The Lost Boys

Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It's fun to be a vampire.

Without a doubt THE best movie Joel Schumacher has directed.
Of course I'm talking about The Lost Boys.
I'm a recent convert to this movie, thanks to a friend at work who pretty much insisted I watch this before any further discussion was made about the movie.
I took up the challenge, and that afternoon after coming home from work I saw a vampire movie which easily surpasses any vampire movie made since.
Twilight? Interview With A Vampire? Blade: Trinity? Neither can hold a candle to this 80's pure gem.

Here's the movie poster.

For those who haven't seen the movie (and I hope I can convince you to after reading this blog), the story is about a wife and two sons moving to a town in California. The son's Grandfather lives there and everything seems nice and normal.

Until it becames clear vampires are running amok.

This movie set the stage for the careers of such Hollywood heavyweights as Jason Patric (Michael), Kiefer Sutherland (David), and Alex Winter (Marko).

Well, maybe not. But two out of three ain't bad. Kiefer's certainly made a name for himself.
Alex Winter went on to star in both Bill And Ted's movies.

No doubt one day I'll do a review for both Bill And Ted's movies.

Here's Corey Haim, who plays Michael's younger brother, Sam.

This movie is Corey Haim's swan song. He's brilliant.
As I write this it hasn't been 24 hours since Corey's passing, and so I should mention I'm not blowing smoke up Corey's butt here. I really thought he was tops.
"Death by stereo." Watch the movie and you'll get what I'm talking about.

Being a late 1980's movie, catch phrases were all the rage. "Death by stereo" has to be one of the best ones in this movie.
So is this quote, also by Sam, "My own brother, a goddamn, shit-sucking vampire. You wait 'till mom finds out, buddy!"

A highlight for me in this film is seeing Corey Feldman as Edgar Frog.
I would've shown an image of Edgar's brother Alan Frog (Jamison Newlander) but I felt Corey's portrayal as the hard-edged, war-weary vampire hunting teenage is just too good to gloss over.

It's clear Corey's playing the part of a teenager in this film, yet his voice is something which needs to be heard to be believed.
And you won't believe it.

Now, next to Dianne Wiest we have the big name star of the movie, Kiefer Sutherland (David).
David is head of the vampire gang whom Michael falls in with, and David certainly makes the lifestyle something to consider.
I mean, who wouldn't want to hang out all night with these guys, flying around town, hanging from bridges. It all seems exciting, right?

Star certainly thinks so. Star is played perfectly by Jami Gertz.
I wanted to bring up Star's character because particularly in today's movies it seems the love interests are all played by models who can't wait to get their gear off.
And whilst that might be all well and good for about five minutes, Star's character has stuck with me because she had a different kind of allure going on.
15 years later Jami Gertz would go on to star alongside Mark Addy (The Full Monty) in the TV sitcom, Still Standing. 15 years on and Jami still has that allure going on.

Jami also appeared as the hard-nosed girlfriend to Bill Paxton in the movie blockbuster, Twister.
But I digress. I'm discussing The Lost Boys here....

For all you Bill And Ted's fans, here's Alex Winter's character, Marko.
He's hardly changed a bit, hey?

I didn't know Alex Winter was in this movie until I saw his name appear on the start credits. He'll forever be Bill S. Preston Esquire from Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure, so it's hard for me to see him in anything else.

Here's the movie trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsv_NQFbQzo

If you'd like to purchase the DVD, please do so here

The Lost Boys

If you'd like to purchase the soundtrack, you can do so here

The Lost Boys: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

I've a little piece of trivia for you; this movie was originally going to be a Goonies-type vampire film, with much younger kids as The Lost Boys. Joel Schumacher hated this idea and stipulated that if he directed, the movie would be centred around teenagers instead.

I think he made the right decision here.

Another piece of trivia. There was talks at the time of filming for there to be a spin-off movie, The Lost Girls. Obviously and thankfully this movie happened.

In 2008 a direct-to-dvd sequel was released, The Lost Boys 2: The Tribe. Only Corey Feldman and Corey Haim reprised their roles from the original film.

I have watched it and I did enjoy it. However it doesn't hold up against this classic.

Last year a third movie was filmed, this time only starring Corey Feldman. Titled, The Lost Boys: The Thirst, it's scheduled for a direct-to-dvd release some time this year.

I do plan to watch it, and given time I will review both sequels here.

As always if you want me to review a movie you'd seen or heard about please let me know. Especially direct-to-dvd ventures. I love the idea of promoting a movie which might not necessarily be in the public knowledge.

And certainly if you get the chance to, please give this movie a watching. It's a fun 1980's flick and I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

10 out of 10. Yep. It's THAT good. :)

What did you think of this review? Please comment, or email me directly at mgbouw@yahoo.com.au