"The Lost Boys" (1987)

Rating: R

Genre: Action & Adventure, Horror, Mystery & Suspense

Directed By: Joel Schumacher

Written By: Jan Fischer, James Jeremias, Chris Columbus, Jeffrey Boam, Thomas Pope, Janice Fischer

Released: July 31^st, 1987 

Runtime: 97 minutes

Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures

Summary:

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.

Review:

The 80s answer to the vampire genre which takes us on quite the entertaining and if sometimes bizarre journey.

The film has a variety of genres mixed together. It could be argued that it tries to focus on so many it falls a bit short on each, more so than it could have. However, it could also be argued that because there’s a slice of various genres there’s more or less a little something for everybody to some degree. I initially thought it was trying to be a parody on the horror genre and if this was the case then I think it did a good job. Although, if it did think certain scenes were supposed to be scary…I have to question the film a little bit. Assuming it was taking the parody approach to vampirism, the whole film was entertaining from start to finish, introducing some classic superstitions to aid a vampire-infected person, while also introducing some new ones.

The plot felt a little rushed. Jumps were being made that felt too easy guesses for people to be making on the spot. More guesswork and calculations should have otherwise been suggested before arriving at the problem. Sometimes it just felt like things only the audience would know and not the characters yet. Maybe this was just me. It also felt spoon fed to audiences in parts.

It was an iconic 80s cast I think. Corey Feldman, Corey Haim, Kieffer Sutherland, Diane Weist – I’ve come to associate all these people with 80s movies and to have them all in the one was fun. Kieffer Sutherland is a great man for playing villains.

An enjoyable watch all in all.

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