At the Movies with Alan Gekko: The Lost Boys “87”

MPAA Rating: R/Genre: Supernatural Dark Comedy Horror/Stars: Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland, Brooke McCarter, Billy Wirth, Alex Winter, Dianne Wiest, Corey Feldman, Jamison Newlander, Jami Gertz, Edward Herrmann, Barnard Hughes, Chance Michael Corbitt, Alexander Bacan Chapman, Nori Morgan, Kelly Jo Minter, Tim Cappello/Runtime: 97 minutes

If there is one thing that I know in my heart I was fortunate enough to never have had to go through when I was younger, and which I also hope to never have to put my own kids through one day, it would have to be the act of having to move to a new town between the ages of roughly 6-20. Of course is that really all that surprising dear reader when you stop to think about it? I mean not only are you looking at you being stuck with the feeling that your entire life as you know it up to that point has just been literally uprooted to say nothing of having to completely relearn where everything you might want to go to is located (right down to the movie theater and any good places to get ice cream) as well as having to start at a brand-new school, but you also (and perhaps most heartbreaking of all) have to find a way to meet new people and make new friends when you have virtually no idea what to expect from people your age in the area in question. Suffice it to say that, when facing such a complete and utter nightmare on a social and geographic level, how in the world could it possibly get any worse? Well what if you discovered after moving to a new place that your older brother had begun getting involved with a group of seemingly teenage hooligans who turned out to be a pack of bloodthirsty vampires and, perhaps even worse, they had actually started to turn the brother in question into one of them?  Indeed it might sound like an absolutely terrifying extension of what younger siblings the world over must already go through on a daily basis, but (big surprise coming your way) it also happened to make for the core narrative hook for one of the more iconic 80s movies out there as well dear reader. That film incidentally being the 1985 slice of cinema, and film I happen to be reviewing for you today incidentally, known only as The Lost Boys. A film that, in addition to making me grateful since the age of about 10 that I was an only child growing up, also is one that definitely had quite the wonderful part in my cinematic upbringing as a kid even IF my mom never figured out that it was her non-parental controls equipped TV and not mine that was responsible for me watching it way more than I arguably should’ve (sorry Mom). Even with that nostalgic factor in mind however, there is still no denying that I really do dig the heck out of this movie dear reader. No it’s not a flawless film by any stretch, but with the aid of engaging work on both sides of the camera, The Lost Boys “87” is one horror-humor hybrid that is most assuredly worth sinking your teeth into time and time again (fangs or no fangs notwithstanding of course).

The plot is as follows: Following a prologue which I shan’t spoil for you here except to say that it makes me very happy I was never the last one to leave my local amusement park back in the day, The Lost Boys “87” gets its fangtastic narrative underway by introducing to us a family unit consisting of Michael, his younger brother Sam, and their loving mother Lucy respectively (oh and Sam’s faithful dog Nanook). A family unit that, among other things that might be worthy of noting about them, is presently on the final stages of a journey from Phoenix, Arizona all the way to the small seaside community of San Diego ehh Santa Carla, California. A journey that, it is also worth pointing out, is being done with the goal in mind of the trio living with Mom’s more than slightly dotty yet well-meaning all the same father whilst attempting to put the pieces of their lives back together due to that heartbreakingly common occurrence known as “divorce”. Yet whilst their mother is able to find a steady job working at a video store owned and operated by a seemingly affable and kindhearted guy by the name of Max, we see that the boys are more than content to just spend their days lounging around the house and nights hanging out at the boardwalk in town. Incidentally it is there one night where we see Michael first catch the eye of a beautiful girl by the name of Star and fall quite head over heels in love with her. Unfortunately for him however is the fact that Star already seems to be with someone in the form of the leader of a rather distinct group of bikers named David. Despite the fact that Michael is busy eyeing his girl however, we see that this doesn’t really seem to faze David all that much. Instead, he actually takes it in stride and gives Michael the opportunity to join his little gang of miscreants through a series of rather distinct initiation rituals. By making the choice to do so however, we see that Michael is less joining a group desperately trying to be the baddest biker gang since Easy Rider or the casts of Sons of Anarchy and Mayans MC respectively and more joining a group that might just be using their bad biker boy personas to hide who they really are from an unsuspecting populace. You see dear reader there is one thing about this group that I think you should know (if you haven’t already suspected it). That being that they are a pack of bloodthirsty and quite diabolical vampires and, even worse, they have just suckered Michael into starting down the path to becoming just like them. Thus can Sam, with the aid of a pair of self-proclaimed “vampire hunters” known as the Frog Brothers, find a way to save his brother from this ghoulish fate or are things about to go from merely batty to just plain bloody? That I will leave for you to uncover…..

