Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film)

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Canonicity warning: The following is not considered canonical in the Buffyverse.''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a 1992 comedy film about a "Valley Girl" cheerleader (Kristy Swanson) chosen by fate to fight and kill vampires. The film is a light parody which plays on the cliches of typical horror movies. The film also led to a darker and much more popular TV series of the same name, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, which was created and executive produced by screenwriter Joss Whedon. Whedon often detailed how the TV series was a much closer rendering of his vision than the movie, which was compromised by commercial concerns and differences in interpretation. Though the film is now considered a relatively minor chapter in the broader Buffy legacy, it was moderately successful and generally well received at the time of its release.

Contents

1 Plot synopsis

1.1 Summary

2 Cast and crew
3 Trivia
4 Continuity

4.1 Canonical issues
4.2 Timing

5 Soundtrack
6 References
7 External links

Plot synopsis

Summary

Buffy is a popular cheerleader at Hemery High School when she is approached by a man named Merrick. He informs her that she is The Slayer - a young woman born with special strength and skill and a destiny to fight vampires. She admits that she has dreamt of past Slayers and eventually accepts that she is one.

After a brief training, she is drawn into conflict with a local vampire king called Lothos, who has killed a number of past Slayers. Lothos kills Merrick. In a climactic battle set at the senior prom, Buffy defeats the vampire and his minions, primarily by being true to her own contemporary style and ignoring the conventions and limitations of previous Slayers. This is an early version of the allegory of female empowerment which would form the cornerstone of later versions of Buffy.

Cast and crew

Written by Joss Whedon and directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui

It stars Kristy Swanson, Donald Sutherland, Rutger Hauer, Luke Perry, David Arquette and Randall Batinkoff.
It also features Paul Reubens in a departure from his better known role as Pee-Wee Herman as well as a young Hillary Swank.

Ben Affleck has a role as an extra.
Ricki Lake has a role as Charlotte the waitress.

Trivia

Characters in the movie include Merrick and Pike.
Seth Green appeared as a vampire victim in a deleted scene which nonetheless featured on the original video cover; he would have been the only actor from the movie to appear in the TV series.
The film was adapted into comic format bringing it closer into line with the Buffyverse established by the TV series in The Origin.

Continuity

Canonical issues

The film is not considered Buffyverse canon built by the later television series. In fact, many of the details given in the film directly contradict canon that would later be established by Whedon's television series. Buffy's history is changed, and both vampires and the Slayer's abilities are depicted differently. Instead "The Origin", a reinterpretation of the script for this movie, brought in line with continuity from the series is largely regarded as canon. Whedon stated "The origin comic, though I have issues with it, CAN pretty much be accepted as canonical. They did a cool job of combining the movie script (the SCRIPT) with the series, that was nice, and using the series Merrick.." [link]

Timing

Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released on July 28, 1992. Tracklisting follows:

1. C&C Music Factory/Deborah Cooper/Q-Unique - Keep It Comin' (Dance Till You Can't Dance No More!)

2. Dream Warriors - Man Smart (Woman Smarter)

3. Matthew Sweet - Silent City

4. Susanna Hoffs - We Close Our Eyes

5. Toad the Wet Sprocket - Little Heaven

6. The Divinyls - Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore

7. Ozzy Osbourne - Party With the Animals

8. The Cult - Zap City

9. Mary's Danish - I Fought the Law

10. Rob Halford - Light Comes Out of Black

Lothos plays on his violin the theme from 2nd part of Schumann's Piano quintet Es-dur op. 44

References

Janet Maslin. "She's Hunting Vampires, And on a School Night." The New York Times. July 31, 1992. C8.

External links

PLEASE DISCUSS CHARACTER ADDITTIONS/REMOVALS BEFORE MAKING CHANGES AT [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Buffyverse#Buffyverse-box character inclusions]] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Buffyverse#Buffyverse-box_character_inclusions)

This box cannot/shouldn't be including every Buffyverse character. Some suggested guidelines are:

"The people who appeared in the opening credits (Scooby Gang & Fang Gang/FG) appear in the box, and the most important villains/friends who had a significant emotional impact on multiple of those opening credits characters - as long as they have a significant episode count, and preferably if they appear in three or more seasons."

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Buffyverse
Main	Canon \| Index Chronology: Ancient \| Modern \| BS1 \| BS2 \| BS3 \| BS4/AS1 \| BS5/AS2 \| BS6/AS3 \| BS7/AS4 \| AS5 \| Future \| Flashbacks
Buffy	Characters (main) \| Characters (minor) \| Episodes \| Plot \| [[q:Buffy the Vampire Slayer\|Quotes]] Comics \| Film \| Pilot (unaired) \| Promo: History.. \| Novels \| Promos: Pre-"Bargaining"
Angel	Characters (main) \| Characters (minor) \| Episodes \| Plot \| [[q:Angel\|Quotes]] Comics \| Corrupt (unaired) \| Novels \| Pilot (unaired)
Spin-offs	Comics \| Fan made productions \| Fray \| Novels \| Spike movie \| Undeveloped productions Buffy Animated \| Card Game \| RPGs \| Tales of Slayer (prose) \| Tales of Slayers \| Tales of Vampires \| Toys \| Video Games Upcoming: Blackout \| [[Connor: Spotlight (Angel comic)\|Connor (IDW)]] \| [[Doyle: Spotlight (Angel comic)\|Doyle (IDW)]] \| [[Go Ask Malice: A Slayer's Diary\|Go Ask Malice]] \| [[Gunn: Spotlight (Angel comic)\|Gunn (IDW)]] \| [[Illyria: Spotlight (Angel comic)\|Illyria (IDW)]] \| Portal Through Time \| Spike vs Dracula \| [[Wesley: Spotlight (Angel comic)\|Wesley (IDW)]]
Powers	Angel Investigations \| Circle of the Black Thorn \| Order of Aurelius \| The First Evil \| The Initiative \| Monsters \| Old Ones \| The Powers That Be \| Ra-Tet \| Scooby Gang \| Senior Partners \| Watchers' Council \| Wolfram & Hart
People	Adam \| Amy \| Andrew \| Angel \| Anya \| Buffy \| Caleb \| Connor \| Cordelia \| Dawn \| Darla \| Doyle \| Dru \| Eve \| Faith \| Fred \| Giles \| Glory \| Gunn \| Harmony \| Holtz \| Illyria \| Jasmine \| Jenny \| Joyce \| Jonathan \| Kate \| Kennedy \| Lilah \| Lindsey \| Lorne \| The Master \| Mayor Wilkins \| Oz \| Professor Walsh \| Riley \| Spike \| Tara \| Warren \| Wesley \| Willow \| Xander
Places	L.A. \| Sunnydale Bronze \| Caritas \| Hellmouth \| Hyperion \| Library \| Magic Box \| Pylea \| Sunnydale High
Music	Complete Tracklist \| Use of Music in Buffy & Angel *[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Album\|Buffy* album]] \| Dingoes Ate My Baby \| Film \| [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Radio Sunnydale - Music from the TV Series\|Radio Sunnydale]] \| [[Angel: Live Fast, Die Never\|Live Fast, Die Never]]** \| Once More, With Feeling
Key Terminology	"Demon" \| "Slayer" \| "Vampire" \| "Watcher" \| "Werewolf" \| "Witch" "Child of Senior Partners" \| Shanshu \| Sunnydale Syndrome \| Tro-Clon

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