Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
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A popular cheerleader discovers she is the 'Chosen One' destined to hunt vampires.
The story
Buffy Summers is a cheerleader at Hemery High School in Los Angeles whose primary concerns are shopping and her social life. Her world is upended when she is approached by a man named Merrick, who reveals she is the 'Chosen One'—a Slayer destined to hunt vampires. Initially skeptical, Buffy is forced to confront her reality when Merrick takes her to a graveyard to stake two vampires. As she discovers her heightened senses and strength, she must learn to balance her ordinary life with her supernatural duty, while Merrick serves as her 'Watcher' to guide and train her in the fight against the elder vampire Lothos.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Buffy Summers, a cheerleader in Los Angeles, is revealed to be the 'Chosen One' by a man named Merrick. While she initially dismisses him as a madman, she eventually accepts her role as a Slayer. She forms an unlikely friendship with Pike, a mechanic, after they both survive an attack by the vampire Amilyn. During a basketball game, Buffy discovers a teammate is a vampire and works with Pike to stake him. However, the elder vampire Lothos discovers her identity and puts her in a trance. Merrick intervenes to save her but is fatally wounded. As he dies, he tells her to wait for 'the silence.' At a school dance, while her friends are oblivious to the danger, Pike helps her prepare for the coming threat. During the dance, Lothos's brood attacks the students, but Pike organizes a defense. In the school's basement, Buffy faces Amilyn and Lothos. She breaks Lothos's trance by remembering Merrick's words and uses hairspray and a cross to set him aflame. After a final confrontation in the gym, she defeats Lothos with a chair leg and reunites with Pike.
- First release year
- 1992
- Runtime (minutes)
- 86
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Fran Rubel Kuzui
- Writers
- Joss Whedon · writer
- Cast and characters
- Kristy Swanson · Buffy Summers; Donald Sutherland · Merrick; Paul Reubens; Rutger Hauer; Luke Perry; Hilary Swank · one of Buffy's friends
- Genres
- comedy; horror; vampire film
- Themes
- coming of age; responsibility
- Tone and mood
- comedy; horror
- Premise and plot tags
- supernatural; vampire; high school
- Franchise connections
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics and was noted for its departure from the creator's original vision.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 36% · review count: 56; Metacritic · score: 48 · scale: 100 · review count: 17; CinemaScore · score: B+ · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The film was completed in just five weeks.; Joss Whedon later created a television series of the same name.; The film was inspired by the movie Night of the Comet.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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