Movie Info
Movie Name: The Lost Boys
Studio: Warner Bros.
Genre(s): Horror/Comedy
Release Date(s): July 31, 1987
MPAA Rating: R
Let’s eat!
Sam (Corey Haim) and Michael (Jason Patric) have moved with their mother Lucy (Dianne Wiest) to live in Santa Carla with their grandfather (Barnard Hughes) while their mom starts a new job at a video store ran by Max (Edward Herrmann). When Michael meets a girl named Star (Jami Gertz) on the boardwalk he’s introduced to a gang led by David (Kiefer Sutherland), Michael is initiated into the gang but finds that the gang has some strange extracurricular activities which including drinking blood. Sam meets up with a couple called the Frog Brother (Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander) who vow to destroy the vampire population of Santa Carla. When Sam learns his brother and his girlfriend are vampires, Edgar, Alan, and Sam must locate the head vampire and slay him to free Michael, Star, and Star’s friend Laddie (Chance Michael Corbitt).
Boy, is my face red.
Directed by Joel Schumacher, The Lost Boys was met with a lot of success both critically and financially. In spite of the success and years of rumors, the movie didn’t have a sequel until 2008 with Lost Boys: The Tribe and Lost Boys: The Thirst in 2010.
The Lost Boys helped revolutionize the vampire film. It brought vampires from castles and capes to a post-punk audience. Keifer Sutherland and his vampire gang (which included Alex Winters from Bill & Ted fame) are like MTV rejects. They have a metal band look and a hipper approach to feeding…they enjoy their powers and like to flaunt them. The movie has some of the traditional ways to kill and detect vampires, but it mostly changed it all up.
Frog Brothers…plus Sam…to the rescue!
The Lost Boys also introduced a new breed of vampire hunters. The Frog Brothers used modern ways to kill vampires. Bow and arrows and holy water in squirt guns became killer toys. It isn’t just a shaved wooden stake and vial of holy water like the old films.
Santa Carla also becomes character itself. Shot in and around Santa Cruz, California, most of the people shot during the “People are Strange” segment of the movie were just people off the street. It also helps lead into the classic last line by Grandpa “One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach…all the damn vampires”.
The Lost Boys is hard not to like. Without The Lost Boy there would probably be no Buffy the Vampire Slayer or True Blood. With movies like Near Dark and Fright Night, The Lost Boys really changed a tired old format with a fun smart script full of fun references. I do have to pick a bone with the writers however as a comic book geek. I do get irritated by their unrealistic comic book chat in the store, but I’ll have to live with it…at least we have the oily saxophone player to balance it out.
