I'm Still Thinking About Paul Reubens's Death in 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'
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This week, Esquire is celebrating Halloween season with an ode to our favorite nocturnal creature: the humble vampire. Whether you want to relish in the beauty of What We Do in the Shadows's Nandor, relive the indelible camp of Twilight, or simply catch up on the best vampire novels and films, we’re here to provide a smattering of vampire-themed stories, made just for you. So grab your garlic and a stake, dear reader—we’re taking a trip to the underworld.
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the titular hero suffers his final blow, and is laid to rest—only after 60 lines. The man rattles off a speech about mortality, prophesy, and legacy during a hammy (get it?) death scene that any actor would kill for. It’s theater. It’s art. It’s acting.
The late comedian Paul Reubens never played Hamlet, but there’s nothing in Shakespeare’s tale of a delusional prince that doesn’t make its way into the antics of his own character, Pee-wee Herman. The slapstick weirdo—who ran Pee-wee’s Playhouse for five seasons in the late '80s—is as clownish and naïve as Hamlet, but he tossed some Buster Keaton-meets-Elmo appeal in the mix, too. Like Shakespeare, Paul Reubens understood one great truth about comedy: Camp is the way into people’s hearts. Sure, you can tell witty jokes, or even roast your audience for a laugh. Shakespeare did all that, too. But nothing is more timeless than watching a funny-looking guy—who is absolutely in on the joke–make a fool of himself.
Now, there's one moment from Reubens's great filmography that shows his knack for camp—and I can't get it out of my head. In 1992’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the film, not the TV show!), Reubens crafted something that rivaled Hamlet's death scene. For those unfamiliar with the movie, the comedian plays a vampire underling named Amilyn. Near the final act, Buffy impales him in the heart with a wooden stake. As Amilyn, Reubens promptly moans and groans for a full minute before the camera cuts away. Reubens may not monologue for sixty lines—or do quite as ridiculous as when Hamlet harked, “With, ho! such bugs and goblins in my life!”—but he proved that not everything needs to be expressed with words.
In any other studio film, Reubens’s campy oooohs!, ahhhhhs!, and little leg kicks would have been left on the cutting-room floor. In fact, the scene shouldn’t have been there at all. According to a 2002 AMC special on the making of the film, titled Backstory: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, director Fran Rubel Kuzui revealed that Reubens’s entire death scene was improvised. Her only advice to the comedian was allegedly, “figure it out and die." Oh, did he figure it out and die.
Reubens milks every second of his death—ducking in and out of the frame, rocking back and forth in pain, kicking the wall, and even looking around for reactions. (Maybe, he was just looking for someone to scream, "Cut!") Hell, it was so funny that Reubens even writhes around some more after the credits roll. It’s a scene in a box-office disappointment that I whole-heartedly believe no one remembers for anything but this moment! Buffy creator Joss Whedon even made a 144-episode television series five years later, simply because he was so dejected by the direction of this film. Hell, Amilyn’s death doesn’t even really matter to the plot. Paul Reubens made it matter.
When Reubens passed away earlier this year following a secret battle with lung cancer, I rewatched this scene countless times. I queued up Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, one of my favorite movies of all time. I saw Reubens honored as one of the Vampiric Council members, dressed like Amilyn once again, in FX’s vampire mockumentary, What We Do in the Shadows. As silly as it sounds, there may be no greater honor. Buffy is one of Reubens's final on-screen appearances—and he did it as Amilyn. "There’s never been anything from the fans other than, please do more,” Reubens told The New York Times back in 2010. Did Reubens invent doing the most? If he did, the actor did it better than anyone else.
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