Joss Whedon, whom fans now and then like to call "God" (no blashemy intended), wrote the script for the film. His father wrote for the "Golden Girls", Joss himself belonged to the writing team of "Roseanne" - even there is special sense of humor is evident on the show. In 1992 he writes the script for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", finding it funny to make the stupid blonde girl, that normally dies in the first five minutes, a superhero and save the world. However, his script didn't look onscreen as he had intended it to look. And he's right, the movie has a high trash-factor. Although there are a large number of great names on the cast list (Kristy Swanson, Luke Perry, Donald Sutherland, Rutger Hauer and later Oscar-winner Hilary Swank), you don't feel for the characters. Only Donald Sutherland can give his old mysterious character Merrick a charming note. But neither Kristy Swanson in the leading role nor Luke Perry as the mostly goodlooking sidekick and damsel in distress (as he calls himself) can bring life to their characters. Even Rutger Hauer seems to be rather bored. His Lotus has too much pathos and is desperately missing an ironic touch. Perhaps Hauer was only shellshocked about his terrible wig (a tradition Joss Whedon liked to continue on the later series with terrible Angelus-hairdos) and couldn't concentrate on his performance.

Yet, even in this early film you can already see trails of the later so legendary Slayer Slang. Buffy has a quick tongue and can always come up with a witty reply.

Interesting are the similarities and differences between film and later series. The character of the Watcher is highly mystified: Donald Sutherland appears as a wise leader who is reborn every time a Slayer needs to be trained for her mission. On the other hand, in the series Anthony Stewart Head as Giles is part of a strictly organised Council (see "Highlander" or Anne Rice) that collects information about vampires, demons and monsters over the centuries. Yet the series always tried to tie the knot with the earlier film. More than once incidents from the film are mentioned and one episode ("Becoming") even featured a modified scene from the film (when Merrick tells Buffy about her destiny).

Having had the trash factor always in mind I was now positively surprised to watch the film again. The witty language, the quick replies, the irony - all that reminds me of the later series and why I loved it. So, after all, I don't regret buying the DVD to complete my Buffy collection... and you should do that, too;-)