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What’s the Story?

Reviewed by Charles Cassady Jr.

Buffy (Kristy Swanson), a pretty and popular blonde of the "Valley Girl" variety at a Pasadena-area high school, suffers strange dreams at the same time her peers start falling victim to a vampire invasion led by master vampire Lothos (Rutger Hauer). A roving vampire hunter named Merrick (Donald Sutherland) tells Buffy she's destined to be a "slayer," a born hunter-killer of vampires, and he trains her in how to fight the fiends. Buffy has to make some serious choices, however, when responsibility of exterminating vampires hurts her standing with her boyfriend and cheerleader squad-mates.

Is It Any Good?

3

Buffy's millions of TV fans may be surprised at the tomfoolery tone. Here the premise of a bloodsucker-battling cheerleader is milked at least half the time for gonzo humor, send-ups of Southern California stereotypes (fashion-conscious girls, New-Agey teachers) and some feminism lite, as Buffy evolves into being less like the characters in Clueless and more of a self-reliant warrior princess (though along the way she picks up a new, equally non-conformist boyfriend).

This is a lot fluffier than the good-vs.-evil gravitas from the prime-time saga. The vampires, though dangerous, are also rather goofy, more akin to bad boyfriends or rival-school punk nuisances. For example, one infiltrates the varsity basketball team and intimidates opponents with his fangs and hoops skills.

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