Buffy the Vampire Slayer 

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Film

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"You know, Buffy, you're not like other girls."

"Yes, I am."

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Original US release date: July 31st, 1992

Rewatched: October 2nd, 2021

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• Writer: Joss Whedon

• Director: Fran Rubel Kuzui

• Starring: Kristy Swanson, Donald Sutherland, Paul Reubens, Rutger Hauer, Luke Perry, Michele Abrams, Hilary Swank, Paris Vaughan, David Arquette, Randall Batinkoff, Andrew Lowery, Sasha Jenson, Stephen Root, Natasha Gregson Wagner 

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This example of an early 90s teen movie did not break the box office nor was it critically acclaimed. It is, in fact, not considered cannon in the Buffyverse (the original script usually is, as are the comics that cover Buffy's origins). The film manages to nail the camp and the teen drama, but not the horror, making the film sillier than the series. Also, the short running time doesn't allow for much character development. This will briefly explore both the film and the original script as posted on the Buffyverse Wiki. Since watching the film is never a highlight for me (unlike the series), I didn't start my Buffy journey with the film, but rather watched the first two seasons (the season finale of season 2 is one of my favorite episodes) and after that high note, watched the film. It was not great. But you can imagine what it could have been if the director had been better.

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The film introduces us to Buffy, a 17-year-old high school senior at Hemry High in LA. She is a cheerleader, is dating a basketball player, spends time at the mall and seems to be the center of her popular social circle. She also has absent, uninvolved parents. In short, very reminiscent of Cordelia. However, she is plagued by dreams of Slayers and vampires, specifically of Lothos. One day at school, the Watcher Merrick confronts her. He has been looking for her for a long time and her training should have already begun. He shows her that she is the Slayer and begins her training to face Lothos. Pike, a grungy mechanic, is also slowly being sucked into Buffy's world of fighting vampires and the two become closer, eventually falling for each other. 

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Students from Buffy's school are being targeted by Lothos and his minion Amilyn, and Buffy continues to train. This new part of her life takes its toll on her social life. She misses cheerleading practice, is distant to her friends (who end up turning their backs on her), and is having problems at school. Her principal, reminiscent of Principal Flutie in the series, has a talk with her and asks her if she is on drugs. 

 

In her first showdown with Lothos, Merrick is killed (in the film by Lothos; in the script he kills himself before Lothos can), causing Buffy to briefly turn away from slaying (and decide to buy a dress and attend the senior dance). Pike later shows up at the dance to be with Buffy. When the vampires attack the dance, Buffy's classmates must help defend the school and Buffy must face Lothos. Buffy succeeds in killing him, and she and Pike ride off into the night on his motorcycle. 

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Thus, the central conflict of the series is present here. Buffy's destiny is described by Merrick as:

Since the dawn of man, vampires have walked among us, killing, feeding. The only one with the strength or skill to stop their heinous evil is the Slayer, she who wears the birthmark, the mark of the coven. Trained by the Watcher, one Slayer dies and the next is chosen.

However, Buffy does not fully embrace this. As Buffy tells Merrick: "Don't you get it? I don't want to be the chosen one. I don't want to spend the rest of my life chasing after vampires. All I want to do is graduate from high school, go to Europe, marry Christian Slater and die." But she also has moments of growth, like when she says to Pike that three weeks ago, she didn't think about anything and that she wasn't expecting to be faced with vampires: "You know what it's like when suddenly everything is different? And everything you thought was crucial seems so stupid." So, the film does show Buffy's uneasy relationship with her responsibility. She rejects it several times but also seems to embrace it several times, reflecting the pain of growing up and the conflict between wanting to be adult and wishing to still be a child.

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The other theme explored in the film is, of course, girl power. Buffy is still a small blonde girl fighting evil and an unexpected hero. The line she says to Pike, quoted at the top of the page, is a strong statement that every girl and woman can be strong and can grow into this strength. In this way, Buffy is like all women. The one big flaw of the film in this regard is, however, that no other female character has any depth and Buffy's relationships with other women are not explored. In fact, by the end of the film, she has no female friends. So, unlike the series, viewers only actually see Buffy grow to be a strong, heroic female character. 

 

Through these themes, the film does lay the groundwork for the series. But there are also other aspects that show continuity between the film and the series. The drama and camp are found in both. Buffy's violence at school will be added to her record and follow her to Sunnydale. Also, the idea that Buffy should have been found and trained earlier is mentioned in the series, as are the prophetic dreams. Finally, in both, Buffy's success as a Slayer is based on her being different from previous slayers and on her friends who help her (Pike in the film and the Scoobies in the series). Merrick encourages her as he dies to "do it wrong", as this is her strength. In the series, Buffy will continue to do this. 

 

Some aspects are not explicitly mentioned in the series, but can still be inferred. Buffy saw Merrick and several classmates die, and in general found slaying very disruptive to her life. Her reticence to fully identify with her destiny in the series can be seen as a direct result of these events. 

 

Other aspects are quite different. Both the film and original script have Slayers marked with a birthmark called the mark of the coven, and in the film, all the Slayers look the same (and appear to be reincarnations of each other). This seems to be the case for the Watchers as well, there really only being one who is re-born again and again. (The original script seems to be more similar to the series in this aspect, mentioning a small town in England where all Watchers come from.) In the script, it is noted that Merrick trained five Slayers. In the series, it seems that each Watcher only ever trains one active Slayer. 

 

Also, in the film, the vampires don't turn to dust when staked (although the original script does have Lothos turn to dust) and in the script and film the vampires can float. The Slayer also gets cramps when vampires are near. The vampires have fangs all the time and funny (elven) ears. In the script, the description includes dead eyes and fangs. 

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Some of the changes from the film to the series may have been for production reasons or to appeal to broader audiences: dusting vampires leaves no corpses and makes the series more suitable for younger audiences. The vamp faces in the series makes it clear the vampires are not human when Buffy kills them, probably also to be more suitable for younger audiences. The lack of valley girl slang, which was very prominent in the film, may have helped it appeal to a wider audience and may have been easier to write and produce on the tight broadcasting schedule (season 1 episode 1 contains a bit of this slang). Buffy was also younger in the series, allowing for three seasons of high school in the series, probably a key aspect in producing a high school series.

 

Other changes reflect a return to the feel of the original script, which had many more of the horror elements found in the series, and the series even recycled some (Lothos lived in the pool of blood in the script, like the Master in season one, but in the film he lived in a coffin). Other changes can be explained: Buffy's absent mother became a very present Joyce (the only present parent in the series), but Buffy's father did remain absent. However, after divorcing and Buffy's problems, Joyce may have decided to change her style of parenting. In fact, referencing parenting books in season one indicates that Joyce was doing reading to try to be a good parent. Finally, some changes do not seem to have had any reason, such as the lack of a mole, vampires not floating and Buffy not having cramps. 

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As a final note, it is mentioned in many sources that the original script included Buffy burning down the school gym (as is referenced in the series). In the film, it is merely trashed and the script I read also did not have it burning down.