The Lost Boys

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Conglomeration of Cheese and Blood.
Review: "The Lost Boys" combines horror and comedy in a fun vampire flick. Recently divorced Lucy (Diane Wiest) and her two teenaged sons, Michael (Jason Patric) and Sam (Corey Haim), have just moved to Santa Clara, a beach town and reputed "murder to capitol of the world", to live with with Lucy's eccentric father (Barnard Hughes). Michael immediately becomes infatuated with Star (Jami Gertz), a mysterious young woman who frequents the town's bustling boardwalk with a group of ruffians, led by the charismatic David (Kiefer Sutherland). Michael allows himself to be seduced into this pack of predators by his desire for Star, but the gang turns out to be more than run-of-the-mill troublemakers. They are vampires, and Michael is quickly becoming one too. Michael's younger brother Sam enlists the help of two bumbling young vampire hunters, the Frog brothers (Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander), to stake the head vampire and save Michael and the other half-vampires from an eternity of undead existence.

It goes without saying that none of the characters in this film, except perhaps Diane Wiest's fairly levelheaded "mom", acts as a real person would under these circumstances. That can cause some eye-rolling, but both comedy and horror genres frequently require preposterous behavior, and this is basically entertaining. The vampires are hideous and blood-thirsty. The Frog brothers provide sophomoric comic relief. And, in the tradition of many vampire stories before it, Michael and Star must choose between normal human existence and a life of eternal youth and constant predation. I'm not sure what to make of the Rob Lowe beefcake poster in Sam's room, and some of the film's many cheesy lines fall flat, but "The Lost Boys" is a fun, unapologetically over-the-top, teen vampire romp.

Rating:
Summary: Great 80's movie
Review: I recently saw this movie again after having seen it in high school when I was 15. It's amazing how differently you experience it 16 years later when you're all grown up, but yet it's still very enjoyable to watch. The first time around, I thought the overall coolness/hip factor was through the roof (rehabilitated high school geek. Sue me), with the music and the humor and attitude. This time around, the kitch (sp?) factor was what kept me glued to the set, while the cinematography still held up. This movie still has a great visual presence all these years later. Casting seems a little odd when you think about it today. To see actors of the caliber of Kiefer Sutherland, Diane Weist, and Jason Patric in a movie with the two Coreys and that guy who played Bill in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" seems like a weird mix, but back then they all had a good screen chemistry together, believe it or not. Although the movie was revered for it's soundtrack, which had a great mix of songs, I don't know if I would have chosen some of those artists for a rock and roll horror movie. The setting for the movie had more of a punk/metal/goth/glam look and feel to it, which I don't think Elton John really fits well with. Also, in one part of the movie, you see people headbanging to some poppy saxaphone music act led by a muscle-bound oily boy with a ridiculous looking super-mullet who looks like Michael Bolton on steroids. All I could think was that it should have been someone like Glenn Danzig or Corrosion of Conformity or somebody who fit the whole vibe/setting a little better. Also notice later in the movie that when they take Michael to make his first kill in the campfire scene, they have punks and skinheads dancing around a bonfire to a Run DMC remix of Aerosmith's "Walk this Way." I think in the real world if you were punk or skinhead and you were caught listening to rap music, they would confiscate your doc martens and make you walk home naked, dragging the stone of shame behind you (d'oh!). heh-heh-heh, good times....

Rating:
Summary: Great Vampire Movie!
Review: Lost Boys was funny, gory, and one of the best! It was creepy and energetic. I just loved it, and the TwoDisc SpecialEdition will show you even more behind this thriller. Great omvie for anybody who is either fan of The Frogg or a fan of vampire flicks

Rating:
Summary: Frogg Fan
Review: I first saw this when I was fourteen and it completely blew me away. Great cinematography (Unforgettable opening sequence with the boardwalk and rollercoaster at night), hot actors and funny lines.

