While it would be a mistake to oversell "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," the sad and/or happy truth is that you could do worse on a warm summer night. A lot worse.

The idea of mixing vampires and modern teens has, of course, been tried before... But it has never been done with so much sophistication - yes, sophistication.

''Buffy'' shuffles through a number of styles and approaches, from the satirical to the Grand Guignolesque, but never treats its material with much respect.

The story isn’t particularly original, since plenty of fantasy films before it have utilized a grizzled elder training a skeptical, naive pupil to do extraordinary feats.