297. 31 Days of Halloween 2026 - Day 1: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (1992) dir. Fran Rubel Kuzui

When the calendar flips to October 1st, I feel a tingle in my sweet tooth. The 31 Days of Halloween have arrived! That means a whole month dedicated to horror (as if this podcast were deprived of it). As I started last year's series with DRACULA (1931), I figured I'd keep the vampire theme and kick off 2026 with 1992's BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui. This predates Sarah Michelle Gellar, Willow and Spike, writer Joss Whedon's first bite at the apple. While the series would adopt a darker blend of horror, comedy and teenage drama, the movie is more decidedly a comedy, a choice Kuzui made to both Whedon and 20th Century Fox's chagrin. However, this approach, for me, works. Kristy Swanson's Valley Girl Buffy clashes hilariously with Donald Sutherland's devoted, if still a tad unhinged, vampire-slaying mentor Merrick. Gimme the neon highlighter costuming blended with saturated Hammer-style gothic vampirism. Gimme montages where Buffy clumsily, yet passionately learns how to spar, climb ropes, flip and kick. (The amount of tumbling in this joint puts GYMKATA to shame.) Add in Rutger Hauer as a violin-playing mustachioed vampire king and Paul Ruebens (deliberately resembling his mugshot after an incident of indecent exposure at a Sarasota movie theater) delivering the greatest mockery of a death scene ever put to film and I get a movie that's difficult to take seriously but never as so to love. --- Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Throw a couple dollars in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tip jar!