Editorials
Flashback Friday: A “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” Halloween!
It’s difficult to believe that Buffy the Vampire Slayer (aka the greatest television show of all time) premiered 18 years ago. To help you get in the Halloween spirit, I thought I would take a look back at Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s very first Halloween episode! Since it was a mid-season replacement, Buffy didn’t have a Halloween episode in its first season, so we had to settle for the sixth episode of the show’s second season. Not that that’s a bad thing, as it is a fantastic episode and represents the point where the show starting coming into its own.
If you’ve never seen an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this episode is still safe viewing for you. It is a standalone episode for the most part, with the central conflict being that a magic spell causes all of the characters become whatever costume they are dressed up as. This allowed all of the actors to play against type, with Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Buffy playing the damsel in distress (she wore a 17th century maiden’s costume to satisfy her vampire boyfriend Angel) and Nicholas Brendon’s Xander, who dresses as an army soldier, gets to be the tough guy for once. The best part comes from Willow (Alyson Hannigan) who initially dresses up as a scantily clad girl, only to back out at the last minute and dress as a ghost, causing her to die when the spell takes effect and come back as the a ghost wearing revealing clothes.
It all plays out rather humorously, but it is a seminal episode for being Buffy’s very first (and certainly not the last) Halloween episode. “Halloween” also showed the series at its most playful, switching up character roles (Willow gets to be the leader for the first time) and allowing Gellar to be more vulnerable than she ever had been (and that’s saying something since she had to face death in the season one finale).
Basically, I’m writing this post to reminisce about one of my favorite shows with all of you, and hopefully convince some of you who have never seen it to give it a show (the first season hasn’t aged well, but it really picks up around this point of the second season). It’s a great watch during the Halloween season and has become one of my October viewing staples every year.
So take some time this month to revisit (or visit for the first time) Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s very first Halloween episode. While you’re at it, go watch some of your favorite shows’ Halloween episodes! What are some of your favorites (be they from Buffy or any other show)? I’m partial to Community’s “Horror Fiction in 7 Spooky Steps” myself, but let me know in the comments below or shoot me a Tweet!
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is currently streaming on Netflix, and you can check out the Halloween episode here, and watch a clip from the episode below.
Editorials
‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel
The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.
The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.
Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.
With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).
It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.
The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.
The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.
Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.
Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.
Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.
The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.
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