Lucy, a middle-aged, divorced mother and her two teenage sons, Michael and Sam, move in with her elderly, eccentric father in Santa Carla, a small coast town in California. The town is plagued by bikers and mysterious deaths.
At the local amusement park, Sam makes friends with two brothers, Edgar & Alan Frog, who claim to be vampire hunters, which he first laughs at. Michael is drawn into the gang of bikers (four teen boys, one teen girl, and one little boy) by a beautiful teen girl, Star. The gang is led by David. Michael starts sleeping days and staying out all night while Sam starts getting into trouble because of the Frog brothers’ obsession.
In the mean time, Lucy gets a job at a store owned by the debonair Max, who later starts dating her. They grow very close and he even visits for dinner. Sam and the Frogs suspect Max of being a vampire.
The story is not very complicated but it’s very grabbing and interesting. It’s a pretty unique plot that is made up of a few separate plots which all come together at the end in a most disturbing way. I’ve seen this movie several times and it never gets old or boring.
The acting is pretty good, considering most are young actors. No one really stands out but they work together well.
I will say that for me, Jason Patric as Michael and Kiefer Sutherland as David are the most interesting and emotional characters here and both happened to be best friends off the set.
Most fans recognize Corey Haim as Sam and Corey Feldman as Edgar Frog, who both became great friends off set and starred together in several other films, so much that they became known as “The Coreys” by fans. They’re colorful characters but Feldman is a bit funnier in his own way.
Jamison Newlander, as Alan Frog, Edgar’s brother, is okay but doesn’t stand out much.
Jami Gertz plays Star, the love interest of Michael and innocent pawn of David to attract future gang members. She’s gorgeous and she plays a quiet, timid character, protecting the little boy.
Dianne Wiest, as Lucy Emerson, mother of the boys, is great. She’s been in other horror films and is a terrific actress. She plays a rather naive but pleasant mother here.
Edward Herrmann, as Max, is very good too, starting out an elegant and nerdy man, later a darker, sinister character. Very well-done.
Finally, there’s the great Barnard Hughes as Grandpa. If I ever knew my grand dad, I’d want him to be like this! Eccentric, mysterious and quirky yet with a hidden and vast knowledge. Loved his character!!
Great cinematography, sometimes colorful, other times slightly gothic. The amusement park is a great backdrop for a major part of the film. The underground building/cave is a unique lair. And the night scene with the bikes is very disturbing to me. The last scene is truly heart-stopping from the viewpoint of the flying vampires swooping down for their attack.
FX are excellent! Mostly vampire make-up and blood. A few death scenes are great with FX. The FX are not overdone with not much blood for the most part.
The soundtrack is absolutely perfect with some great 80s songs that still seem fresh today! Well, I should say that not every song’s as good as the others but I enjoyed most. Here are my favorite three songs:
Lost in the Shadows by Lou Gramm (a faster song, great lyrics – check out the video in the extras!)
People Are Strange by Echo & the Bunnymen (originally recorded by The Doors)
Cry Little Sister by Gerard McMann (the highlight of this film, truly creepy and very disturbing, to me, which is perfect to set the mood of sadness)
I can’t say enough praise about this movie! And I’m not really a big vampire fan. It has a perfect mix of story, atmosphere, color, SFX, music, and acting. It has achieved cult status and rightly so! This is probably one of the best Joel Schumacher’s films, in my opinion. It has just the right amounts of horror, gore, comedy, seriousness, romance, everything! The camerawork and music create a great dark atmosphere. I love this mainly because of the sadness and loneliness of the young vampires, who were innocent before that.
For years, there have been rumors of a sequel “The Lost Girls” but, it’s just a rumor. It would be cool for some type of
sequel though.
If you haven’t seen this yet, get out of your cave and watch it! It’s required viewing material for horror fans!
DVD Extras:
The Lost Boys SE bonus disc is fantastic! Jam-packed with about 2+ hours of extras! It’s a real tribute to this classic. There are 3 screens full of stuff, the 4th points back to the commentary on disc 1. Here’s the list! Tons of good stuff. We hear from Keifer, the Coreys, Schumacher, Jamison Newlander, Edward Herrmann. Greg Cannom, Richard Donner, and more!
The Lost Boys: A Retrospective
Inside the Vampire’s Cave
Vamping Out: The Undead Creations of Greg Cannom
The Vampire’s Photo Gallery
The Return of Sam and The Frog Brothers:
Haimster & Feldog: The Story of the 2 Coreys
Multi-angled Video Commentary with Haim, Feldman, & Jamison Newlander
The Lost Scenes
A World of Vampires
Lost in the Shadows Music Video by Lou Gramm
Theatrical Trailer
Memorable Quotes:
“One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach, all the damn vampires.”
“Holy Shit! It’s the attack of Eddie Munster!” “The bloodsucking Brady Bunch!”
