Tonights's TV highlight

[ffutures]

12:05am - 1:30am
BBC1 London & South East
VIDEO Plus+: 6669376
Subtitles, audio description, widescreen

Buffy The Vampire Slayer:

Clueless meets Dracula in this engagingly silly yet knowing horror comedy that really deserves cult status. Kristy Swanson is cheerfully dim-witted as LA teenager Buffy, who's surprised to discover that she is actually the only person who can save the city from suave Rutger Hauer and his fellow vampires. Director Fran Rubel Kuzui rightly plays it like a comic strip and draws perfectly judged performances from an eclectic cast that also includes teen heart-throb Luke Perry, Donald Sutherland, an unrecognisable Paul Reubens (Pee-wee Herman) and an uncredited appearance from Ben Affleck. It's a fun ride but fans of the TV series starring Sarah Michelle Gellar will be disappointed.

Comments

[parakkum.livejournal.com]

I saw the movie in the theater when it came out. We enjoyed it quite a bit and considered a humorous Vampire: the Masquerade adaptation to go with it.

Unfortunately, it did make me a touch dismissive of the TV series when I heard about it, so I only really picked it up in season five and reruns (then blitzed through the whole thing on DVD).

As much as it represents a corrupted form of Joss Whedon's vision, the Buffy movie is still a lot of fun. I also like how they later incorporated the events from the movie into the background for the television show.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

It's good fun if you take it on its own merits, I just wish that one day he'd get the rights back and remake it properly.

[skipp-of-ark.livejournal.com]

I dunno, I suspect that if Joss were to "properly" remake the movie, he'd just end up making the Rutger Hauer role more sympathetic and important than Buffy's. I think Joss's idea of feminism is more theory than application. Or there could still be some lingering bitterness, I suppose.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Good point - the Watchers Council version rather than the Slayer's version, perhaps.