Review with a Vampire (Slayer)

Sarah Michelle Gellar as 'Buffy'
Image courtesy of Vampires.com

Vampires. Most definitely one of the world's most iconic fiendish horror stars, without argument. Since 'Nosferatu' first graced our screens back in 1922, through the leather clad bikers in 87's 'The Lost Boys' and right up to 2008's Swedish romanticised frightfest 'Let The Right One In', our eyes have never been neglected as far as images of blood-sucking, neck-biting beasts are concerned. They're a staple character in cult media, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

But with time, things change. And in this day and age of the highly sex-driven adult vampires of 'True Blood' and the diamond-skinned, emotional and brooding palefaces of Stephanie 'disregard vampiric lore' Meyer's 'Twilight' setting teenage girl's hearts aflutter, it's not hard for the nu-age vampire fan to overlook one of the late 90's best TV gems. Surely you've guessed it by now, it is of course none other than one of Joss Whedon's finest televisual outputs, 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'.


It's hard to believe that it's been almost 14 years since Sarah Michelle Gellar and her Scooby Doo style group of teenage friends graced our screens in the 7 season run of the creature feature that many of us know and love. But even today, the program has aged fantastically and although it only garners a 6 am slot on 'SyFy' for us UK viewers, it's still a real corker of a series. One which I'd solidly recommend to anyone, vampire fan or not. I'm yet to find anyone who doesn't get suckered in to the love/hate relationship between Buffy and spin-off star Angel, or anyone who doesn't fall in love with James Marsters ever charismatic performance in the role of Spike.

'The Gentlemen'
Image courtesy of bbc.co.uk

But for me, the main reason I've fallen in love with the 'Buffyverse' (as the fans call it), is of course the vast array of freaks and villains that our intrepid slayer and her gang of monster hunters have to contend with from the truly terrifying to the downright cheesy, Whedon has created a compendium of brilliant baddies up for the slaying. But it doesn't just stop at vampires, Buffy encounters a whole host of adversaries over her time appointed as Slayer, including demons, spirits and the undead, some of which stand up quite well as legitimately scary co-stars, such as the suited-booted-and-shrivelled 'Gentlemen' (left) from fan-favourite episode 'Hush' (Season 4, Episode 10). Another notable favourite villain of mine is the demonic Peter Stringfellow, 'Der Kindestod' (below) who spends his time haunting hospitals and killing children like all good demons should do. He can be found in the episode 'Killed by Death' (Season 2, Episode 18). And as for some of the more cheesy creatures, look no further than the Creature from the Black Lagoon inspired 'Gill Monsters' from 'Go Fish' (Season 2, Episode 20), not the greatest of episodes - but look out for an appearance from a young Wentworth Miller before breaking out of prison was his bag. They're just a few examples of many of course, so other than a few wild cards here and there, the standard of monster is really quite high for any of you monster maniacs out there.

Peter Stringfellow and Der Kindestod - Spot the difference.

Even though at times it follows a very paint-by-numbers format, with each episode featuring a beast of the week, coupled with an overall story arc, the show seems to just flow. With each episode running at around 40 to 45 minutes a pop, it never outstays it's welcome, and with an alt-rock soundtrack that's straight out of the 90's there's very little not to love for viewers both new and old. So if you're tired of Twilight's deadpan teens and tragic warping of what vampires really are, then make sure you check out Buffy as soon as possible. I speak for both myself and Alex when I say that it's a TV favourite here at MGNC, and I'm sure that given half a chance it will be one of yours too. And if that's not enough to sell you, they even did a musical episode too, y'know.