Two of my favorite movie categories are comedy and horror … and combining such polar opposites genres into one movie can either be disastrous or result in something unique and special in its own right. The 1987 teen vampire picture “The Lost Boys” is one such picture that playfully blends both laughs and thrills, but it also has its own distinct style and voice that makes it stand out. It’s hard to put the film into words, but it’s almost like a coming-of-age teen adventure but laced with elements of classic monster movies and stylized music videos. It’s one of my favorite horror products of the 1980’s, and for this October, I wanted to finally give this film the attention it deserves.
Michael and Sam are brothers who just moved with their mother to a seaside town in California called Santa Carla. The place is bustling with activity and fun, but you can tell right away, there’s some dark and twisted things lurking underneath the town’s sunny appearance. Older brother Michael finds himself smitten with a young girl named Star, who’s fallen in with a bad group of rebellious teens that only come out after dark ... nothing suspicious there. The more Michael tries to pull the girl out of their club, the more he gets himself pulled in … until it’s too late. Much to Michael’s dismay, he realizes that he’s slowly becoming a Vampire, but the transformation won’t be permanent until he makes his first kill. Meanwhile, his little brother Sam seeks help from the local Frog Brothers, who run their own comic book shop, while secretly hunting the vampires that terrorize the boardwalk. Thus, Sam and the Frog brothers set off on a mission to kill the gangs head vampire, and free Michael from his curse, before the thirst consumes him.
There really isn’t much to the characters on the written page, but the strength comes from this dynamic cast of young 1980’s talents, who all bring these players to life with personality and charisma. Jason Patric is the face of the film, playing the lead teen Michael, who’s a shut-in, but tries to be outgoing.
Jason Patric’s performance gets us to sympathize with him as goes through his transformation and his need to fight the urge to kill anyone. Corey Haim plays his brother Sam, who at times is a little too animated for the characters own good, but he sure has the funniest lines in the movie … “You’re a Vampire Mike, a real blood sucking Vampire … ewe, just wait till mom finds out!”. Michael and Sams mother Lucy is played by Dianne Wiest, and she is infectiously lovable as a woman trying to not only be there for her kids, but also just make a life for herself. Jami Gertz is the pretty love interest named Star, and her performance is exactly what you’d expect from a teen with a name as simplistic as “Star”.
One of the most memorable players is Corey Feldman as Edgar Frog, who talks in an overly serious tough guy voice, which perfectly contrasts him reacting in panic when things get dangerous. Of course, the big one to highlight is Kiefer Sutherland as the lead vampire David. Just like the best vampires, he comes off as charming and seductive first, and then relentless and monsters second. While I’ve seen Kiefer Sutheralnd in a number of movies like “A Few Good Men”, “The Three Musketeers”, “Dark City” and “Stand by Me” (which also stared Corey Feldman), I’ve always remembered him best for his leading Vampire role here in “The Lost Boys”. Everyone looks like they’re having a great time acting in this film, and that fun transcends on me every time I watch this.
That’s really the main take away from this film … it’s not a perfect script, nor dose if feature the most complex characters … but the experience as a whole is just plain FUN! Honestly, my standards for a comedy and horror hybrid focusing on teen vampires is … I want it to be cool and fun, which is what this movie excels at. It also knows how to juggle its various tones … when it wants to be funny, it’s hilarious, and when it wants to be dark, it can be suitably creepy.
The fictional setting of the seaside town Santa Carla is also chalk full of personality, with quirky inhabitants … "One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach...all the damn vampires!". My favorite funny highlight involves our hero boys stopping at a church to collect holly water as a means to combat the vampires, all while a baptism is in progress. There’s something really cool and humorous about seeing these boys fill little squirt guns with water that works as a weapon against their attackers. The final confrontation is a riveting showdown in a house full of boobytraps, resulting in all kinds of nasty yet awesome and amusing vampire deaths, including … “Death by Stereo”. Think of it as “Home Alone” meets “Evil Dead 2”, which are great things to combine together.
The rousing soundtrack and music video style editing also helps keep things engaging and cool, as well as help when transitioning from frights to laughs. There’s a moment when the gang goes riding out into the night on motorcycles set to Lou Gramm’s “Lost in the Shadows”, and it gets me hyped every time I watch it. The films soundtrack in general is on par with movies like “Top Gun” and “Rocky 4”, in which it characterizes most of the picture, and for me is one of my favorite movie soundtracks of the 1980’s. Other musical highlights include “I Still Believe” by Tim Cappello, “Don’t Let the Sun go Down on Me” by Roger Daltrey and the music score by Thomas Newman likewise compliments the style and tone of the picture. The most famous music theme from this movie of course is “Cry Little Sister” by Gerard McMann, which subconsciously lingers in my mind as my definitive vampire music theme.
The title of the movie is obviously a play on the titular Lost Boys featured in J. M. Barrie's “Peter Pan” stories, who … just like vampires … are immortal youths that never grow old. The screenplay was written by Janice Fischer, Jeffrey Boam and James Jeremias, the latter of whom is quoted for taking initial inspiration from the Anne Rice novel “Interview with the Vampire” (this was before the Brad Pit and Tom Cruise movie of the same name made a splash in the early 1990’s), which featured a 12 year old girl, who was really 200 years old. Also, being a fan of “Peter Pan”, an immortal child who can also fly and only comes out at night, an idea came about to merge elements of the two together. While Peter Pan is never directly referenced in the film, you do still feel the influence, especially with the Vampire hide-out looking like the Transylvania equivalent of Neverland.
The last ingredient to the puzzle was the late director Joel Schumacher, who’s creative vision for the film gave “The Lost Boys” a distinct look and personality that separates it from other similar vampire flicks of the decade, like "Fright Night". You may not have liked director Joel Schumacher’s 1990’s “Batman” movies, but after watching “The Lost Boys”, there’s a good reason he was hired to take over the franchise after Tim Burton. Personally, even though the late Joel Schumacher proved himself a credible director for dramatic films, serious thrillers, and an okay film adaption of the musical “The Phantom of the Opera”, I still look back on “The Lost Boys” with the most fondness of his collective works. The film spun off into a series, with a string of comic-book tie-ins and Corey Feldman reprising his role as Edgar Frog for two sequels … although, none of them were as fresh or fun as the first.
Whereas the majority of vampire movies have a similar look, tone and feel, “The Lost Boys” was one of the first to put vampires in a modern setting as opposed to a Gothic period piece, and gave them their own unique flavor as rebellious teens. On that note, for better or worse, it certainly paved the way for teen vampire flicks, which became insanely popular in the decades since. To this day, it’s sustained a status as a cult classic, and it’s one of my personal favorite vampire movies. Despite being a very obvious product of the 1980’s, it’s still got a signature “cool factor” that’s all its own. It’s ripe with style, originality, memorable characters, and awesome theme music. The whole film feels like a twisted music video mixed with classy vampire action, and what’s not to like about that?
Thanks for
reading my review of the 1987 vampire flick “The Lost Boys” … and
continue to enjoy the movies you Love!
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