Hello again!
For tonight's installment, and going along with watching a good horror movie and then a good sequel to it (This and the next installment will be the last times I do this theme before moving on to the next theme), I'll be watching 1987's 'The Lost Boys.' Directed by Joel Schumacher (Back when he was still good, about a decade before he'd nearly kill the Batman franchise) and starring Jason Patric, the two Coreys (Corey Feldman, and the late Corey Haim), and a young Kiefer Sutherland. This is a movie I first saw when I was about 12 or 13, and I've always liked it.
The plot revolves around two brothers named Michael and Sam (Patric and Haim), who accompany their recently- divorced mother (Dianne Wiesst, most widely remembered as the mom from 'Edward Scissorhands') to live with her father in a California beachside town called Santa Carla. Apparently, there have been a rash of disappearances in the area, and in a horror film, that's never good news. Still, the mom remains optimistic and gets a job at a video store, while Sam reveals that he's a big comic fan, and Michael is led by a lovely young woman he meets to go along with a group of mysterious local biker punks, led by one named David (Sutherland). As Michael is slowly made one of them, he eventually learns that they are vampires and that he himself is slowly starting to change into one. To try and save Michael, his younger brother Sam contacts Edgar and Allan Frog (Corey Feldman, Jamison Newlander), two brothers who run a local comic shop and are self- proclaimed vampire experts/ hunters. They quickly stake one of the campires and prepare for a big faceoff with the rest, not realizing that the true greatest threat to Sam and Michael's family could be right in front of their noses.
As much as I like this film, it does have its problems. First, it's definitely starting to show its age. The whole film is the ultimate epitome of an 80's movie, between the clothes on the characters (Especially Sam), the music, and other factors. It's not that big of an issue, but it's something that can't be ignored. Also, I wasn't crazy about how the vampires killed their first couple victims in the movie, just flying in (From a first- person viewpoint mainly), grabbing them, and flying off with them like a flock of predatory birds.
Now, for what I liked about 'The Lost Boys.' This is a movie which blends horror and comedy perfectly; You might see a couple scary scenes, but then followed by some quite funny lines, usually uttered by Corey Haim. Speaking of Haim (I would be remiss in not mentioning his performance, considering this is more or less the only role he's really known for), he does quite a nice job here, between his funny one- liners and the way that he truly conveys how deeply he cares for his mom, his older brother, and even his dog Nanuck. It's rather strange how here, it's the younger brother who's showing himself to be more eager to protect his family than the older one. Jason Patric is also quite effective as Michael. He and Haim play off each other quite well ,the way you'd imagine brothers would, and you can sense how geniunely scared he is about what's happening to him. Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander are cool and hilarious as the Frog brothers, coming across initially as vampire experts, but when they find themselves actually confronting vampires, you can tell they've never faced anything like this before and are as inexperienced about it as the rest of the protagonists. Kiefer Sutherland makes for a very good villain as David. Even before he officially reveals himself to be a vampire, he gives off an extremely menacing vibe. The scene when he and the others first reveal to Michael that they are vampires and brutally slaughter a group of partying surfers (While "Walk this Way" is playing in the background, oddly enough) is gruesome and terrifying.
The makeup for the vampires is very good for the time, between their accentuated facial features, their reddish- yellow eyes, and of course their fangs. The whole scene late in the movie in which Sam, Michael, and the Frog brothers are fighting David and the other vampires as they attack Sam & Michael's house is quite exciting and intense, and the vampires are all killed in quite interesting ways (Three words: "Death by stereo!"). The surprise twist in the end about who's actually behind everything was quite surprising for me the first time I saw it, as it's someone who came across in every previous scene as being completely harmless and almost clueless at times.
So, that's 'The Lost Boys.' Come back later tonight (I hope), for me to discuss which of the movie's two sequels was my favorite.
