In 1987, a horror comedy classic changed the portrayal of vampires in film.
The Lost Boys follows the story of Michael Emerson (Jason Patric) and his younger brother Sam (Corey Haim) as they adjust to a new life in California following their parents’ divorce. It doesn’t take long for Michael to become enamored with the token hot girl Star (Jami Gertz) and quickly succumbs to ominous peer pressure.
The scene with Michael in a race against David (Kiefer Sutherland), a biker gang leader, while Lou Gramm’s “Lost in the Shadows” blares is an entertaining and quintessential ‘80s moment that reeks of macho, competitive male stereotypes.
Meanwhile, the always hilarious Sam teams up with the vampire-hunting Frog brothers (Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander) to figure out how to defeat a gang of vampires and return everything to “normal.”
There’s lots of laughs, bro bonding, unnecessary baby oil on chests, a clever use of comics, and one truly strange Grandpa who knows a bit about everything. The movie scored solid reviews with critics and became a cult classic coming-of-age story with a horror twist.
The Lost Boys is a perfect snapshot of the time period, complete with a synth and classic rock heavy soundtrack. It was the genesis of the duo known as “the Coreys”’ (Haim and Feldman), then teen idols who went on to collaborate on several films.
The characters’ perfectly bouffant coifs are held together by formidable hairspray and there’s a heavy emphasis on the punk and grunge inspired fashion of the time. The vampire gang lives an almost enviable young, wild, and free lifestyle as they cruise the boardwalk in Santa Carla (obviously Santa Cruz) at night on their motorcycles.
They looked like the guys that other guys wanted to be and that girls wanted to date at that time. Plus, there are no cell phones or Internet and parents are mostly oblivious about their kids’ shenanigans. So, it takes a little extra legwork to find a solution to the vampire problem.
It all adds up to a good time filled with memorable quotes, and its hard to not be endeared with and entertained by this film.
But, The Lost Boys‘ cultural impact is often underrated in the genre. Prior to this film, vampires were primarily portrayed as pasty creatures of the night with little to no personality or sex appeal (think Dracula).
Vampires spoke in a strange cadence and were mostly one-dimensional with a singular goal in mind — sucking blood. The Lost Boys challenged this portrayal by making vampires young, attractive, and fashionable with complex personalities to boot.
Viewers get to experience different sides of the vampire journey, including the initial changes and existing lore, through the eyes of the Emerson brothers. It humanizes vampires in a comedic way and feeds into many people’s desires about what it would be like to live an unconventional life outside of our social margins.
In other words, The Lost Boys made vampires officially cool. The movie no doubt laid the foundation for future TV shows and films like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Interview with a Vampire, Underworld, Queen of the Dammed, and Twilight, all of which continued to depict vampires in a similar fashion.
Cheers to The Lost Boys, an iconic movie that spawned a new generation of hot and (sometimes) heroic vampires.
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