Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Movie (1992)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Movie is funnier than Clueless meets Office Space when it wants to be and campier than half the vampire movies out there the rest of the time. I streamed it on my phone during its last hour of availability but the stream choked about 140 am with ten minutes remaining and it wouldn't restart so I rented the videotape from the library and enjoyed the whole thing once more with my preteen son (and we would watch it again). The movie predated the TV series by five years so SHUT UP if you are going to carp on a false comparison! The movie is what it is -- a midrange howl for all its campiness -- and was never meant to be as well developed as the series (esp. since its airtime equals just two episodes of the series). I really enjoyed the movie and while I agree the acting is yeomanlike, that's what you expect from a movie that has a frightwigged Paul Rubens ham his way through an extended death scene after being "spiked" with a wooden ruler. (Don't miss the closing credits for more of the same plus Liz Smith reporting on the aftermath of the movie's events.) As it is, I found myself constantly laughing at how well Kristy Swanson pegged the role of the vapid blonde lead cheerleader, how well the cheerleaders played their roles as brainless Valley Girl ditzes, how the school officials were buffoons (smarmy basketball coach to team: "Remember: 'I am a person and I have a right to the ball'" but esp. Stephen Root from Office Space as the principal), and more. The male acting is no worse than An American Werewolf in London -- and surely you are not expecting Donald Sutherland and Rutger Hauer to channel Hamlet and Macbeth. Finally, don't forget Kristy's effortless hotness. All in all, an easy verdict: 4 stars.