THE LOST BOYS (1987)

Movie Review

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Micheal Emerson (Jason Patric) and the lost boys hang out on a Saturday night.

Director: Joel Schumacher
Starring:
Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland, Edward Herrmann
Run time: 97 min.

Plot synopsis: Sam (Corey Haim) and his older brother Michael (Jason Patric) are all-American teens with all-American interests. But after they move with their mother to peaceful Santa Carla, California, things mysteriously begin to change.

REVIEW

Making a great vampire movie must be one of the most difficult projects a director can take on. There is an abundance of potential pitfalls. In my review of The Forsaken, I touched on the difficulty of something that would not seem to be overly problematic: i.e., filming a realistic vampire bite. As for the overall difficulty of making a great vampire movie, I have come to the conclusion that this must be a nearly insurmountable challenge, and I base this assumption simply on the abundance of crappy vampire movies and the scarcity of really good vampire movies. And even the really good ones are usually flawed in some way, The Lost Boys being a classic case in point.

I suppose what happens is the director has a script, and he (or she) thinks to himself (or herself): Wow! This is a great vampire story! It has potential. I must make the movie. This kind of typical, rapid-fire Hollywood decision is made without any real forethought as to the complexity of the vampire mythology and science. Unfortunately, at this point the ambitious director has already bitten off more than he (or she) can chew.

Sam Emerson (Corey Haim) studies up on vampire lore by reading a comic book. I sincerely hope this is a better choice than the wardrobe decions that were made for him.

As a mythology, the vampire (or vampire like figures) has appeared at one point or another in the folklore and/or literature of nearly every culture and age. As a science, throughout recorded history cases of rare and unusual blood disease, unpredictable chemical processes during the decomposition of the body after death, people who are mentally disturbed/psychotic and utilize some type of blood ritual when engaging their victims, and real life blood sucking creatures such as the "vampire bat" (i.e. Desmontidae), are all factors that have played a role in the universally acknowledged characteristics of "vampirism." Although today the vampire mythos has been largely popularized, commercialized, and is not (unfortunately) considered to be appropriate subject matter for serious literary work, it is difficult to identify any other mystical figure that is so widely recognized throughout the entire world. This, of course, makes the topic appear irresistibly seductive to the ambitious director.

When the vast body of knowledge--literature, art, and scientific information--is all taken into consideration, it would quickly appear that the ambitious director who sets out to make a vampire movie is faced with a conundrum of gargantuan proportions, for how can one possibly successfully incorporate such an expansive theme into a ninety minute movie?

The Lost Boys is a perfect example of this paradox at work. For exactly one hour, twenty minutes, and thirty seconds Director Joel Schumacher (while demonstrating he is clearly knowledgeable in vampire lore) seems to defy the odds, and treats the viewer to what could have been, in my opinion, perhaps the best vampire movie of modern cinema. Unfortunately, at exactly 1:20:30 into what has otherwise been a perfectly executed vampire movie, the concluding scenes begin what I can only think of as a complete aberration. With the commencement of the battle of the "good guy" vampire slayers versus the "bad guy" vampires, The Lost Boys abruptly becomes a circus act comedy that completely defies all logic. What for the first hour and twenty minutes had been a serious vampire story encompassing many of the most universal themes, abruptly degrades into just another typical vampire exploitation comedy.

If the vampire slayers you called on for help show up on BMX bicycles, you might question how much experience they really have.

There is nothing wrong with making a vampire exploitation comedy. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) is a reasonably successful example of this; however, there is something horrendously wrong with setting the viewer up with serious, high-minded fare for the first ninety percent of the film, only to completely obliterate this trust with a carnival sideshow ending--especially when the expectation the viewer has is for a powerful conclusion to what has otherwise been a great vampire movie.

In spite of this incredible blunder, I still highly recommend The Lost Boys to any serious fan of vampire movies. Just be sure to prepare yourself for the nonsensical ending.

Three wooden stakes for The Lost Boys.

Apparently this vampire meat didn't
read the right comic books.

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THE LOST BOYS (1987)

Movie Review

Director: Joel Schumacher Starring: Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland, Edward Herrmann Run time: 97 min.

Director: Joel Schumacher
Starring:
Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland, Edward Herrmann
Run time: 97 min.