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Title: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Kristy Swanson | ... | Buffy | |
| Donald Sutherland | ... | Merrick | |
| Paul Reubens | ... | Amilyn | |
| Rutger Hauer | ... | Lothos | |
| Luke Perry | ... | Pike | |
| Michele Abrams | ... | Jennifer | |
| Hilary Swank | ... | Kimberly | |
| Paris Vaughan | ... | Nicole 'Nicki' | |
| David Arquette | ... | Benny | |
| Randall Batinkoff | ... | Jeffrey | |
 |
Andrew Lowery | ... | Andy |
| Sasha Jenson | ... | Grueller | |
| Stephen Root | ... | Gary Murray | |
| Natasha Gregson Wagner | ... | Cassandra | |
| Candy Clark | ... | Buffy's Mom | |
Buffy Summers (Kristy Swanson) has the lifestyle any young woman could want. Cheerleading, dating the Captain of the basketball team, and copious amounts of time spent shopping with friends. She had no idea of her true calling until a mysterious man named Merrick (Donald Sutherland) approached her and told her that she is the Slayer; one woman called to defend the world from vampires. Reluctant to concede to the fact, Buffy soon learns that Merrick speaks the truth and so begins to take her new life seriously while trying to maintain the sense of normality her life had once been. With her best friends slowly abandoning her, Buffy finds solace in the town outcast, Pike (Luke Perry), who knows very well the terrors that have arisen. Together, they combat the forces of the old and powerful vampire, Lothos (Rutger Hauer), who has his eyes set on Buffy. Written by Vampire-Sharpshooter
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"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" follows sassy and unsuspecting cheerleader Buffy (Kristy Swanson), a simple L.A. girl who spends her free time shopping and socializing in the mall food court. But when she finds herself responsible with the taking down bloodsucking demons from hell under the eye of a newfound guardian (Donald Sutherland), her extracurricular activities take a serious hit.
Something of a cult film today, and the launching pad for a series of actors (including lead Kristy Swanson, and co-stars Hilary Swank and David Arquette)—as well as birthing the wildly popular series—"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is a heady brew of teen comedy and vampire splatter-lite. I'll make it clear: this is definitely a corny flick, and Joss Whedon's script takes place in an alternate reality where vampires and Valley Girls can and do co-exist. In a lot of ways, it feels like an eighties movie, akin to something "Fright Night" but far less sinister.
Whedon's script is humorous in the right places, and Swanson plays the spunky titular character with an appropriate pep. A young Luke Perry is the high school bad boy/hunk and looks the part probably more than he plays it, but his performance is fine. The presence of Paul Reubens and Donald Sutherland lend the film more credibility than it probably deserves, although Sutherland does feel somewhat out of place here; regardless, you can't knock a film for having Donald Sutherland as a part of its cast.
All in all, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is a fun and energetic offering of late eighties teen comedy with a splash of vampire blood and some fantastic one-liners; it's a ridiculous, alternate world fantasy, but a fun one at that. It does a fantastic job at meeting the crosshairs of horror and comedy without steering itself into too serious territory. 7/10.