LOST BOYS 3: The Thirst

Lost Boys: The Thirst (2010)
Directed by: Dario Piana
Written by: Evan Charnov, Hans Rodionoff
Starring: Casey B. Dolan, Corey Feldman, Tanit Phoenix

REVIEWED BY ROSS HUGHES

In a crazy roundabout way, The Tribe may be the best thing that happened to this franchise, because coming in with low expectations, The Thirst slowly brings back memories of why we loved The Lost Boys……….

There are two sequels in my life that I detest the most!

First there is Basic Instinct 2. Ok! The original is not exactly high art or cinematic gold, but it did create a super bitch in the shape of Sharon Stone and was one of the guilty pleasures in my film life. If you noticed I said “was” simply because the follow up was such a disastrous piece of film making that it has ruined what it created at first and making what was an ice pick killer into nothing but a joke. When I see Stone lightening up that cigarette in the police station, all I have now is the memory of the sequel in which she is the car with Stan Collymore, an opening montage that completely ruined the franchise for me. Her over the top gasps of ecstasy while driving fast is one of the most cringe moments I have had to suffer, and I hoped that I would never in my life see a sequel as bad as that again. Then of course came Lost Boys 2 -The Tribe-.

I am yet to find any fan of that sequel to the much loved eighties horror. If you remember my review of that film from the depths of this thread, you remember I mentioned how original director Joel Schumacher was desperate to get Lost Girls in motion, but was then stunned to find out that a sequel was already planned and it would more or less give the fans what they wanted. Which of course it wasn’t. The Tribe was rehash of what was before, from the remix of the theme song Cry Little Sister, but with the film angle changing from brother to a sister being bitten. It was a disaster. It offered nothing to thrill the fans or even delight. Only one of the Frog brothers returned to action and that was in the shape of Corey Feldman who spoke most of the time like he did have a frog in his throat, and unless you count the saxophone man from the original making a brief appearance, the only time the film came to life was when we were treated to the sight of the late Corey Haim in the last three minutes that stunned fans to what had become of the loveable Sam. It was that climatic ending that had the fans instantly forgetting the totally crapfest that the second served up and many included myself, hoped that what we witnessed in those dying moments would serve as the main plot thrust for any third film!

Of course any plans for that was sadly gone for good with the sad death of Haim at such a young age, but if the rumours are true then this, the second sequel, was never actually going to carry on from the ending of The Tribe and that Haim was not going to actually appear until the 4th part, which suggests that The Lost Boys franchise has now found a home in the straight to DVD market and that if the planned TV Series does not get the green light, then fans of the original who are sad that the original is being tarnished by these inferior films, like it or not, the Frogs are going to be around for a couple of more appearances yet!

But back to The Thirst! The main question that I should answer for all those out there is that can it be any worse that what The Tribe offered. Well lets put it this way, in a crazy round about way, The Tribe may be the best thing that happened to this franchise, because coming in with low expectations, The Thirst slowly brings back memories of why we loved The Lost Boys.

Maybe it is because of the such awfulness of the sequel is the reason that I do quite like the third. The best thing about it is that it totally changes the plot, we do not get yet another rehash, this is a fresh story about a new bunch of Vamps and our hero Edgar Frog is right in the middle of it all. Times have changed from the last time we saw him. All alone, his brother Alan ( to the delight of the fans, a returning Jamison Newlander) has turned into one of the things which he battles against, his caravan is all set to be towed, and he is skint. In another homage to the original, he tries to raise money by selling his comic books and this leads him to Gwen Lieber (Tanit Phoenix) a famous Vampire author whose brother has been kidnapped by a clan of the undead. The group must have watched Blade and Tru Blood on repeat because they have set up illegal Raves in which they distribute Vampire blood nicknamed “The Thirst!” Armed with stakes, corny one-liners and a new set of friends, Edgar rides in to save the day, but an unexpected twist, threatens the whole thing……

Feldman burnt by the critical mauling of The Tribe, tones down the role here, but still manages to come out with sayings that totally and maybe should have stayed in the eighties. But what he does bring is the “fun” element, which was sadly lacking in the previous. The film does not take itself too seriously and fully plays on the low budget but at the same time gives us glimpses of why so many still love the original.

There is also a superb moment of when fiction clashes with reality, in a touching tribute to Haim that makes Lost Boys 3 worth a watch just for that. We also do not have the crazy vampire surfers either, the undead here are dressed like they were originally and director Dario Piana who gave the horror world the cult flick The Deaths Of Ian Stone, shows total respect to the franchise and dare I say it, actually gives the fans the need of some love after the burnt out suffering that the second managed.

The Thirst is no where near the standard of the pleasures of the original, but from we had with The Tribe, all Lost Boys fans can breath a sign of relief that we actually have a sequel that we may grow to love and in time may add a few more numbers to the rating below…….

OVERALL: Do not panic, The Thirst is not the train wreck we expected, in fact its not at all that bad…..

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