When you think of Buffy The Vampire Slayer nine times out of ten you usually think of the hugely successful TV show. However what alot of you might not know was that before the TV show came along and showed us all how to write modern strong female characters there was a movie version of the show that came out in 1992 and it's that film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today and so then join me as I review the film that is both is and isn't canon to the world of the show with the film in question being called simply just "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" enjoy.
The plot of this film is when she finds out that she is the latest in the long line of slayers teenager Buffy Summers finds her world turned upside down when she has to protect her town from a group of local vampires. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that good not that this films plot is bad as it's rally not it's just something that doesn't feel right for the plot of a film as the this is a plot that plays out more like a TV show and would have been better served if it was the plot of a TV show but as a film plot it's not something that works as it feels like that the plot of the film isn't given alot of attention or focus with the film instead focusing alot of it's attention on Buffy and her watcher for the film rather then the films actual plot which is something that really does make this films plot feel more of an afterthought and while a TV show could get away with this as they have other episodes to focus on the plot here in a film that's not something that can be done as alot of the focus has to be on the films plot with it feeling like that the makers of this film just couldn't be bothered to make this films plot be good and so they chose instead to make it weaker by not focusing on it which is something that really does more harm then good as there is a good idea here it just needed to be focused alot more then what it already is yo make it come alive is all with the plot of this film being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this film is Kristy Swanson as Buffy Summers and Donald Sutherland as Merrick Jamison-Smythe. Also starring in this film is Paul Reubens as Amilyn , Rutger Hauer as Lothos , Luke Perry as Oliver Pike , Michele Abrams as Jennifer , Hilary Swank as Kimberly Hannah , Paris Vaughan as Nicki , David Arquette as Benny Jacks , Randall Batinkoff as Jeffrey Kramer , Andrew Lowery as Andy , Sasha Jenson as Grueller , Stephen Root as Principal Gary Murray , Natasha Gregson Wagner as Cassandra , Candy Clark as Buffy's Mom and Thomas Jane as Zeph.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. With this films acting being one of the more better things that are in this film as it's clear as day that all of this films actors are having the time of their lives playing their respective characters in this film with the likes of Kristy Swanson and Donald Sutherland turning in performances that are far more better then what you'd expect from this film as this is the kind of film where you don't really expect the acting to be good in it and yet that's exactly what we go in this film with alot of this films actors turning in performances that are far more better then what it really deserves with the best actor in this film oddly enough being Paul Reubens as Amilyn as you don't really expect a good heavily dramatic performance from Pee-Wee Herman and yet it's because of that that he does manage to turn in a good dramatic performance due to the fact that anybody can do drama but comedy is more harder to do and therefor when you master comedy like he did it's more easier to do these more dramatic roles and that is something that really does shine through in this film as he becomes just so unrecognizable in his role as Amilyn that you stop seeing Paul Reubens the actor and you start to see Amilyn the character with the acting that's in this very film not really being helped by the fact that the script for this film is just so bad as it gives none of this films actors absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does harm the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.
Where the film does somewhat fail even when compared to the more well known Buffy The Vampire Slayer TV show is in it's characters. As while the characters in the show be they main characters or side characters they were all memorable characters none the less where as here the only character that is somewhat memorable is Buffy herself and that's really it and even then it's debatable on if she's that memorable of a character as there's nothing all that memorable about her in this film outside of her character arc where she goes from someone who is just the stereotypical nineties teenager who doesn't really think of anyone else but herself to someone who now must willingly sacrifice alot of the things that she loves to save those that she loves and that's really it but that's nothing compared to Pike who is quite literally just Spike but in human form with him being nothing more then a love interest for Buffy and that's really it as there's nothing about his character that makes him standout other then being someone for Buffy to talk to after Merrick dies and even Buffy's friends are nothing more then cheap knockoffs of Buffy herself and yet when you compare them to quite literally any of the characters from the TV show it's clear that the show has the much more better characters then what the film has as alot of the shows characters are memorable and actually play apart in alot of the shows episodes whereas in the film very little of it's side characters are memorable in the first place as alot of the films characters just come across as being very one dimensional characters and to be frank alot of the side characters are ones that could have been cut from the film as there just that useless and add nothing to the main film itself.
For some reason the makers of this film chose to give Pike and Buffy and romance which is fine for the teen aspect of the film as it does make the character of Buffy seem like a real person but at the same time it also feels out of place in the film. As the characters don't get to spend that much time together before they meet up at the end of the films second act with the characters mostly spending time either by themselves or with there respective friends before then and even when they do meet up they spend alot of the film just talking about killing the vampires and so it really does feel out of place when they have a slow dance together at the end of the film as nothing before then suggested that they would do something like that and on top of that having a romance in this film just feels out of place with the rest of the film as the film is an action horror comedy and those don't typically allow for romance but because of the fact that one of the stars of this film was also one of the stars of Beverly Hills, 90210 it means that Buffy has to fall in love with him even tho nothing in her character had suggested that she would do so and while having a romance in this film isn't a bad idea it's one that should have been handled alot more better then what it was with this being because of the fact that the film had to be finished filming in FIVE weeks which isn't alot of time to get the movie right and yet if the film had been allowed a longer filming period then it would mean that the makers of this film would have been allowed to have scenes with both Buffy and Pike together before they meet up as that is something that would have gone along way to making there romance more believable in the first place and having them talk about quite literally anything other then vampires would have helped with that as well but as things are there romance does come across as being quite forced and really unneeded in this film.
