Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Home Video release poster
Directed by	Fran Rubel Kuzui
Produced by	Howard Rosenman Kaz Kuzui
Written by	Joss Whedon
Starring	Kristy Swanson Donald Sutherland Paul Reubens Rutger Hauer Luke Perry Hilary Swank
Music by	Carter Burwell
Cinematography	James Hayman
Editing by	Jill Savitt
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	July 31, 1992 (1992-07-31)
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$7 million
Box office	$16,624,456

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a 1992 American action/comedy film about a Valley girl cheerleader named Buffy who learns that it is her fate to hunt vampires. The film starred Kristy Swanson, Donald Sutherland, Paul Reubens, Rutger Hauer, Luke Perry and Hilary Swank. It was a moderate success at the box office, but received mixed reception from critics. The film was taken in a different direction than its writer, Joss Whedon, intended, but several years later he was able to create the darker and acclaimed TV series of the same name.

Plot

Buffy Summers (Kristy Swanson) is introduced as a stereotypical cheerleader at Hemery High School in Los Angeles. She is a carefree popular girl whose main concerns are shopping and spending time with her friends. While at school one day, she is approached by a man named Merrick Jamison-Smythe (Donald Sutherland). He informs her that she is The Slayer, or chosen one, and he is a Watcher whose duty it is to guide and train her. She initially refuses to believe his claims, but finally becomes convinced that he is right when he is able to describe a recurring dream of hers in detail.

Meanwhile Oliver Pike (Luke Perry), and best friend Benny, who resented Buffy and her friends due to their social circles, are out drinking when they are attacked by vampires. Benny is turned but Oliver is saved by Merrick. As a vampire, Benny visits Oliver and tries to get him to join him. When Oliver and his boss are discussing Benny, Oliver tells him to run if he sees him.

After several successful outings, Buffy is drawn into conflict with a local vampire king named Lothos (Rutger Hauer), who has killed a number of past Slayers. During an encounter with Lothos' main minion Amilyn (Paul Reubens) and his gang of vampires, Buffy, Oliver and Merrick fight against them in the forest as Amilyn loses his arm. Amilyn flees the fight to talk to Lothos who now has his focus on Buffy. After this encounter, Buffy and Oliver start a friendship, which eventually becomes romantic and Oliver becomes Buffy's partner in fighting the undead.

During a basketball game, Buffy and Oliver find out that one of the players is a minion of Lothos. After a quick chase to an amusement park, Buffy finally confronts Lothos, shortly after she and Oliver take down his gang. Lothos catches Buffy in a hypnotic trance, which is broken due to Merrick's intervention. Lothos turns on Merrick and impales him with the stake he attempted to use on him. Lothos leaves, saying that Buffy is not ready. As Merrick dies, he tells Buffy to do things her own way, rather than live by the rules of others. Buffy becomes emotionally shocked, has a falling out with her friends and starts dropping her Slayer responsibilities.

At the senior dance, Buffy meets up with Oliver and as they start to dance and eventually kiss, Lothos leads the remainder of his minions to the school and attacks the students and the attending faculty. Buffy confronts the vampires outside while Oliver fights the vampiric Benny. After overpowering the vampires, she confronts Lothos inside the school and stabs Amilyn. Lothos hypnotises Buffy again but she uses a cross and hairspray to create a makeshift flame-thrower and burns Lothos before heading back into the gym. Buffy sees everybody recover from the attack, but Lothos emerges again getting into a fight with Buffy, who then stakes him.

The film ends with Buffy and Oliver leaving the prom on a motorcycle, and a news crew interviewing the students and the principal about the attack during the credits.

Cast

• Kristy Swanson as Buffy Summers
• Donald Sutherland as Merrick Jamison-Smythe
• Paul Reubens as Amilyn
• Rutger Hauer as Lothos
• Luke Perry as Oliver Pike
• Hilary Swank as Kimberly Hannah
• David Arquette as Benny Jacks
• Stephen Root as Gary Murray
• Natasha Gregson Wagner as Cassandra
• Tom Jane as Zeph
• Candy Clark as Joyce Summers
• Randall Batinkoff as Jeffrey Kramer
• Sasha Jenson as Gruell
• Ben Affleck (uncredited) as Basketball Player #10
• Ricki Lake (uncredited) as Charlotte
• Seth Green (uncredited) as a vampire

Continuity with the television show

Many of the details given in the film differ from the continuity of the later television series. For example, Buffy's history is dissimilar, and both the vampires' and Slayer's abilities are depicted differently. The vampires in the film die like humans, while in the TV show they turn to dust. Joss Whedon has expressed his disapproval with the movie'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 show makes references to events that did not occur in the film. In 1999, Dark Horse Comics 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."

Box office

The film debuted at #5 at the North American box office and eventually grossed $16,624,456 against a $7 million dollar production budget.

Home releases

The film was released on VHS and Laserdisc in the U.S. in 1992 by Fox Video and re-released in 1995 under the "Twentieth Century Fox Selections" banner. It was released on DVD in the US in 2001 and on BluRay in 2011.

Soundtrack

The cover of the soundtrack of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The soundtrack was released on July 28, 1992.

1. C+C Music Factory featuring Deborah Cooper and Q-Unique – "Keep It Comin' (Dance Till You Can't Dance No More)"
2. Dream Warriors – "Man Smart, Woman Smarter"
3. Matthew Sweet – "Silent City"
4. Susanna Hoffs – "We Close Our Eyes" (originally by Oingo Boingo)
5. Toad the Wet Sprocket – "Little Heaven"
6. diVINYLS – "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore"
7. Ozzy Osbourne – "Party with the Animals"
8. The Cult – "Zap City"
9. Mary's Danish – "I Fought the Law"
10. Rob Halford and Pantera – "Light Comes Out of Black"

The soundtrack does not include every song played in the film, which also included "In the Wind" by War Babies and "Inner Mind" by Eon.

Remake

On May 25, 2009, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Roy Lee and Doug Davison of Vertigo Entertainment 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 or prequel to the existing film or television franchise and Joss Whedon 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 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 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 rights to the more successful Buffy/Angel television franchise, will retain merchandising and some distribution rights.^{[citation needed]}

The idea of the remake caused wrath among fans of the TV series, since Whedon is not involved and the project does not have any connection with the show and will not conform to the continuity maintained with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight and Season Nine comic book titles. Not only the fandom, but the main cast members of both Buffy and Angel series, expressed disagreement with the report on Twitter and in recent interviews. Sarah Michelle Gellar 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 as being outside of the city, an unusual change for the franchise.

In December 2010, it was announced that Glee actress Heather Morris was in talks for the lead role in the upcoming film. However, Whit Anderson, screenwriter on the film, indicated that casting had not begun. When asked about the rumor during the launch of her endorsement of FLIRT! cosmetics, Morris told the TV program Access Hollywood that she was aware of her apparent consideration for the role and was excited about it. Though she did not categorically confirm that she was approached to do the reboot, Morris is not opposed to the idea, provided that production would not interfere with her Glee duties.^{[citation needed]} The Vampire Diaries cast member Candice Accola also expressed interest, according to an E! Online interview. As a fan of the original film, Accola said she never watched the TV show, but thinks that the Buffy film is a "fun girl-power thing".^{[citation needed]}

In December 2011, more than a year after the official reboot announcement, the Los Angeles Times 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. [Anderson] came 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."

See also

• The Origin, a comic book reinterpretation of the movie script

External links

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer at the Internet Movie Database
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer at AllRovi
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer at Box Office Mojo
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer at Rotten Tomatoes