The Lost Boys (1987)

Blessing cinema screens nationwide on Valentines Day, the newly 4K Restored film gives a stunning look at life in “The Murder Capital of the World”, Santa Carla.

The Lost Boys, Poster

Landing on hard times financially after divorce, Lucy (Dianne West) and her two sons, the film’s lead: Michael (Jason Patric) and the younger boy Sam (Corey Haim) move in with ‘Grandpa’ (Barbara Hughes) and experience a life in a new town, which instantly seems to be suffering a spate of disappearances and troubles both economically and with their youth population. Chasing down a mystery woman and eventually falling into trouble with David (Kiefer Sutherland) and his friends, Michael is enveloped by the towns goings on and learns there’s more than meets the eye. On the flip side of the coin, younger brother Sam makes friends with the Frog brothers (Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander) who are the quasi bosses of the local comic book store as their parents distantly watch over the place. Michael progressively entangled with the biker gang soon is converted into vampirism and for the remainder of the film, with the help of Sam, the Frogs, Star (Jami Gertz) and Grandpa aim to rid Santa Carla of its fanged population once and for all. A note on style, perhaps doesn’t help in any sense having “modern eyes” when watching this but it is perhaps the most camp film I’ve seen to date and (though not an issue) is the most 80s thing a single person could conceive. It’s full house of 80s staples and cliches was very charming and if anything added to the experience in the fully packed cinema. Additionally, in a deeper sense, the whole horror aesthetic is very effective and often the arrival of ’The Lost Boys’ themselves were scenes of incredible tensity and artistic flair which in a sense were also a novelty given the far more subtle approach when in comparison to modern horrors, or at least the rampantly successful ones that are all too often jump scare based. I wonder how impactful this was as far as genre goes as I‘d say in hindsight it wasn’t anything particularly new but I can certainly credit it as possibly being one of the original big players in the horror scene and would go as far as saying it had strong impact as Tarantino draws heavily upon it in the screenplay for: From Dusk Till Dawn (d. Robert Rodriguez, 1996) which is if anything testament to the stature of Schumacher’s work.

Personally one of the films main strengths was its lore and world, giving us Santa Carla which genuinely feels lived in and an incredibly deep understanding of the whole lore of Vampirism which has some excellent pay offs later down the line.

Points to expand on:

Lore- really understands the Vampire background and has its own spin which eventually pays off (The Max reveal)

4K Restoration- Really effective upgrade with the visual effects benefitting significantly from such technology and visually ageing well (Doesnt apply to the film which is REALLY camp but only added to it)

Narrative- The constant delayed gratification and then eventual reveals are excellent

Action- Comedic abd well choreographed (house finale, the caves etc.)

Atmosphere- the films most effective element, keeps you at a distance for as long as needs be, constant mysteries and that sense that something is off, really effective

Experience- Fully packed cinema on Valentine’s Day, laughs a plenty and everyone enjoyed

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Originally watched: February 14th, 2020

By: Thomas Jay