Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992): The Real Cherry on Top of the Pile of Dead Vampires

GENRE(S): Action  |  Comedy  |  Horror
WRITTEN BY: Joss Whedon
DIRECTED BY: Fran Rubel Kuzui
RELEASE DATE: DVD: September 4, 1992
Theatrical: July 31, 1992
RUNNING TIME: 86 minutes, Color
ORIGIN: USA


Do you find yourself wishing that you could relive the early 90’s? Silly question, of course you do! That time period was just so awesome and Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the perfect 90’s movie. The clothes, the dialogue, the hair…every aspect reeks of early 90’s and it is just so much fun. You look at their clothes and laugh at how ridiculous they look, but then you laugh because you remember wearing something similar to it. Don’t even try to deny it.

That surrealistic style is part of the charm of Buffy, and the other part is that it’s a girl kicking some vampire ass. To me, that’s the real cherry on top of the pile of dead vampires. One of my favorite aspects is how Buffy (Kristy Swanson) wasn’t the damsel in distress needing to be saved. Luke Perry was the damsel needing saved this time. Didn’t you just want to be like Buffy, a strong female saving all the men from vampires? Boys, it’s okay to admit it…wait, no, it’s not, keep that to yourself. Of course my levels of skilled movements and coordination at the time (and even now) had other ideas, but I was still a little sad when I never got to try to protect my school from the undead. (Sigh.) Oh well, maybe one day.

Can you believe how many now famous people were in Buffy? Ben Affleck and Hilary Swank! Hee hee, they look funny. Plus, Swank plays an airhead valley girl. Whoa, I’m used to her beating up people or getting beat up. And before I forget, there’s PEE WEE! Paul Reubens is hardly recognizable as the main vampires toady sidekick vamp. I just love watching all these actors in different roles.

Overall, don’t watch this flick for its action. Watch it because it’s hilarious.

Time until real action starts: ~ 23 minutes

Big Bad Baddies: Vampires

Best Line: “And now you’re a coat rack!” Also, the way “Detention!” is said by the principal, I know him as Jimmy James (Stephen Root), is great.

Best Kill: Buffy performs a move that is best described as a barrel roll, and impales a vamp through el hearto. Boom goes the dynamite! Best Explosion: Uh, no no, no, no, nothing here. Too bad, I would have loved to see Jimmy James (Stephen Root) blow up some high schoolers and blame it on the vampires.

Action Rating: 1 Buffy kicking the crap out of a one armed vampire Pee-wee, out of 5 buffy-kicking-vampire-pee-wee Illustration by Alex Langley. Rocket Llama World Headquarters.

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About Action Flick Chick

Action Flick Chick Katrina Hill, author of the books Action Movie Freak and 100 Greatest Graphic Novels , learned to appreciate all things action at a young age by sneaking into the room while her two older brothers watched action movies and horror. At ActionFlickChick.com, she shares her love of these films with everyone, along with interviews, news, and whatever else she happens to choose. G4TV crowned her their Next Woman of the Web champion, and she co-hosted MTV Geek’s live Comic-Con coverage. Her articles have appeared at sites including MTV.com, io9.com, Arcade Sushi, and Newsarama. Follow her as @ActionChick on Twitter. Base of operations: Dallas, Texas. Favorite Movie: Tremors (1990).
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7 Responses to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992): The Real Cherry on Top of the Pile of Dead Vampires

  1. Assobar says:

    A few years ago Maxim magazine had a whole thing on Swanson. One of their main points was that she was a better (or at least hotter) Buffy than Sarah Michelle Gellar 🙂

    Anyway you made some great points. I had forgotten how many famous people were in Buffy the Vampire Slayer!

    Don’t know if you care – Paul Reubens played Bat-Mite on last week’s Batman: The Brave and the Bold on Cartoon Network.

  2. Ahhh, Bat-mite. They really had to dig in Batman’s history to find that lil critter. There’s a dude I doubt we’ll be seeing in the sequel to Dark Knight.

  3. Escollogy says:

    marvelous review

  4. Rick Swift says:

    Awesome review, brought me back to the good ol days, whenever this flick is on the boob tube, I just can’t switch it off. And while I never wanted to BE buffy, I sure wanted to run around with her and fight the undead, must be the werewolf in me? P.S. I have always liked Kristy Swanson, best Swanson hot scene, The Chase, same time frame, Charlie Sheen. That is all.

  5. Reel Whore says:

    I remember watching this not too long ago and seeing Affleck’s mad b-ball skillz. I had to stop it and shout to the posters on my wall, “Check it out, that’s Ben Affleck!?”

    But Paul Reubens is a scene stealer.

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