We continue the 31 Days of Frights with The Lost Boys from 1987. Teenage brothers Michael (Jason Patric) and Sam (Corey Haim) move with their mother (Dianne Wiest) to a small town in northern California. While the younger Sam meets a pair of kindred spirits in geeky comic-book nerds Edward (Corey Feldman) and Alan (Jamison Newlander), the angst-ridden Michael soon falls for Star (Jami Gertz) — who turns out to be in thrall to David (Kiefer Sutherland), leader of a local gang of vampires. Sam and his new friends must save Michael and Star from the undead.
The Story
The Lost Boys is one of the most fun vampire movies around. It has a good blend of horror and comedy while also being a coming-of-age film to a degree. A lot of vampire movies focus on terror. This one lets us know that the vampires are evil, but it also makes it seem cool to be one. These vampires aren’t dark and depressing. They party and have fun. The tagline for the movie even says, “Sleep all day, party all night. It’s fun to be a vampire.” Watching this movie growing up, I wanted to be a vampire. They have never looked cooler.
What works about this movie is its themes of family. Michael has his own thing going on as he is lured by David and turned into a vampire. Seeing the realization of his transformation is some of the best stuff in the movie. We see Michael without a reflection. We see him flying without having any control. We see him struggle with how to handle all this.
Sam also has his own thing going on. He has made friends with a group of vampire hunters named The Frog Brothers. Together, they come up with a plan to save Michael and get rid of the vampires in Santa Carla. The movie wouldn’t work as well as it does without the connection the two brothers have. They work together even when separated to get rid of the vampires.
The movie has great characters, memorable dialogue, some fun gore, fun comedy, and an intriguing mystery into who the lead vampire is. We have amazing cinematography, life-saving dogs, and an insanely cool man playing a saxophone shirtless.
The Characters
The characters are great in this movie, as I have said. Jason Patric as Michael is perfect as the brooding brother who just wants to find his own way. Sam, to me, is the standout of the movie. Corey Haim steals the show as the younger brother trying to save his older brother. He is incredibly charming in this. A lot of times, when we see kids or teens in movies, they tend to act older than they are, and I love that in this, Sam reacts the way a kid should react. He is brave when he needs to be, but still cries out for his mom. He also gets the best one-liners.
Overall
The Lost Boys is a fun, gory vampire film. It is insanely stylish and has a great script. The characters are likable, the soundtrack is amazing, and there are many memorable scenes throughout. It’s a movie that focuses on the horror of vampires while also showing the fun side of being a vampire for a modern audience.
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Come back tomorrow for some more spooky reviews.
