I will start by getting the obvious out of the way, I think The Lost Boys is a staple of horror.
A dark twist to the lost boys from Peter Pan, this group of delinquents who never get older but also have a thirst for blood are main talking points when discussing the modern vampire. The Lost Boys is such a cool movie, from it’s visuals and use of colors to the soundtrack. A lot of people look to this movie about vampires as the epitome of the “sexy vampire” trope, and I think that observation holds weight. These vampires dress really cool (even outside of the 80’s glam and punk references which are visually stunning), they act really unbothered, they can do whatever they want and don’t give a fuck. Long gone are the days of Dracula pining for love, The Lost Boys puts vampires at the forefront of the movie: this is a movie about blood thirsty vampires who want to kill you and that’s it. I think this is the reason so many people like it; despite vampires being everywhere in horror, it’s rare we get a movie of them just…being vampires, with no melodrama or romance stuffed into the plot.
The only non-vampire characters in this are Sam (my beloved Corey Haim), his older brother Michael (my enemy Jason Patric) and their mom, Lucy (Diane Wiest!!!!! A treasure). They are the Emerson family, and they just moved back to Santa Carla (Lucy’s childhood home) to live with her dad after Lucy’s divorce. (There’s also the Frog Brothers who are self proclaimed vampire hunters and pretty much steal every scene they’re in. Props to Jamison Newlander who plays Alan Frog. He doesn’t have as many lines but is such a demanding presence he deserves a shoutout. Also his physical comedy cannot be matched in that movie.) When Michael and Sam go to the boardwalk one night, Sam has the fortune of meeting the Frog Brothers while Michael chases down Star (Jami Gertz), a beautiful woman he is entranced with. This is pretty much the beginning of the end for Michael as with Star is David (Kiefer Sutherland), leader of the vampire gang who ultimately tries to indoctrinate Michael. The movie then focuses on a now half vampire Michael and loving, devoted Sam trying to undo what was done and get rid of Santa Carla’s vampire problem once and for all.
This movie is so important to me as it really fostered and enhanced the love of vampires that had been instilled in me with Buffy. The vampires in this movie are aesthetically the coolest vampires that I believe have ever existed, and I still look to this film for inspiration and to remind me why I love vampires in the first place. The colors are rich and vibrant, contrasting with the black skyline as a backdrop. The writing can be witty and sharp, with Sam, their grandfather, and the Frog Brothers having some insanely funny dialogue that I quote to this day. And this is also helped by incredible performances — so much can be taken from the vampires in this movie who say little to nothing but convey their entire characters in their movements. The Lost Boys is one of my favourite movies of all time, and I love it with every ounce of my being.
However…
I wish we had more time with these characters — and not in the Sammy and Peter way, where this is me being selfish and just wanting more of my blorbos but their absence doesn’t detract from the story. I think there are chunks of this film that feel like they are missing, and it’s because we don’t know anything about these vampires other than that they live in a sunken hotel underground. We know that Star and David have some kind of dynamic, as we know David is protecting a secret–but we only learn that in a throwaway line from Star at the end of the movie. We don’t know how Max met David or the other lost boys, and while we can assume how they met each other, nothing is concrete. So much of my love of this movie is because I’m making up backstories for characters and assuming their motivations based on the limited screen time they have. The character I’m forced to spend the most time with, Michael, is so inherently unlikable the minute he starts hanging out with the vampires that I wish we could follow ANY other character around (I know people love Michael, and he’s fine. But I hate the way he treats Star and it’s so frustrating to watch him be the “hero” as he shakes and screams at his love interest the entire movie and then screams at anyone who goes near her.) My personal favourite in the movie is Paul (Brooke McCarter), one of the ‘lost boys’ — McCarter conveys so much with so little. The way he sneers at Max, the way he handles Laddie, the way he is so clearly broken when Marko dies — he is such a compelling character to watch. He doesn’t have the loyalty to the head vampire like David does, you can tell that when he basically flips Max off after he kicks the boys out to impress Lucy. You can tell Paul likes David, but is much closer to Marko and Dwayne. Yet he has no dialogue, he has nothing. And I’m not saying an 80’s movie about vampires has to have a fuck ton of lore, but The Lost Boys isn’t some VHS bargain bin slasher. It’s a big budget movie exploring the character of the vampire — it’s well made and well acted and is a great concept, yet I’m am left with crumbs after the promise of a gourmet dinner. And I don’t need every second of film filled with backstory — fuck, I hate 2016 Suicide Squad for that reason alone — but I need something. I want something; I love everything about this movie yet when I sat down to write this review, I was coming up short. There is so much good about it that I feel deprived not having more.
I will always hold this movie near and dear to my heart, and I will rewatch it every summer and every time I want to watch a vampire flick until the day I die. That being said, I am sad we never got the sequel we were promised, which could have given me the origins and backstories I so desperately crave. I am sad this cast never got to really talk about all the work they clearly put into these characters. I know The Lost Boys is beloved, and I know why — it’s cool, it’s sexy, and it’s fun. And that is enough to make it an iconic film. It’s a perfect summer vampire movie with a banging soundtrack and cool outfits and great acting. And I think all those elements are also working against it in the fact that I can’t get enough and wish I had more.