Director Fran Rubel Kuzui
Starring Kristy Swanson, Donald Sutherland, Paul Reubens
Rated PG
Score 4/6

A flighty teenage girl learns that she is her generation’s destined battler of vampires.

For those of you who might not know this movie helped establish Joss Whedon’s Buffyverse. Though it should be noted that the movie’s position as the cannon origin story ceased to be official when in 1999 Dark Horse Comics a three-part comic book series titled The Origin which was based on Whedon’s original script for the movie. Also, it should be noted that five years after the release of the movie the television series was made.

For the record it’s been years since I last watched this movie, I suppose watching Wonder Woman and then My Name is Modesty gave me the inspiration to sit down and watch and review this. I’m not entirely sure that the Buffy the Vampire Slayer holds up (though keep in mind I’m 35) though that being said the movie hasn’t exactly crumbled either, I suppose it just doesn’t have the same charm. Though I do like the messages of “what you want in life isn’t always what you have” and that strong people don’t always have to be strong all the time.
I noticed that a lot of the action sequences seemed a bit dated, I suppose that would be because the martial arts genre wasn’t as mainstream as it is now. Though the ‘bad kung fu’ movie swooshing sound effects did lend itself to the light-hearted nature of the movie’s comedy. A small question that hopefully the filmmakers can answer for me, was it a conscious effort on your part to make the vampire’s strength and powers seem so inconsistent?

I suppose the stand out performances for this movie came from Donald Sutherland and Paul Reubens. Sutherland for giving a performance that at times seemed a little darker then it needed to be and Reubens for his death scene that had all the subtlety of a soccer player fishing for a penalty. It was also good to see a few familiar faces as they were just starting their careers.