I recently watched the DVD version again and was expecting to cringe in embarrassment. Instead, it was still as entertaining as the first time I saw it, despite the dated clothes (but seeing that the 80's are back again, not that bad)and the greasy saxophonist (that was possibly the worse part of the movie).

The acting is still sharp and the vampire lore precisely identified and employed. It's amazing to think that Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Patric were only just 18 when they did this -- they've got incredible screen presence. I'm hoping for better things to come from these two.

Also, this movie only serves to show that teen movies then were pretty damn good. Today, that genre has just become so banal, with jokes veering left of the "beeatch" category without so much as a ha-ha (case in point, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen). Also note how thin the acting has become (Hilary Duff??)Can Lizzie Maguire The Movie stand the test of time like Ferris Bueller or The Lost Boys? I think not.

What I also like about this movie is that they didn't compromise on the vampire lore. It's a copout for scriptwriters/writers to bend the rules and have their vamps withstand sunlight and garlic. it's much harder for them to work within the rules and still come up with something fresh which is something this movie has done. I suspect it's partly the reason why it was so successful.

Great, great stuff. This movie deserves a giant rave like this one!

Rating:
Summary: The vampire rules plus the comedy bits just do not work
Review: I have two major problems with "The Lost Boys." The first is that I know way too much about vampires, a data base of knowlege gained from not only watching all those Dracula movies, reading Anne Rice novels, and consuming everything having to do with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," but from having read pretty much everything in "The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead." So when Sam Emerson (Corey Haim) not only discovers that his brother Michael (Jason Patric) has become a vampire, but that there is a way of undoing his being undead, I am no longer willing to suspend my disbelief. I should add that this idea runs into one of my standard pet peeves from the "Star Trek" universe, which is that while I believe "X" can cause you to mutate from human to something else, reversing the process should never be as easy as it is. But the idea here is that if you kill Vampire A who created a Vampire B, then Vampire B can stop being a vampire (sort of a twist on the Anne Rice theory of vampires). There is a caveat: you have to do it before they take their first victim. Sure, it sounds simple, but it sure flies in the face of well-established vampire lore.

The second problem I have with this 1987 film is that it is supposed to be funny, but it just is not. Sam is aided and abetted in his efforts to save his brother by the Frog Brothers, Edgar (Corey Feldman) and Alan (Jamison Newlander). The boys work for their doped out hippie parents at the local comic book shop, which sounds like a great idea. Who better to know how to fight the undead they kids raised on comics? But Feldman is trying to do some sort of impersonation of Sylvester Stallone and Newlander goes for something more taciturn, and it just does not work. The comic slapstick smacks of something really juvenile and just turns this into "Mommy, My Brother's a Vampire!"

On the plus side is Keiffer Sutherland. If you thought he was a bully in "Stand By Me," then you will enjoy every moment he is on the screen as David, leader of a group of "teenage" vampires. This is a pretty good idea, talking "Interview with the Vampire" and crossing it with the "Wild Bunch." But Sutherland ends up being a bit player in the proceedings while we deal with domestic comedy situations, such as Sam's mom (Diane Weist) trying to date a nice local guy (Edward Herrmann), and the romantic subplot between Michael and the young lady vamp, Star (Jami Gertz). There are a few good ideas thrown in here (e.g., think of a cave as being a giant coffin), but with all the misfires they come across as nicks rather than palatable hits. Cinematographer Michael Chapman provides the appropriate mood, but director Joel Schumacher's story is too complicated and the attempts at comedy too feeble to save this one. However, the less you know about vampires the more you might like this movie.

Rating:
Summary: "Thou shalt not die. . ."
Review: THE LOST BOYS successfully blends vampires with the innocuous Eighties. Sure, there's some blood, gore, fangs, and fright, but ultimately the viewer is overwhelmed by all the spiked, superficial big hair. There's more hair spray than horror to this little jewel, but that's alright: THE LOST BOYS still delivers a gruesome good time, augmented by some jolly good laughs.

