Movie Review: The Lost Boys (1987) directed by Joel Schumacher
Santa Carla has the unofficial nickname of “The Murder Capital of the World.” Sure, the brightly colored boardwalk attracts people to this small Pacific Coast city, but all those “Missing” posters lend an eerie air to the place. And if you’re on edge, then any of the slightly eccentric people can look sinister. But reputation or no, it’s home to not a few people. Lucy Emerson (Dianne Wiest) is moving herself and her sons Michael (Jason Patric) and Sam (Corey Haim) in with her father (Barnard Hughes) after her divorce. Grandpa’s taxidermy business also looks kind of creepy.
Lucy finds a job with video store owner Max (Edward Herrman), Michael is intrigued by mysterious local girl Star (Jami Gertz), and Sam is befriended by Edgar and Alan Frog (Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander), whose family owns the local comic book shop.
Star turns out to have a complicated relationship with the local motorcycle hoodlums, led by David (Kiefer Sutherland). Michael begins an initiation into the gang, which initially plays out as “teen falls into bad company and gets hooked on drugs”, but Sam, forewarned by the Frog Brothers, realizes that Michael is in fact turning into a vampire.
Can Sam save his family not just from the vampires, but the vampire hunters?
This is a very Eighties film, from the businesses (video and comic book stores), through the soundtrack, to some of Sam’s frankly bizarre fashion choices. Sam shows his geek bona fides with Superman minutia.
The vampires’ lair (Santa Carla’s previous tourist attraction before 1906) and Grandpa’s home are both excellent sets.
For most of the movie, it’s not clear if it’s supposed to be comedy or horror, but once the vampires come out into the open, the comedy elements become stronger.
Content note: violence, often gory. Michael and Star have allegorical sex. David and his gang apparently have killed children, though this does not happen on screen.
I know this movie was a touchstone for a lot of fellows a bit younger than I am, but I think I missed the window for it to be special to me.
