The Lost Boys combines the best of the 80s teen movie while staying true to vampire mythology. I guess I'm a purist when it comes to vampire movies, but I am always disappointed when vampire movies try to re-invent the myth either by relying too much on bad special effects or by rewriting the myth entirely. That's why The Lost Boys was so successful and still a cult classic: it does a great job of placing the vampire mythology into a mid 80s California setting.
The movie begins with a recently divorced mother driving her two children into the town of Santa Carla to move in with thier grandfather and start a new life. Echo and the Bunnymen do a great version of The Doors' classic People are Strange for this scene and the film does a great job of capturing plenty of various punks and beach people throughout the town.
The family consists of the Mother, Michael the older brother (Jason Patric) and Sam, the younger brother (Corey Haim). The movie doesn't waste much time in getting started. The first night the family arrives, they head down to the boardwalk to scope things out. The mother manages to find a job at a local video store run by a man named Max who immediately takes an interest in her, and the two brothers head off to a concert.
The concert scene is perhaps the scariest part of the movie. The camera seems transfixed on the lead singer who's a bronzed, shiny, body builder looking man who switches between singing, undulating, and playing the saxaphone. Only in the 80s could the saxaphone be placed in the ensemble of an alt-rock band. But I digress, Michael is quickly distracted by Star, the love interest, and begins following her through the boardwalk. Sam tries to keep up, but is quickly distracted by a comic book store. When he enters, he is confronted by the Frog brothers: the comic book shop proprieters. They test Sam's comic book knowledge.
Sam proves worthy and they suggest he read a comic called All Vampires Must Be Destroyed. An Omen of ill things to come? You guessed it. But with twice the Corey power, you know from the start that things will work out in the end. The Frog brothers tell Sam to call them if he encounters any problems. Is Santa Carla infested with vampires? We're about to find out. The next night, Michael is back at the boardwalk to track down Star. He manages to find her, but soon learns that she's rolling with the Lost Boys. They don't call themselves that, but they're a gang of young no-gooders who terrorise the boardwalk with their motorcycles.
Anyways, the Lost Boys are pretty tough and David, the leader (Kiefer Sutherland) tells Star to get back in her place. But he's not mad, he simply tells Michael to try to keep up as they all ride along the beach. They all end up at the secret hide out where David starts playing some serious mind games with Michael.
Want some rice? He asks. Wait, Michael, those are actually maggots. How about some noodles? They look normal enough but then they turn into worms, then back into noodles. Michael begins to get frustrated, when David steps it up. How about some wine? Wait is that wine or blood that will transform you into a vampire?
Michael figures if the rice that turned into maggots was really just rice all along, then the wine is most likely wine and not blood that transforms you into a vampire. Ooops, it's actually blood that transforms you into a vampire. So Michael's got a problem. He's been unwittingly turned into an undead creature. What's his mum going to say? Michael decides to try and keep this whole thing a secret from the family until he figures this whole wacky thing out.
The plan fails when he slips up and tries to eat his younger brother. The dog intervenes, but it was a close call. Sam realizes that something is up when he finds the dog bite on Michael's hand, and really gets suspicious when he finds Michael floating outside his window that night.
Sam decides to give his brother a break and not tell mum, but he's also really worried at this point. He consults with the Frog brothers who inform him that the only way to save his brother is to kill the head vampire. The only problem is finding out who the head vampire is. Sam thinks that it might be Max, the mum's boss and love interest. After all, he does have a dog named Thorn that tried to maul his mum. But after staging a dinner where Max is assaulted with holy water, garlic and probes he has a normal reflection, Sam and the Frog brothers rule out Max.
In the meantime, Michael is out hooking up with Star who informs him that he was supposed to be her first kill, and later joins up with the Lost Boys who feed on some local surf punks they find slamdancing in front of a bonfire. David really gets into killing the surf punks and there's this great scene of him biting into the skull of a skinhead.
At this point Michael is torn. The vampire part of him wants in on the skinhead eating action, but the human part is disgusted. David ominously informs him that either way, he'll still have to feed. It seems that vampires aren't fully vampires until they have their first kill. Both he and Star are in vampire limbo and must decide what they're going to do.
Both Michael and Sam decide that they've got to put an end to the killing and enlist the Frog brothers to help them launch a pre-emptive strike on the Lost Boys by attacking their hideout during the day and staking everything they see. They manage to break in and help Star and the vampire kid escape, but when it comes to staking sleeping vampires, they don't do so hot. They manage to kill one of the Lost Boys, but this only wakes up the rest of them who chase them out of the hideout.
Now they have a real problem. They all know that the Lost Boys are going to come over that night to kill them, so they need a plan. They need more than that, they need an A-Team kinda plan. They try to tell their mom, who thinks they're crazy and decide to hole up in the house and wait for the Lost Boys to come. Time is limited, but they do their best by gathering holy water, garlic, and enough
wooden stakes to wipe out the vampires. The Lost Boys follow suit and arrive shortly through whichever opening they can find. The Frog brothers confront one in the bathroom and the dog helps out by pushing him into the bathtub full of holy water which melts him and destroys all the plumbing. Sam drives an arrow through another one, pinning him to the music system.
But so far the vampires are still coming, when it comes to the climactic battle between Michael and David. Michael is pretty pissed off at this point. The Lost Boys have turned him into an unholy creature of the night, they scared his brother, and they have trashed his grandfather's house. He vents his frustration by fighting David, where he ultimately impales him with a pair of animal antlers.
Well, that's that, right? Not so fast. They killed David, but Michael and Star are still vampires. So someone else must be the head vampire. They are right on the mark when, Max and the mum return from their date. The mother sees the carnage and thinks the boys have lost their minds, but Max is even more disappointed. You see, her kids have killed his kids and it would have been so much better if they could have all just gotten along like one happy undead family. That's why he wanted the mother to begin with. The mom is still kind of skeptical until Max turns around and reveals that he is, indeed, a vampire.
The only thing left to do is to kill Max. But Max is intent on playing through his plans, so he fends off the attackers and takes Sam hostage. The mom has no choice but to yield herself to Max for the benefit of her captive son and offers herself up grandpa arrives just in time by smashing his car through the wall and impaling Max with a shard of wood. Max is dead and Star and Michael are human again.
The movie then wraps up with a classic ending. Grandpa just gets out of the car, surveys the damage and heads off to the kitchen where he gets a root beer. He says that he never could stomach the vampires in Santa Carla and the credits roll.
The Lost Boys was the first movie I bought, a personal favourite and a cult classic to boot. The soundtrack is great also. This is not only the best movie the Coreys ever did, but it stands up to the test of time.
The Lost Boys - Movie Trailer
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