-From sodahead
Of course I was going to make a Twilight reference. What kind of Internet nerd would I be if I hadn’t?
The Lost Boys is a teenage horror film
from the 80s. It’s about Michael and Sam Emerson, who move to Santa Carla,
California with their mother, Lucy. They move back into Grandpa’s house, but
soon discover that his taxidermist tendencies are the least of their problems.
Michael gets himself mixed up with a tribe of vampires in an attempt to impress
a hot-hippie-chick, and discovers that he’s slowly turning into the same undead
murderer his new buddies are. The only way to save himself, his new girlfriend,
and their little friend Laddie, is to face off against his new found family;
Van Hellsing style. It’s cheesy,
predictable, and wicked fun to watch;
loved it from start to finish.
Our
plot is highly unoriginal for it’s time: New kid in town wants to impress
pretty girl/ join the cool kids, new kid ends up joining gang, and gang turns
out to be bad. It’s saved from feeling like an after-school special thanks to
the lack of smart adults, and an incredibly dark, moody atmosphere(and, you
know, the vampires.). The bad part is that our pace is incredibly fast.
Conversations go at break-neck speed, and relationships aren’t really given the
time they need to develop properly. The time it takes for Star and Michael to
get to sexy-time breaks the record for the fifty-meter dash.
Problems
aside, the Lost Boys themselves are the saving grace of this entire film They
look like Captain Hook on a goth trip, and sport an attitude that an older
Peter Pan would have likely been proud of: Party all night, sleep all day, and
never grow up. But what makes them so
fascinating is this mafia-like stoicism that underscores everything they do.
Joining the family is a big deal, and being part of the gang trumps whatever
else you had going on.
There’s also something refreshing about
watching vampires excitedly hunt, stalk, and kill their prey with the same
childlike glee of Christmas Day. I have nothing against the romanticized
vampire, and in fact quite like it, but it’s also nice to get back to the
basics. Add to the fact that the book stores these days are saturated with
fanged-pretty-boys that are more likely to be your prom-date than your
nightmare. Needless to say, I was rather happy to put these vampires into the
‘bed afraid’ part of my brain.
Sadly,
our villains will forever be much more interesting than our leads. Michael and
Sam aren't bad characters, but they
fall into a predictable pattern pretty quick. Michael is the good kid who made
a big mistake and Sam is the poor, nearly helpless younger brother who’s trying
to keep the big secret from Mom. In fact, the mother is the only one who
honestly surprised me. She wasn’t treated like the mindless authority figure
that I expected her to be and was instead shown as a loving and attentive
parent (while still oblivious to the plot.)
It’s my biggest pet peeve when adults act worse than the kids in these
teen movies(or in a sitcom) or when attempts to be a parent are shown as ‘mean’
and ‘intrusive’. So this movie gets a big ole’ gold star for treating Lucy as
an innocent bystander who actually knows how to be a good mom.
To
draw into my final thought, I ask you to think about where the vampire has gone
these past years. To echo my statement about ‘fanged-pretty boys’, I enjoyed
this movie because its different from what I’m used to. The idea of “Vampire
Bad” has been lost in the flow of popular media and I'm always grateful to get
back to the classics. And, as a classic, I highly recommend this movie to
anyone looking for a good Vampire movie. It’s cool, dark, fun in it’s nostalgia
and awesome in it’s old-school action.
P.S: I hope you like G. Tom Mac’s
song “Cry Little Sister”, as you’ll be hearing it a lot. Kisses!
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