Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the movie) - The prequel…. Basically

Ah, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ – the seminal TV show of the nineties which launched Kirsty Swanson as a household name.  Well, maybe in a parallel universe.  Before Sarah Michelle Gellar started saving the world (a lot) and falling in love with almost every good-looking undead stud in Sunnydale, they actually tried the format on the big screen.  This version never really took off and has kind of been lost among the annals of cinematic history, only being revived as a strange beast of interest that (TV) Buffy fans like to watch, simply in order to compare this weird ‘alternate take’ on their icons to what the ‘real’ thing turned out like.  And I have to confess that that’s why I watched it.  I was never a mega-fan of the nineties TV series, but I’ve grown to watch it through my daughter and was kind of curious what the filmic incarnation of Buffy was like.  If it was up to my daughter she’d probably end the review here as she could barely sit through the whole film!  However, I thought it was an interesting little ‘compendium piece’ if nothing else.

Yes, it doesn’t have quite such a memorable cast list as the TV show and the dialogue isn’t half as snappy (and the vamps don’t ‘dust’ when killed, probably due to budget reasons!), yet it still maintains a strange sort of charm.  Whereas in the TV show it is definitely Sarah Michelle Geller’s show, here it’s the older, more established actors who are a more memorable, for our non-Geller Buffy mast face off against B-movie veteran of the eighties Rutger Hauer, while being taught her slaying skills by ‘watcher’ Donald Sutherland.

I guess the filmic incarnation of Buffy is even harder to ‘sell’ now in retrospect than it was at the time.  When it first came out it didn’t have huge names, big effects or anyone that would draw in the masses.  And, let’s face it… the title of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ does sound a little cheesy.  I know the film (and TV show) doesn’t always take itself too seriously and a healthy dose of cheese is required during watching at all times.  I just could imagine the audience’s reaction to seeing a film entitled this.  It seems to be too old for youngsters and yet to ‘teen-ish’ for adults, therefore didn’t really draw in a wide and varied audience.

As with the TV show, we meet our titular ‘slayer’ Buffy, who’s a teenager who just so happens to be this generation’s ‘chosen one,’ tasked with wiping vampires out from the face of the Earth (or rather just her hometown to start with!).  Once you’ve invested your time in the TV show, it’s hard to watch the film without trying to relate it back to the ongoing series.  I see this as a kind of ‘prequel’ as it deals with Buffy learning of her heritage and being taught the ways of the Force (or slaying vamps – whatever).  And, for that, it does almost work when looked at in conjunction with the TV show.  Yes, there are always going to be some continuity errors that don’t really match up, but, seeing as the two mediums don’t occupy the same ‘shared universe,’ this can only be expected.

It’s hard to recommend the film really, as fans of the genre will undoubtedly be so into the TV show that they refuse to except this as part of the lore.  However, if you’re someone who can appreciate the ‘evolution’ of the character and wants to take a sneak peek into an alternate universe where Sarah Michelle Gellar doesn’t reign supreme, give this one a go.  Yes, it’s daft and yes, it’s cheesy, but wasn’t the TV show all that, too?  This isn’t a film for everyone, but it is one that does still have an audience out there, even if it’s getting smaller by the day as more and more people only ever remember the TV show as the ‘real’ Buffy.  But this one could be a lot worse (especially seeing as we’ve never got a new series from Joss Whedon!).

6/10 Should probably keep you awake if Freddy Krueger was haunting your nights