TotalTelly.co.uk

Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV

Home

Buffy The Vampire Slayer [1992]

RRP: £12.99
Our Price: £3.04 (subject to change)

the origin of the term "Buffy bad"
Review date: 2007-10-05 Rating: 2 out of 10

First off, I love Joss Whedon's work (if you haven't already go check out "Firefly" it is amazing. Buffy the series is an absolute favourite for me...but the movie makes Darla's schoolgirl routine in the first series look chic, the acting quality of the 1960's Batman programmes seem first rate and well, comparisons fail me for some of the special effects. There is a bit where 'buffy' catches a knife which is beyond lame.
I blame most of this on the fact the Joss didn't direct it. For he is god and surely this pile of crp can't be his fault.
As an origins story it has good points and it is interesting to see a first draft look at the slayer mythos... but for the love of all that you hold dear - don't waste money buying it (unless you love camp/kitch so-bad-it's-good DIRE (add some hit die and increase the physical stats - sorry, ignore me) films) but if you're interested in the whole origins angle mentioned above, by all means rent it.
"Buffy bad" has now come to be the benchmark of BAD films, Van Helsing and Starship Troopers 2 being prime examples.
Summary: Joss Whedon = Good
This film = bad, very bad.

Reviews

Buffy Not
Review date: 2007-07-21 Rating: 6 out of 10

This is Buffy's first vamprie slaying outing but we don't get to see Sarah Michelle Gellar as she only played Buffy for the TV series.

If you like the TV series and Sarah this may dissapoint you but you could rent in and check it out that way then decide if you want it.

I must say the TV is far better but the is due to Sarah begin given the lead you may like to see how Buffy became the chossen one and this film will show you that but TV series fans will find it less like Buffy than what they've com e to expcet.

A good start spoilt by a farsical end
Review date: 2007-06-06 Rating: 4 out of 10

This film started off quite well and could have been a decent movie. But after an entertaining first half, the movie descended into a farce that was an insult to the intelligence of the viewer.

The first two thirds of the film was quite good and I was initially asking myself why the film had been failed so badly. All seemed good, Kirsty Swanson makes a good portrayal of Buffy and the vampires are portrayed effectively as the evil malicious creature of the night that they are. The story explains effectively how Buffy is transformed from a care free materialistic teenager into a Slayer, showing all the psychological and physical conflicts that this involves. The atmosphere and physical world in the film is not quite the same as in the series. There is less humour and the vampires are slightly different. For instance, vampires can levitate, do not have bumpy foreheads and do not turn to dust when they die. However, none of this spoils the movie in any way and I was quite enjoying it up to about two thirds of the way through. Then it became a farce.

One thing that characterises most of the Buffy series, is that it takes itself seriously. The characters are supposed to be real people in a real world. There is comedy and humour, but it never spoils the sense of reality that is portray to the viewer. It is this sense of reality that is lost in the second half of the movie. For some reason, the whole atmosphere of the movie changes and it becomes much more light-hearted. Suddenly, all the vampires think they are comedians and start acting stupid in a pathetic attempt to be funny. This embarrassing attempt at comedy not only fails to be amusing in any way, but also spoils the dark image of the vampires as malicious blood sucking monsters that was built up successfully in the first half of the film. This completely ruined my enjoyment of the film.

Also, the final battle scenes are just plain stupid, with the vampires seemingly more intent on cracking second rate unfunny jokes rather than attacking people. In one case, one vampire is even able to sing a little song when he is staked by Buffy. The action at the end is completely unfulfilling as the main battle scene between Buffy and the vampires is not even shown. All we get is a scene showing a lot of dead vampires and supposedly amusing dialogue to inform us that Buffy indeed killed them all. This was a shame, because the action was decent, if sparse, up until then.

In conclusion, this film could have been decent if it wasn't for the ending. But unfortunately, the poor ending managed to spoil any good work that was done earlier in the movie.

Decent enough, but no match for the series
Review date: 2007-03-01 Rating: 6 out of 10

Before it was a top quality television series, Buffy The Vampire Slayer existed only in the form of this somewhat insubstantial film. Kristy Swanson plays cheerleader Buffy, an air headed L.A. teenager who discovers she has been chosen to defend the world from the undead scourge. She is trained by Watcher Donald Sutherland to fight off the Dracula-like Lothos (Rutger Hauer) and his army of goofy blood-sucking assistants (including Pee-Wee Herman himself, Paul Reubens).

Think of it as Clueless with comedy vampires.

With the benefit of hindsight, it's obvious that the makers of this one have missed most of the potential in Joss Whedon's screenplay, choosing to make a full-blown comedy with non-threatening vampires and none of the emotional resonance that would make its way into the TV version. It's as though they read the title, laughed at how daffy it was, and took the cheerleading vampire killer concept at face value. One of Whedon's real skills is to take an idea that seems utterly ridiculous and make you care about it, mostly by creating believable characters and pouring on the emotion, but that's not the route they've taken with this one.

Taken on its own terms, though, this is not the terrible stinker its reputation suggests. It's not a classic, either, but it's enjoyable enough if you can set your thoughts of Willow, Xander, Giles, et al to one side. Swanson is an engaging (not to mention beautiful) lead, there are some funny moments, and Reubens and David Arquette are clearly having a lot of fun hamming it up as vampires. Future oscar winner Ben Affleck even turns up for a few seconds.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer is hardly essential viewing, but it's not a total waste of time, and it's also an interesting curio for fans of the T.V. show.

Can't be that bad if Joss got a series out of it!
Review date: 2006-12-28 Rating: 8 out of 10

This film sees Kristy Swanson as the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer, before the Sarah Michelle Gellar TV version was created. Also stars Rutger Houer and Luke Perry.

The film starts out by proving to us that Buffy is a typical Californian bubble head with nothing on her mind other than shopping, boys and cheerleading. But then a man claiming to be her Watcher shows up and tells her that she has a sacred birthright to fight vampires that really do walk the earth. She doesn't believe her right away but meeting and killing vampires certainly changes her mind.

This film went through 3 different directors and it can show. Sometimes it's brutal and sometimes it's comedic. But it's Joss Whedons style that keeps showing through making this a good film overall.

You don't need to be a Buffy fan to enjoy this film, but it helps.

Product Details/Specifications

Actor(s):
Thomas Jane
Pee-Wee Herman
Kristy Swanson
Hilary Swank
Mark De Carlo

Director(s):

Recording label: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
EAN: 5039036009065
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2003-03-03
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 81 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1992
Language: Czech (Subtitled)
Language: Danish (Subtitled)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Finnish (Subtitled)
Language: Hebrew (Subtitled)
Language: Hungarian (Subtitled)
Language: Icelandic (Subtitled)
Language: Norwegian (Subtitled)
Language: Polish (Subtitled)
Language: Portuguese (Subtitled)
Language: Swedish (Subtitled)
Language: Turkish (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)

TotalTelly.co.uk

Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV

Buffy The Vampire Slayer [1992]

Similar Products

Reviews

Product Details/Specifications

Categories

Search

Links