Buffy Caza Vampiros

Sorry, I feel like it was false advertising, but we didn't make it to Howl's Moving Castle, as it was showing nowhere local. Instead we went to see Serenity, which elsewhere Dan has reviewed much better than I could. Serenity was written and directed by Joss Whedon, who conceived the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Joss Whedon is much admired for his story-telling genius in Slaminsky Mansions, let me tell you. So instead here is a little personal Buffy history...

I started watching this in Spain, where it was known as Buffy - Caza Vampiros. Like most Spanish telly, it was dubbed: "Weellow - a donde vas, Weellow?" The Spanish actress who dubbed Buffy had an incredibly mature, womanly voice which did not really match with the youth of Sarah Michelle Gellar.

And the dialogue made it somewhat hard to follow, my Spanish vocab being geared more towards asking for 3 tomatoes in the market and less towards phrases such as "demon from the portals of hell". My favourite character, who sometimes turned into a wolf, appeared to be called "Oth". (How the letter Z is pronounced in Spanish.)

Despite all these obstacles, I was hooked, hooked! Who taught Buffy those kick-ass karate moves? Who was her funny red haired friend? And this manically crazy blonde baddie whose energy burned up the screen? What was Billy Idol doing in the series, and what was his relationship with Buffy? If only I could understand what was going on!

Then I came back to England, and went round to look at a room in a house, belonging to a friend of a friend. And lo, there on the shelves in the living room was the entire series of Buffy, from beginning to end. I decided to move in.