Product Details

• Actors: Kristy Swanson, Donald Sutherland, Paul Reubens, Rutger Hauer, Luke Perry
• Directors: Fran Rubel Kuzui
• Writers: Joss Whedon
• Producers: Fran Rubel Kuzui, Alex Butler, Carol Baum, Dennis Stuart Murphy, Howard Rosenman
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: August 18, 1993
• Run Time: 86 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (189 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302587271
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #71,849 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Fran Rubel Kuzui's 1992 tongue-in-cheek vampire comedy is sugarcoated horror, an unusual mix of the cute and scary, with a splash of postmodern pop nonsense to give culture critics something to think about. Kristy Swanson plays a Valley Girl who learns she belongs to a line of ancient vampire killers. After training under the watchful eye of a mentor (Donald Sutherland), she becomes a spandex-wearing, kung-fu kicking, stake-stabbing babe and the mortal enemy of a narcissistic master vampire (Rutger Hauer). The accent is all on cheery attitude, though the action can be as authentically unnerving as any other halfway decent monster movie. Paul Reubens, formerly Pee-wee Herman, has a small role as Hauer's fanged familiar. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In the beginning, there was Buffy the camp comedy classic, May 13, 2001

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Buffy the Vampire Slayer [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Pity poor Buffy (Kristy Swanson). She just wants to enjoy her life as a cheerleader/Valley girl when some scruffy old guy (Donald Sutherland) shows up and tells her she is "the Chosen One." You cannot believe how being a Vampire Slayer puts a crimp in a young girl's lifestyle. But when vampires (Rutger Hauer & Paul Reubens) are snacking on your classmates, what's a girl to do but grab some stakes and get down to some serious slaying. Fortunately, there is a cute guy (Luke Perry) as a bonus.

For fans of the hit television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," the original movie is certainly a mixed bag. The strengths of the film come from Joss Whedon's script, which takes the ...idea of the blonde bimbo being chased by the monster and reverses it so that she end's up kicking the monster's butt. The weaknesses of the film come from director Fran Rubel Kuzui, who plays the whole thing for camp, personified by Paul Reubens over the top turn as "Lefty" and his agonizingly long death scene. But if you listen past the deliver to the actual lines, you can clearly find the foundation for the Buffy character on television.

Donald Sutherland lends a certain amount of weight to the proceedings as Buffy's Watcher, but Rutger Hauer's considerable presence is lost in his campy Vampire King. What looks the most out of place is the fighting style of Kristy Swanson as Buffy, which combines martial arts with gymnastics and cheerleading, which, again, fits more into the camp style of the film. Ultimately the direction overwhelms the promise of the script and we are left with basically a one-joke film that does not get too far off the ground. But if you compare this to the pilot for the television series, you certainly get a better feel for how Joss Whedon refined his vision of the Slayer.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply wonderful!, March 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Buffy the Vampire Slayer [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I saw this movie when it first came out in the theatres and I have loved it ever since. When it came out The fashions in the movie were all the rage and Buffy is what most teenage girls of that time would want to look like. It was scary but it was also funny and sweet. Another plus was Luke Perry who was already huge on 90210. I loved that movie and when the tv series came out I was surprised at although there were similarities, the television show is much darker. Yet I still love the show and becaus I absulutely loved the movie, I'm glad they turned it into a show. I thought Kristy Swanson was a perfect Buffy and I was hesitant to give Sarah Michelle Gellar a chance but she has lived up to her characer beautifully.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny movie that takes a beating because of the series, January 20, 2007

By 

Rye Bread (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (DVD)

This movie is funny. Unfortunately, it is dissected by the hardcore Buffy fans that were lured in by their love of the television series, and subsequently bashed.

I liked this movie back in the day, and I still enjoy it. I never watched Buffy the Vampire slayer on TV, so I don't hold a grudge against this movie as its predecessor.

If you watch this movie expecting what you saw on TV, you will be disappointed, but it's unfair to drag this movie into the mud just because it's not the same thing as the TV show.

Overall, it's a funny movie that will give you a few laughs and that you'll enjoy, as long as you don't watch it expecting Buffy from the WB series.