Now right off the bat (pun not intended), it should be said that the work done behind the camera on this slice of cinema manages to work remarkably well despite a few decent size issues here and there. Without question, this starts with the work done at the helm by the late yet underrated Joel Schumacher (Falling Down, The Client, A Time to Kill, and the worst Batman film of all time among others) and this is thankfully one of the more solid entries to be found on the man’s creative resume. Indeed there are perhaps two key things that Schumacher does incredibly well here. The first being that for the majority of the movie he chooses to keep a lot of the vampiric activity that goes on in this film off screen rather than show it in all the gory and visceral detail that he could’ve chosen instead. Yes, a lot of the motivation for that distinct creative decision can be attributed to that most infamous of Hollywood diseases known as “budgetary reasons”, but even so though the fact remains that by doing so we see that Schumacher is able to ensure that, by letting our imaginations do the work, we are left infinitely more spooked and chilled than we might have been otherwise. Along with that, we see that the second brilliant thing that Schumacher does very well here is in terms of the incredible job he does at fairly seamlessly weaving together the horror and the comedy at the heart of the story. As a result, yes the film does a fantastic job of building up a very palpable and organic degree of suspense/horror but it also is blessed with a wonderful awareness for knowing when to let that suspense dissipate for a minute and give us a laugh or 2 before going back to scaring the heck out of us. Suffice it to say that it’s wonderful work from a filmmaker who, all jokes about Batman & Robin aside, was a more than capable director who gave us some highly underrated titles during his time. Along with the work done by Schumacher at the helm, this slice of cinema also contains a fairly well written screenplay from no less than a trio of writers. Yet despite the screenplay doing a good job at complementing Schumacher’s creative choice to slowly yet ominously build up to the vampiric mayhem to say nothing of giving us some fairly memorable lines and characters there is one key problem with it. That being that a lot of characters in this aren’t nearly as fleshed out as they should have been with particular emphasis on most of the titular gang of youthful vamps, Sam and Michael’s mom, their grandfather, and even one or 2 other characters I won’t spoil here. Yes the performances in front of the camera definitely help on this front, but overall it does feel like the script could have maybe gone through at least one or 2 more rewrites. Lastly, I would definitely be in the wrong if I didn’t take the time to praise the work done here by iconic composer Thomas Newman (The Green Mile, Finding Nemo, Cinderella Man, and Wall*E among others) on this film’s musical accompaniment. Indeed not only does Newman’s score add brilliantly to the ominous and haunting vibe of the film, but it also adds a surprising touch of melancholy to the proceedings at points as well with particular regard to the song “Cry Little Sister” by Gerard McMann. Suffice it to say that when you also factor in nothing short of jaw-droppingly brilliant work from iconic cinematographer Michael Chapman as well as fairly well-done work from the editing and costume/make-up departments among others it’s clear this slice of cinema might have some hiccups behind the camera, but overall this is definitely bloody good work from this team of skilled filmmaking individuals.

