss' fault since he had no control over the movie, and doesn't begin to excuse lazy acting.

The lack of all the trademarks we've come to know and love about Whedonverse vamps -- "dusting," "wrinklies," genuine scariness, existential confusion -- was off-putting. Why was Hauer dressed like a Halloween costume version of Dracula? Why could they fly? Why did the vamps seem like they were on acid rather than hungry demons looking for a feed? The things that made us love Angel and Spike, Darla and Dru were the depth and "reality" of the vampire culture to which they belonged. It felt real. The vamp culture in this film feels like "Love at First Bite." Even the flashbacks from Buffy's perspective into the lives of former slayers -- something it's too bad they couldn't incorporate into the series at some point -- lacked the pathos, style, and beauty of a "Lies My Parents Told Me" or "Fool for love."

In the end, I didn't care about a single character in this film, and I didn't for one moment believe in Buffy's conversion from Cordelia-type vacuous cheerleader to caring, lumberjack outfit wearing slayer. The thing is a mess. Thank God for the series. After watching the move, I popped in "School Hard" to cleanse the palate and remind myself of how good/scary Whedonverse vamps were meant to be.

If you haven't seen this movie and love the show, don't waste your time. It truly doens't add anything to the Buffyveerse you can't get (much better) from the series. If you haven't seen the show or the movie...you make the call, but I'd advise you to skip this and start with Season One of the series.

The Original Buffy
Way before Sarah Michelle Gellar came onto the scene, we had this 1992 guilty pleasure starring Kristy Swanson (The Chase) and Luke Perry (Beverly Hills 90210 fame). Also starring Hilary Swank (future Oscar winner for Million Dollar Baby), David Arquette (star of Scream movies & future husband of Courteney Cox), Paul Reubens (formerly known as Pee Wee Herman), Natasha Gregson Wagner (Urban Legend & Natalie Wood's daughter), Rutger Hauer (Sin City), Donald Sutherland (Commander In Chief TV series), and Stephen Root (Milton from Office Space).
If you've watched the series you know the plot: a beautiful blond kills vampires in her spare time. But to make it interesting, they threw in some good music: Ozzy Osbourne, Toad The Wet Sprocket, The Cult, Mary's Danish, etc. Also Kristy Swanson was trained to blend martial arts, gymnastics, and cheerleading to give a new meaning to slaying. Yes this movie is dated, but I have to say that I enjoy its energy, romance, and comedy. This will always be my favorite. Sorry Sarah!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
First off I'm a fan of the show too but that doesn't mean the movie isn't good! After all its what started the show. And I think that even thow Sarah Michelle Gellar does a great job playing Buffy, that Kristy Swanson does a perfect job of playing the bubbly air head valley girl character to the extreme! And one of Luke Perry's best performs yet. Because we all know he does a pretty good job of playing Dlyan McKay on Beverly Hills 90210! But it also has lots of other great stars like: Donald Sutherland, Hillary Swank, Ben Affleck, and David Arquitte.

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