Lost in the Shadows: Checking Out the ‘Lost Boys’ Trilogy

The Lost Boys trilogy (Warner Bros.)

With the spooky season upon us, I thought it’d be a great time highlight and appreciate one of my favorite 80’s horror movies (and one of the best 80’s films ever!), The Lost Boys, as well as sit down and finally watch the lesser-known sequels, Lost Boys: The Tribe and Lost Boys: The Thirst. Keep in mind, I’ve been warned many times about the damage that watching these sequels can do to my brain and my love for the original, but regardless, here we go!

Joel Schumacher’s The Lost Boys (1987) completely embodies the 80’s. From the fashion and the music right down to the practical gore and the mullets. If you’re a younger horror fan, or somehow this film slipped through the cracks, here’s the rundown. Sam and Michael (Cory Haim and Jason Patric) move to Santa Carla, CA (the murder capital of the world), with their mother in search of a new start. While Michael gets mixed up with David (Kiefer Sutherland) and a bad batch of vampires, Sam teams up with the Frog brothers (Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander) to slay David and his crew and stop Michael from becoming a bloodsucker. You might think I’m kidding when I say this movie is the 80’s, but I’m not. I’m telling you, you could Google “best mullet in movies” and I guarantee you Kiefer Sutherland or Alex Winter’s blonde backyard parties are among the top results. The film has one of the best soundtracks (not scores) of any horror movie ever, with rockin’ tunes like Lost in the Shadows by Lou Gramm and Cry Little Sister by Gerard McMann. Faces get ripped off, bodies melt, and people flail around in burn suits. This film offers pretty much every facet of prime 80’s practical effects. I know, I’m gushing, but seriously, if you haven’t seen it, go watch it, and if you have seen it, go watch it.

Moving on to Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008). There’s no way a sequel made 21 years later with almost none of the same characters won’t be good, right? I played myself. The sequel is basically just the first movie over again, just without all the things that made it…good. Here’s the rundown. Chris and Nicole move to Luna Bay, CA and in with their aunt in search of a new start. While Nicole gets mixed up with Shane (Angus Sutherland – Kiefer Sutherland’s half-brother) and a bad batch of vampires, Chris teams up with an aging single Frog brother (Corey Feldman) to slay Shane and stop Nicole from becoming a bloodsucker. See what I did there? It works perfectly! Much like Angus Sutherland, Lost Boys: The Tribe is the less cool version of its half-brother. At first, the film doesn’t feel like a total loss, giving us some pretty excellent gore and a fun cameo by Tom Savini, but those fun feelings are quickly swept aside by a worse re-telling of the same story, poorly written dialogue, and a turn from coolness to silliness with things like holy water grenade launchers and garlic bolas. Honestly, Feldman does a fine job with reprising his role as Edgar Frog with the same cheesy lines and falsified deep voice, but I’m too busy being distracted by the giant fake tribal tattoo across his neck (that magically disappears in the third film) to really appreciate it. Lastly, as if the movie was looking at me through my TV, and flipping me the bird, it decided to take one of my favorite musical tracks from the first film, and project a mid-2000’s butt rock version of Cry Little Sister directly into my earholes. I was not pleased. Onto the third one!

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Although I think Lost Boys: The Thirst (2010) is most certainly a worse film than the second one, I kind of like it more. There are three props I can give it. Number one, it didn’t just tell us the same story again for a third time. Number two, it brought back Jamison Newlander (Alan Frog) for a final Super Frog Bros. team-up, and number three, it kept some continuity between the two sequels. It’s explained in the second movie that Edgar Frog has dealt with family loss, and Alan had been “turned and dealt with” by Edgar. The third film shows us the story behind it, and that yes, Alan is a vampire, but in hiding and estranged, not dead. This story focuses more on Edgar Frog, and the hard times he’s come across. He’s hired by Gwen, who’s brother was taken by DJ X, a suspected vampire giving out “The Thirst” drug at his raves, which turns out just to be vampire blood. DJ X’s plan is obviously to overrule the world with vampires, so Gwen, Edgar and her crew must save her brother before DJ X can complete his master plan. It’s not the most original plot, but at least it’s not the same plot. The dialogue is still severely lacking, but there’s a certain nostalgic chemistry that comes with the Frog brothers. Much like the second film, the third also goes pretty heavy on the practical gore, which I’m appreciative of. The final scene is like a giant Power Rangers sword fight at a rave, with silly weapons going off here and there, but it’s not the worst thing in the world…until the final blow of the villain is amplified with the same butt rock version of Cry Little Sister as the second one! Nooooooo!

Unless you’re a horror completionist or just love putting yourself through pain and suffering (or both, like me), I’d avoid the Lost Boys sequels entirely. With that being said, I believe the original Lost Boys is an amazing film and should be on everyone’s October horror movie list everywhere. Oh yeah, I Still Believe! BWAH! BWAH! BWAH!


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