Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a 1992 comedy movie about a "Valley Girl" cheerleader who discovers she is The Slayer -- a young woman born with special strength and skill and a destiny to fight vampires. It stars Kristy Swanson, Donald Sutherland, Rutger Hauer and Luke Perry, and was written by Joss Whedon and directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui . It also features an appearance by Paul Reubens in a departure from his better known role as Pee-Wee Herman. Ben Affleck has an extras role.

The film also led to a darker and much more popular TV series of the same name, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, also created, and sometimes written and directed by Whedon. Whedon went on to state that the TV series was a much closer rendering of his vision than the movie, which was compromised by commercial concerns. The series finale aired in May 2003.

References

• Janet Maslin . "She's Hunting Vampires, And on a School Night." The New York Times. July 31, 1992. C8.