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Buffy the Dracula Slayer?

© Ellen Ross

From the beginning, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" has been a show which deliberately takes the cliches of vampire and horror fiction and turns them upside down. Buffy takes the stereotype of the fluffy, blonde cheerleader-types who are always monster food in traditional vampire and horror stories, and reverses the standard roles - she is not the hunted, but the hunter.

When it comes to Dracula himself, however, even Joss Whedon may not be able to pull off such a reversal and make it work. It can be dangerous to meddle with a legend.

The current teasers for the upcoming season premiere of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," scheduled for September 26, 2000, feature Dracula. Although we have not yet seen the actor playing Dracula, rumor has it that Rudolf Martin, who starred opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar on the ABC soap opera "All My Children" (Martin played Anton to Gellar's Kendall), has been cast in the role. However, other reports indicate that Rudolf Martin's name was mentioned only because he is playing the same role in an independent film called "Passions of Dracula."

Joss Whedon's recent comments seem to support the Rudolf Martin rumor. "We've cast a familiar face in the role. And let's say--we know it will be believable when the seduction of Buffy begins."

Since Bram Stoker's "Dracula" was originally published in 1897, the name of Dracula has been almost synonymous with vampire. Although Bram Stoker (1847-1912) was influenced by prior works such as J. Sheridan LeFanu's "Carmilla" and John Polidori's "The Vampyre," his work effectively defined the concept of the vampire for a hundred years. Most of the ideas in the popular culture about vampires as hypnotically sexy and seductive creatures can be traced back to "Dracula."

Bringing Dracula into "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" sets up a no-win situation. The promo for the fifth-season premiere episode suggests that, consistent with tradition, Dracula will have some kind of hypnotic power over Buffy. Either the rules of the Buffyverse or the well-established Dracula traditions must be broken once Dracula enters Buffy's world.

Dust Dracula? No. That won't work.

Let Dracula defeat Buffy? No. That won't work, either.

On message boards and mailing lists around the 'net, Buffy fans look forward to the season premiere with a mixture of hope and skepticism.

Joss Whedon has proven over and over again that he can pull off what appears to be impossible. By introducing the legendary Dracula into Buffy's reality, he has set himself his greatest challenge yet. If Joss manages this one, he will have ascended to a new level.

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