Buffy (she has no last name in the movie I don't think but the series claims it is Summers) was an average teenager who took part in everyday activities (see cheerleading photo below) but, as she herself says "I didn't actually think about anything". In other words, she is not exactly the most scholastically apt student ever to have walked the face of the planet. Merrick tells her she is "probably the most vacuous choice" he has ever seen for a Slayer. She hangs around with friends who only care about superficialities and she is no different. But something happened.

Merrick found her after years of searching. Merrick is a Watcher. He has taught Slayers for many lifetimes and continues to do so until the vampires are dead. He told Buffy that she was the Slayer. Needless to say, she didn't believe him. At least, not until the fresh grave she was sitting on suddenly sprouted a vampire.

She began to take things seriously then. She trained until she was fit to slay Vampires, then took on Lothos, her arch-enemy.
While in LA (where this movie takes place) Buffy met and fell in love with a guy called Pike. At first she paid no attention to him (he was a "loser") but as she began to grow as a person, she grew closer to him. He helped Buffy kill the vampires.

Many of Buffy's friends fell prey to the vampires. Her boyfriend's buddy Grueller was turned into a vamp, her friend Cassandra was also. Many others were killed or brought across by the blood-suckers, making the mission more personal.
Buffy has lived for many centuries, in different incarnations. Through them all, she has battled Lothos. She often has dreams which remind her of these lives, although until Merrick came along she didn't know what they were.

Buffy is just a little egocentric. Quite natural for a California babe, but this continues into her post-Merrick persona. For example, when she decides to go after vampires when they invade the senior dance, she packs up Slaying equipment (stakes, etc.) and says to Pike: "At least one of us was prepared," in a condescending tone. However, they are his stakes. It was he who was prepared. Yet Buffy tries to turn it around to seem like she is the foresighted one. Also, when Pike wakes up after the vampire fight and sees all the bodies, he says: "Wow, did I do all of that?" Buffy shakes her head. "Did you do all of that?" he asks. "Yup," she replies. This is a lie. She was downstairs. She may have Slain one or two, but the majority of the vampires were killed by Pike.

I guess it's hard to shake the habit of a lifetime.

Kristy Swanson has been described as "Queen of the B-movies." She is well known for starring in small films, though not exclusively.

Her feature debut was in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (a well known movie which I still haven't seen). She went on to appear in Flowers in the Attic & Hot Shots before receiving her first major starring role in the sequel to Mannequin, On the Move. She followed this with two of my favorites: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Chase. (This latter is still not available on sell-through in the UK - I had to get it as an ex-rental tape). The movie Higher Learning came soon after.

Kristy has gone on to some portion of fame by playing the most prominent female character in the under-rated The Phantom starring Billy Zane. She also became one of the leads in the third season of the very fun tv series Early Edition, replacing Fisher Stevens. (We have only just begun season two here - and even that's being taken off the air as I write this!) Kristy also plays the object of Adam Sandler's affections in the recent blockbuster Big Daddy. This may be the beginning of good things for Kristy (though I'd be willing to bet she's been told that before).

The only links I can find (Kristy sites phase in and out of our existence faster than the TARDIS!):

Hylle's Kristy Swanson Homepage
Coop's Kristy Swanson Page
The Kristy Swanson Homepage
Thursday's Child
Okay?