Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1992)

Buffy (Kristy Swanson) has the lifestyle any young woman could want. Cheerleading, dating the captain of the basketball team, and copious amounts of time spent shopping with friends. She had no idea of her true calling until a mysterious man named Merrick (Donald Sutherland) approached her and told her that she is the Slayer; one woman called to defend the world from vampires. Reluctant to concede to the fact, Buffy soon learns that Merrick speaks the truth and so begins to take her new life seriously while trying to maintain the sense of normality her life had once been. With her best friends slowly abandoning her, Buffy finds solace in the town outcast, Pike (Luke Perry) , who knows very well the terrors that have arisen. Together, they combat the forces of the old and powerful vampire, Lothos (Rutger Hauer), who has his eyes set on Buffy as hilarity ensues.

Trivia: Buffy's last name is never mentioned in the movie. Not until the release of the series was she referred to as Buffy Summers. In the original version of the script, Merrick committed suicide to escape being turned into a vampire by Lothos, who wanted to know the Slayer's identity so he could dispatch with her. The original script by Joss Whedon was heavily re-written to make the film "lighter". In the original script, Buffy burns down the school gym that the dance is being held in, in an effort to destroy the vampires. In the television series "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" this fact is referred to several times, as the series is seen as a spin-off of the original, unproduced screenplay rather than this film. Alyssa Milano was originally set to play Buffy. This was Hilary Swank's first film.

How in the heck did they convince somebody to make a TV series based on this movie? This movie was extremely corny. Yeah, I know, you're probably thinking "Will, what did you expect? It's a movie about a cheerleader who slays vampires." Well, I would have liked a little more explanation on the background of the slayers was. Buffy goes from "you have got to be kidding me" to "okay, vampires are real and I am a slayer" in about 2 seconds. Also, why does nobody else wonder what is happening to all the people that are disappearing? You can tell when Buffy becomes serious because she stops doing the whole valley girl thing and starts acting like a real girl. Not much of a final fight either. Oh well, Paul Reubens (of Pee Wee Herman fame) was pretty funny as the vampire's sidekick. The television series was much better.