His first encounter with Buffy was not a good one. He and Benny were sitting behind Buffy and her friends in the cinema and were very annoyed because the girls were making a lot of noise. He then met them again at a cafe. This time was no better than the first as his drunkenness and poverty were harshly on display.

It wasn't until their third meeting that either would feel warmly toward the other. Pike was being chased by vampires, and Buffy saved his butt. He stayed on the couch at her house that night, having nowhere else to go. That was when the two started to get close.

Luke Perry has referred to his character in this movie as the "damsel in distress." Humorous, if not entirely accurate. Pike does his fair share of vampire-slaying in the movie. At one point, Pike tries to save Buffy from a vampire (Grueller, her boyfriend's pal) but she in turn has to save him. When they land in a tangle on the ground from a poorly judged leap from Buffy, Pike claims he was "saving your butt" and she lets out a grunt of disbelief, to which Pike replies, "Well, there was sort of an exchange of butts."

Actually, at the finale (which includes lots of vampires in the school gym) Pike holds the undead at bay while his "girl" Buffy chases Lothos. He is really more of a sidekick than a "damsel in distress".

Okay, as if anyone didn't know, Luke Perry became famous for playing Dylan on Beverly Hills 90210. He left the show and went on to a pretty good (artistically if not financially) movie career. I must admit to thinking he was not a good actor (just because he did appear on Hills) but this movie proved me wrong. Perry actually puts in the best performance out of anyone in this movie, even outdoing Donald Sutherland and Rutger Hauer, who admittedly did not have the greatest challenge of their career in this movie. Perry deals out the comedy and the drama with an even hand, perfectly timing and delivering every one of his lines. I really gained respect for him after this film.

Among other roles, he was in the recent sci-fi blockbuster The 5th Element, somehow getting his name in the opening credits even though he has but a few lines in the movie, and all of them right at the start. His agent deserves a medal. Presently, he has returned to the show that launched him to box office failure, Beverly Hills, 90210.

Luke Perry is actually married and has a son, just a baby now. I have no information on them. Anyone?

I could only find two Luke Links:

Unofficial Luke Perry Homepage &
Tina's Page