Whilst this film is a horror action comedy film it puts not alot of effort into it's comedy aspect which might be due to the fact that the makers of this film removed alot of the jokes that the films writer Joss Wheadon had intended to be in the film. As such we are left with a film where the only joke seems to be that Buffy is a nineties valley girl and that's really it which don't get me wrong is a decent joke to have but that seems to be the only joke in the film and as such does seem to get old really fast but in saying that tho the character of Amilyn can at times get some decent one liners with it being made clear as day that he's not the best vampire out there and is only just doing his best to get by from one night to the next and even then alot of what he says is because of the fact that Paul Reubens has alot of experience in comedy and knows full well how to make a bad joke work and that's really it and heck his best joke isn't even something that's connected to the main plot of the film as it just his over acting when he dies and that's it which is a great joke in it's own and it's something that makes you wonder who came up with that joke as if it was Paul Reubens who just made it up on the day or if it was something that it was in Joss Wheadons original script either way it was a funny line that does say that this film could have been really funny if the makers of this film actually allowed there actors to be funny and with the makers of this film cutting ALOT of the jokes from the script due to them being "to be too abstract for audiences" it makes you wonder not only what those jokes were in the first place but also if they would have made the film alot more funnier then what it already is in the first place.
Not to keep on mentioning the show that this film spawned again but the shows villains were alot more better then what Lothos is. As while he's not that bad of a villain on paper as he could have worked as a main villain it's that the film doesn't really give him alot of screen time to get across jus how creepy of a villain that he could be in the first place which does make it seem like that he would have been much more better off if he was the villain in a TV show as then we would get alot more screen time with him which would then have the add on effect of making us the audience either love or hate him as a character as even in this film he doesn't really have a plan outside of just kill Buffy and that's really it and even then that's not a plan as that's more due to the feud between vampires and slayers and isn't something that's exclusive to him as a character where as if he did have an end goal like for example wanting to take over the world which yes is a really generic plot for a villain to have but it still would have been something where as in the film he doesn't have an end goal and therefor we the audience don't have a reason to hare him outside of the fact that he's the bad guy and that's really it where as if he was the villain of a TV show all of that would have been fixed because of the fact that we'd have more time to spend with the character and to get to know him something which the makers of this film seem to afraid to do which does result in us having this really concept of a villain but can't be fully realized for no reason whatsoever as then the character can be more fully realized then what he is in the film as right now he just seems like the waste of a decent character but in saying that tho there is a chance that he got of been fully fleshed out in the films original more darker script.
Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and twenty five minuets and twenty nine seconds. Which to be fair to this film is pretty much the exact grand total running time that you'd expect a film like this one to have but at the same time this a film that really did deserve to have a much more longer running time as while this is a film that does have the right amount of plot to cover that running time it's also one that can't use it wisely due to the fact that the films plot can't be that well developed due to the fact that the film just outright doesn't give the film alot of it's focus and attention with alot of it's focus and attention going to quite literally anything else other then the plot of the film and heck even the films horror element isn't given that much focus either as outside of having vampires in it there's nothing that's all that horrific about this film with even the films characters not getting that much development either as the only character that actually gets character development in the film is Buffy herself and that's really it and even then it's more due to the fact that she's the film main character where as if this film was a bit more longer and was able to film for a longer period of time then the film would have been able to fully develop both it's plot and characters something which would have made the film alot more better and while it is of course hard to say if any of these things were present in the films original more darker script in the present state of the film it is something that does leave alot to be desired but In really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho
So now then as this is an action film that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. Ad even tho this film was made very quickly on a slightly small budget you can tell that the makers of this film did put alot of thought and effort into the films action scenes with it being this films action scenes that are the best things to find in the film just due to how campy and over the top that they can get something which the show also did alot of the time as well and while this films action scenes does have alot of bad sound effects in it which does stop this films action scenes from being as hard hitting and epic as they could have been that's more due to the fact that this film wasn't in production for very long and so the makers of this film wouldn't have been able to get alot of decent sounding sound effects for it's action scenes with the films best action scene being the films third act where both Buffy and Pike have to defeat a bunch of vampires in their school all the while the school dance is going on which is a really good action as it gives us a chance to see not only what this version of Buffy can do but also what this version of the vampires can do as well and while the action could have been alot more better for something that was made for only $7 million American dollars and was made by a bunch of people who hadn't made a film before now this films action scenes turned to be alot more better and alot more fun to watch then what they really should have done in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall while the Buffy The Vampire Slayer TV show is of course ten times better then what this film that doesn't stop this film from being a fun film as there are moments where this film can be fun it's just that it's a concept that was done alot more better in a TV show format then a feature film format in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 5.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Tenor , the official Buffy The Vampire Slayer fandom wiki page , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images from this film being the official Buffy The Vampire Slayer fandom wiki page simply because the official Buffy The Vampire Slayer fandom wiki page actually has images from this film really are up and on Google Images and plus pretty much much all of the images that I personally found on the official Buffy The Vampire Slayer fandom wiki page were all really very fairly high quality and as well as being as really very fairly high definition as well and so then horror fans we end this review as we always do with really our one and true goddess Elvira wishing us all some really very unpleasant dreams.
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