Ah The Lost Boys, one of the best and most fun vampire movies of all time! Directed by Joel Schumacher in 1987, and featuring a stunning and very cool cast which included Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patrick, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman and Jami Gertz, The Lost Boys continues to be adored by new generations of fans. Like David’s (Sutherland) motto, The Lost Boys will never grow old, and never die.
Even watching this classic today, it is still amazing. The cast are perfect, the script is to die for, and the whole film has an energy that really makes the viewing experience unlike any other vampire horror film. The Lost Boys is the film which made even none horror fans WANT to be a vampire, and never has being a vampire looked SO much fun. From hanging off railway bridges to brutally attacking beach parties, being a vampire looked cool and exciting, and lead by David, everyone wanted to be in the gang.
Drenched in 80’s brilliance from its fashion and humour to a truly killer soundtrack, The Lost Boys had everything. The script, written by Janice Fischer, James Jeremias and Jeffrey Boam was terrific, with quotes like “how can a million Chinese people be wrong”, and “initiation’s over Michael, time to join the club” to “come on, be one of us” to “flies and the undead go together like bullets and guns” still being replicated today. In fact, if I sat down to watch the film today, I could probably quote every line for you!
The film was also about family, with brothers Michael (Patrick) and Sam (Haim) being very close, and always looking out for their Mum. It is hilarious to watch Sam attempt to protect his Mum from her new boyfriend, whom he believes is also a vampire. Calling in the aid of The Frog Brothers, a dinner goes horribly wrong, with hilarious consequences. This is the charm of The Lost Boys: it uses all the rules of vampires (garlic, not inviting them into your home, reflections, sunlight) and makes full use of these rules, but also respectfully makes fun of them. It also uses pretty much every vampire killing technique known, and we see them all in the epic final showdown.
Michael has refused to join with David and his gang, even though he has David’s blood running through his veins. Michael is in love with Star, and wants to free her from David, but naturally this pisses David off, and the final battle sees David and his vamps attack Michael, Sam and the Frog Brothers at Michael’s Grandpa’s house. The battle is brilliant, a whole lot of fun, and at times insanely violent.
One key death see’s Dwayne (Billy Wirth) attack Sam as he tries to comfort his injured brother Michael. The scene, which you can see below in its entirety, features a superb jump scare, some tension, some excellent comedy and a terrific death that for its time was mind blowing. The banter here is top notch, with Sam firing an arrow at Dwayne and missing, with Dwayne taunting Sam saying “you missed sucker!”. Sam’s brilliant response? “Only once pal” Lines like this could only work in the 80’s, and the following arrow hits its mark, but as a final shot of brilliance, Dwayne falls into Sam’s epic sound-system, and everything turns on. We end up with sparks flying everywhere while heavy rock music blasts out, Sam and Michael cover their eyes with Sam showing off a huge grin of approval.
All 80’s big moments had to end with a one-liner, and Sam sounds off one of the decades most famous. After the vampire explodes in one final spectacle, Sam looks on, happy and barely holds back the laughter as he cheesily announces “death by stereo”. One of the greatest deaths, and best follow up one-liners has just taken place, so enjoy it and savour it, for things this good don’t happen all that often!
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