Buffy the Vampire Slayer

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer

PG-13

1992

1h 26m

Comedy

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Popcornmeter

36%

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56 Reviews

43%

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250,000+ Ratings

For Buffy Summers (Kristy Swanson), nothing is the same after she meets Merrick Jamison-Smythe (Donald Sutherland). Merrick tells the teen that he's been sent to train her to fight vampires, and he proves himself by displaying his supernatural powers. Buffy is a quick study, and soon takes fellow student Oliver Pike (Luke Perry) under her wing, repeatedly saving him from fierce bloodsuckers. But, when a very dangerous vampire (Rutger Hauer) gets rambunctious, she must go to war again.

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Critics Consensus

Buffy the Vampire Slayer's supernatural coming of age tale is let down by poor directing and even poorer plotting -- though Kristy Swanson and Paul Reubens' game performances still manage to slay.

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Kenneth Turan

Los Angeles Times

Mar 26, 2019

While it would be a mistake to oversell "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," the sad and/or happy truth is that you could do worse on a warm summer night. A lot worse.

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Jay Boyar

Orlando Sentinel

Mar 26, 2019

The idea of mixing vampires and modern teens has, of course, been tried before... But it has never been done with so much sophistication - yes, sophistication.

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Tribune

Mar 26, 2019

2/4

''Buffy'' shuffles through a number of styles and approaches, from the satirical to the Grand Guignolesque, but never treats its material with much respect.

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Sep 25, 2025

3/10

The story isn’t particularly original, since plenty of fantasy films before it have utilized a grizzled elder training a skeptical, naive pupil to do extraordinary feats.

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Bryce Hanson

Horror Movie Talk

Sep 23, 2025

4/10

The dialogue is top notch, creating compelling characters while placing it squarely in 90s LA. Where it has problems is when it comes to establishing stakes (no pun intended) and establishing the lore in a compelling way.

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Cheryl Eddy

io9.com

Feb 21, 2025

Buffy is still funny as hell—the lines are zippy, as much as it makes a person cringe to hat-tip Whedon, and the physical comedy is still there too.

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Charles Q

@CharlesMQR Sep 20, 2026

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) is pure ’90s fun—campy, silly, and far more charming than it has any right to be. Kristy Swanson makes a great Buffy, and the mix of vampires, teen comedy, and complete absurdity just works. Flawed, but that’s part of the charm.

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M. S

@M.___ Aug 26, 2026

Never watched the show but this campy movie is fantastic!

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Jackie A

@JackieSmiled Dec 25, 2025

Stop watching at season 4. If you watch it as the campy punny kind of spooky show that it is you'll love it.

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Traci F

@Trace922 Dec 15, 2025

Movie is great Love Buffy to death!

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Chuck R

@RT37597336 Oct 28, 2025

How can you not love this flick... sure its like any other teen PG-13 horror movie of the time but scene stealing turns from Paul Reubens... Luke Perry... David Arquette... and of course the always beautiful Kristy Swanson... makes for a campy cheesy good time... I always loved this better than the show...

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Tony G

@TonyGman Oct 27, 2025

How can anyone hate on this? It is so cheesy it oozes! Anyone who grew up in or near the time period surely relates to the vapid squad - they seem like charactures now - but these were not far from the mark... especially in LA! haha Buffy is a fun goofy movie with so many cameos of actors who became stars later! Buffy is on our Shocktober watchlist nearly every year.

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Fran Rubel Kuzui

Director

Kristy Swanson

Buffy Summers

Luke Perry

Oliver Pike

Donald Sutherland

Merrick Jamison-Smythe

Paul Reubens

Amilyn

Rutger Hauer

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Synopsis

For Buffy Summers (Kristy Swanson), nothing is the same after she meets Merrick Jamison-Smythe (Donald Sutherland). Merrick tells the teen that he's been sent to train her to fight vampires, and he proves himself by displaying his supernatural powers. Buffy is a quick study, and soon takes fellow student Oliver Pike (Luke Perry) under her wing, repeatedly saving him from fierce bloodsuckers. But, when a very dangerous vampire (Rutger Hauer) gets rambunctious, she must go to war again.

Director: Fran Rubel Kuzui
Producer: Howard Rosenman, Kaz Kuzui
Screenwriter: Joss Whedon
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Mutant Enemy, Kuzui Enterprises
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 10, 1992, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 2, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $14.1M
Runtime: 1h 26m
Sound Mix: Surround

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