Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)

"Right. I'm the chosen one. And I choose to be shopping."

- Buffy

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a 1992 horror-comedy directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui and written by creator Joss Whedon. It was released theatrically in the United States on July 31st, 1992. The film stars Kristy Swanson as Buffy, a high school student at Hemery High in Los Angeles, California. Buffy reluctantly finds her calling as a vampire slayer and after training with a mentor named Merrick (Donald Sutherland), stands ready to take on the evil forces of a vampire master named Lothos. Though the film was not favorably reviewed and faired only moderately at the box office, it did spawn an extremely successful re-imagining as a television series in 1997.

Notes & Trivia

 * The tagline for this film is, "Homework. Cheerleading practice. Killing vampires. No one said high school would be easy."


 * Buffy the Vampire Slayer was released to DVD on September 4th, 2001 by Twentieth Century Fox.


 * Filming on Buffy the Vampire Slayer began on February 20th, 1992 and concluded on April 26th.


 * Includes a cameo appearance by actor Ben Affleck, who will later go on to become a Hollywood super-star, featuring in movies such as Armageddon, Paycheck and Good Will Hunting.


 * The premise of the movie was re-imagined in the 1999 three-issue limited series Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Origin by Dark Horse Comics. The plot of the series is derived from early script drafts of the film and restructures the story to coincide with the continuity of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series.


 * This is the first genre work for actress Hilary Swank. She will go on to play Michelle Porter in Sometimes They Come Back... Again in 1996 and Katherin in The Reaping in 2007.