Alongside the fairly skilled work done by the various departments behind the camera, this slice of cinema is also one that benefits immensely from a collection of solid turns in front of the camera by a game cast of talent even if some are better written than others. Without question, this starts with the work done by Jason Patric in the role of Michael Emerson. Indeed Patric is wonderful at giving us a fairly decent and likable individual all things considered who, when stricken with vampirism, does an admirable job of striving to stay human even in the face of the temptations that the vampire lifestyle tries to throw his way. Besides the solid work done here by Patric, this slice of cinema also contains a solid turn from the late Corey Haim as Michael’s younger brother Sam. Indeed Haim does a terrific job at playing this character who may give his brother a hard time to say nothing of finding himself initially horrified by what he is turning into, but nevertheless will still do anything he can to help him because he genuinely loves and cares about him. Suffice it to say that what happened to Haim is truly unfortunate, but at least we have wonderful performances like these to remember him by.  Without a doubt though, I feel that the two performances that people will remember the most from this movie are the ones given by Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander as Edgar and Alan Frog respectively. Indeed, as two so-called “vampire hunters/experts” that Sam befriends and later enlists to help him and his brother understand what they are up against and subsequently fight back, we see that Feldman (rocking a delightfully faux Stallone gravel in his voice) and Newlander do a masterful job at giving us two boys who act all tough when it comes to defeating their home town’s vampiric menace, but who when the cards are on the table and they have to either put up or shut up quickly and comically show that they are just as afraid as anyone (if not more so). Suffice it to say that not only does this delightful dynamic duo make the most of their characters, but every time they are on screen you know you are in for some truly delightful comedy despite the terror surrounding the situation they are a part of. Lastly, I feel that this section would definitely be amiss if I didn’t talk about the truly incredible work done here by Kiefer Sutherland in the role of the titular group’s malicious leader David. Indeed he might only have 30-35 minutes of total screen time in this, but even so there is no denying that Sutherland does a phenomenal job of bringing such a chilling, charismatic, and intimidating presence to the film that when he’s on screen you are locked on to him more than anyone else and even when he is not on screen you can’t help but feel like he could jump out of the shadows at any moment. Indeed it’s an iconic performance and easily one of the 7 best of Sutherland’s career to date. Suffice it to say that when you also factor in solid efforts from such talents as Edward Herrmann, Jami Gertz, Dianne Wiest, Brooke McCarter, Billy Wirth, Alex Winter, and an absolutely delightful co-starring performance from Barnard Hughes (See I told you in the review for Tron we’d be talking about him again real soon) as the boys’ dotty and slightly crochety yet well-meaning and loving grandfather it’s clear that this slice of cinema might have some issues and the writing might be better on some, but overall the work done by this cast is absolutely engaging and everyone makes the most of however much screentime they are given no matter how big or small that amount may be.

All in all and at the end of the day (or is it night since we are dealing with vampires here), is The Lost Boys a perfect fangtastic slice of cinema in every way possible? Sadly as much as I would love to say that’s the case I am afraid that I can’t. With that in mind, is this the worst thing to happen to vampires since garlic, wooden stakes, coffins no longer being sold wholesale, or (and most tragic of all) the Twilight franchise?! Thankfully, and happily, I can confirm that is not the case either. To be sure, this film does have its fair share of issues with perhaps the key one coming to mind that the script doesn’t give nearly as much in terms of characterization to a lot of the characters as perhaps it ought to. As a result, despite wonderful work from the cast in bringing those characters to life, a lot of the characters don’t feel nearly as fleshed out as perhaps they ought to be. With that stumbling block in mind however, there is also no denying that the direction is solid, the soundtrack on-point, the cinematography absolutely stunning, the make-up/visual effects truly remarkable, and the performances by the cast (despite the aforementioned issue with the script) all manage to do some absolutely dynamic work here regardless of the amount of screentime that they wind up being given during this film’s 97-minute runtime. Suffice it to say that if you are looking for a “serious” vampiric cinematic saga then I have no doubt that the original or 1979 Dracula would love it if you spent some time with them. On the other hand, if you are looking for a particularly fangtastic entry that is an equal blend of hip, funny, scary, and just a bloody good time to be had then you are definitely in the right place. Suffice it to say that The Lost Boys might not be perfect, but it definitely is a well-made and entertaining ride to say nothing of one of the more iconic movies of the decade known as the Go-Go 80s.  Now if you’ll excuse me dear reader: I have to go get my pizza with garlic dipping sauce and garlic bread sticks ready. Not that one ever really needs that much garlic, but after seeing this movie I would rather be safe than sorry wouldn’t you? Make of that what thou will. On a scale of 1-5 I give The Lost Boys “87” a solid 3.5 out of 5.