The Lost Boys (1987)

The Lost Boys (1987)

Directed By: Joel Schumacher

Starring: Corey Haim, Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland, Corey Feldman, Jamison Newlander, Jami Gertz, Dianne West, Barnard Hughes, Edward Herrmann, Alex Winter, Billy Wirth

Subgenre: Vampires

Synopsis: When their mother gets divorced, Michael and Sam are forced to relocate from Phoenix to Santa Clara.  Relocating is difficult enough, but when the town you are moving to is controlled by vampires, it makes it even more difficult.

Thoughts: This is one of the best, if not the best, vampire movies to come out of the 80s.  I have no idea how many times I have watched this, but it is a ton.  It is always entertaining, but not without its flaws.  For me, this is a great reflection on the late 80s, both in life and in the genre.

For starters, the story is great.  Ironically, the story started out with vampires that were kids around 5 or 6 years old and grew through many iterations to get where we all know it.  It is heavily inspired by Peter Pan.  Personally, I think the changes they made worked out for the best.

One of my favorite things about horror films from the 80s are all the future stars that are in the movies.  The Lost Boys is no different.  Jason Patric and Kiefer Sutherland both eat up the screen when they are on it, even if Patric could be a bit too brooding at times.  The Frog Brothers were brought to life by Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander to great effect.  Of course, if you have one Corey in the 80s, the other can’t be far off.  Corey Haim plays Sam, the youngest brother, and probably my least favorite part of the movie.  I just found him to be a tad annoying, which I know is nitpicking in such a great film, but I have to find something didn’t love.

Joel Schumacher gets kudos here as well, but I can’t help but think that he caught a good script and a great cast and ran with it.  They guy’s resume is so up and down, I can’t honestly judge his directorial skills across a wide range of films.  I thought he had some great shots in this one though, including the first person vampire flights and the scene on the railway bridge.

For me, The Lost Boys is just a big a part of the 80s as Freddy and Jason.  It is a must see for horror fans and a great trip down memory lane for any of us that grew up in the 80s.