Santa Carla, California. A beach, an ocean, a free-spirited community, a teen haven. Bingo: Vampire paradise. Into this swirling netherworld comes a divorced mother and her two sons; it doesn't take long (like, the first night) before a grinning, snarling pack of teen vamps comes calling. One of the sons becomes "tainted"; the other enlists the help of a couple of goober brothers to reverse the curse. The movie rushes like a Cyndi Lauper MTV video to its aggressive conclusion, and all I can say after watching the carnage and destruction is I'm darned glad I'm not a plumber.

Jason Patric and Corey Haim are fine and divine as the troubled brothers. Kiefer Sutherland can be spooky simply reading a gingerbread recipe, so he shines as the ringleader of the teen vampire brood. Dianne West and Edward Herrmann provide boring adult roles, while crusty Barnard Hughes, a most eccentric grandpa, is given the film's absolute best line. THE LOST BOYS is good Eighties stuff--a great visual treat with a kicker musical soundtrack that will leave you twisting your hair. . .and wondering where that hair spray is.
--D. Mikels

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite vampire flicks
Review: I love "The Lost Boys". It is one of my favorite vampire films of all time. This is the one movie I can stomach watching both Coreys at the same time. Michael (Jason Patrick) and Sam (Corey Haim) moves to Santa Clara with their mother (Dianne Wiest). What they don't know is that Santa Clara is home to a bunch of blood-thirsty vampires. Sam meets up with a couple of vampire hunters one of them is Corey Feldman. Michael on the other hand hooks up with Kiefer Sutherland and his gang of blood-sucking vampires, and he really gets close to a young Jami Gertz. Yeah this movie has every cheesy stereotype about a vampire known to vampirekind but in a good cheesy kind of way. "The Lost Boys" is a comedic, horror film. Michael ends up getting tricked into the vampire lifestyle by Kiefer Sutherland. That was my favorite moment in the film when Michael was muching on what appeared to be Chinese food. The music for this movie is timeless. I especially love the Roger Daltrey song. I loved Bernard Herrman (of "The Gilmore Girls) and Kiefer Sutherland in their perspective roles. The special effects may be a bit on the dated side but I still find myself watching this movie around this time of year every year. It's camp classic in vampire mythology.

Rating:
Summary: The vampire movie of the 80's on a great 2-Disc set!
Review:
A mother (Dianne West) with her two boys ( Jason Patric and Corey Haim) move in San Carlas California, but one night while the two boys check out the amusment area of the town, Michael ( Jason Patric) whom is the older brother joins up with a gang of vampires led by David ( Keither Sutherland). He is then turned into a half-vampire whom can walk the daylight but must wear sunglasses, he gets help from his young brother with two comic book experts ( Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander) to battle the bloodsucking undead.

This just happens to be the best vampire movie of the 80's next to "Fright Night" and is directed by Joel Schumacher ( Trust me folks, this is one of his only good movies). The casting is good, plenty of terrific make-up, vampire and gore effects by Greg Cannom, great performances and it's a wonderful, bloody and comical horror thriller that does a different kind of spin on vampires. The DVD here is definitely worth owning with it's great picture, awesome sound quality, nice extras like commentary, featurettes, trailer, deleted scenes, documentary and more which makes this a must own movie for fans of horror and vampire flicks cause it's truly a class act movie of it's genre.

Also recommended: Vamp, The Forsaken, Blade, Blade II, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Fright Night, Fright Night 2, Evil Dead II, Demons, Shaun of the Dead, Re-Animator, Bordello of Blood, Demon Knight, Rabid, From Dusk Till Dawn, Ghost Ship, Freddy Vs. Jason, Bride of Chucky, Dracula ( 1931), Vampire Hunter D, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, An American Werewolf in London, Ginger Snaps, The Craft, Wolf, Dead Alive, The Toxic Avenger, Blood: The Last Vampire, Cemetery Man, Buffy The Vampire Slayer ( Movie and TV Show), Underworld, Blacula, Blood and Doughnuts and Children of the Night.