Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a 1992
action-
comedy-
horror film about "
valley girl"
cheerleader Buffy (
Kristy Swanson) chosen by fate to fight and kill
vampires. The movie is a light
parody which plays on the clichés of typical
horror films. It also led to the darker and much more popular
TV series of the same name, which starred
Sarah Michelle Gellar and was created and executive produced by screenwriter
Joss Whedon. Whedon often detailed how the TV series was a much closer rendering of his vision than the movie, which was compromised by commercial concerns and differences in interpretation. The film is now considered a relatively minor chapter in the broader
Buffy legacy. When the film was first released, it was moderately successful
and received mixed reviews from critics.
Plot
Buffy (
Kristy Swanson) is a popular cheerleader at Hemery High School in
Los Angeles when she is approached by a man named
Merrick Jamison-Smythe (
Donald Sutherland). He informs her that she is
The Slayer - a young woman chosen to have special strength and skills and a destiny to fight vampires. She admits that she has dreams of past Slayers and eventually accepts that she is one. She runs into Pike (
Luke Perry), who is a basic loser who becomes the "damsel in distress", being rescued by Buffy many times, and her new love interest, despite her basketball player boyfriend.
