Buffy Summers (Kristy Swanson) is a senior at Hemery High School in Los Angeles, California and a cheerleader. One of her favorite things is to go shopping at the mall with her friends, Kimberly (Hilary Swank), Jennifer (Michele Abrams) and Nicole (Paris Vaughn). At the mall she sees an older man staring at her. Later, while practicing her cheerleading, she is approached by the same mysterious man. He tells her that his name is Merrick (Donald Sutherland) and that she is the chosen one. He tells her that she comes from a line of vampire hunters and that he is her trainer. Buffy thinks he is crazy, but he manages to convince her that she should go to the local cemetery with him so he can prove it.
In the meantime, Lothos (Rutger Hauer), the king of the vampires, and his main minion, Amilyn (Paul Reubens) are invading the city and turning teenagers into vampires. Two friends, Pike (Luke Perry) and Benny (David Arquette) are walking home from the mall when Benny is attacked by Amilyn. Benny is turned into a vampire and Pike is found by Merrick and taken home. Later Benny tries to get Pike to invite him into his home, but Pike realizes there is something wrong with Benny.
Buffy begins a crash course in vampire slaying. Pike decides to leave town but is attacked by Amilyn and a couple other vampires. He manages to rip off Amilyn’s arm and ends up rescued by Buffy. The two team up to slay vampires.
“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” was released in 1992 and was directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui. It is an American horror comedy.
The film was written by Joss Whedon. At one point he was an advisor on the script, however, so many changes were made that Whedon hated the result, so he removed himself from the production. Later he created the television version of the story and reintroduced the parts that had been taken out or altered. Fans also prefer the series to the film. Comparisons between the two are not advised.
The pilot of the series was supposed to be a sequel to the movie but with some many changes to the film, some of the references in the series are from events that never occurred in the film. As part of his ‘take back Buffy’ crusade Whedon also created a comic book version called “The Origin”. There are some differences between the comic and the series but for the most part it is considered part of the Buffy cannon. The movie, however, is not.
The movie has a fair amount of campy charm and silliness. There are also quite a few 80’s character actors to round out the cast. It’s not a bad little movie but it is different from Whedon’s vision of the story.
Ben Affleck has a cameo as a basketball player. Other cameos include Ricki Lake, Seth Green, Alexis Arquette, and Slash.