Popcorn Favorites 11.07.02: The Lost Boys
Posted by Chris Williams on 11.07.2002
Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It's fun to be a vampire.
Death by stereo!-Sam Emerson
As is well known, GTA: Vice City was released last Tuesday, and to be perfectly honest, that's the main reason as to why there was no column last week. I apologize to anyone who was looking forward to said column, and to Ashish for not communicating that fact as I should have. In a related note, I have the storyline missions of GTA beaten, and it's been a fantastic game thus far.
I had planned on chiming in on the DVD section of 411Movies, but Ian Challis beat me to it with his review of Jason X, and damned if it isn't a fine one. I'm a huge fan of the F13 series and Jason X is the best one since Part IV, in my opinion. Definitely worth checking out if you're a horror buff like myself.
But that was then, this is now, and it's about a week late. Let's dim the lights, start the projector, and get this screening underway.
The Previews
Have you ever been rollerskating with friends on a nice sunny day, just enjoying the fun, and suddenly think to yourself, "This isn't as good of a method of transportation as a car."? Have you ever been eating a Big Mac, which you've been craving all day, and stop to think about how nice a filet mignon would be right then? No? Of course not, the first two are guilty pleasures of sorts. You rollerskate and eat Big Mac's because you enjoy them, not because it gets you somewhere faster or because it's better for your health. So then why would you go to see a film that is obviously not meant to be an artistic classic and compare it to one?
That's one of my beefs with movie critics as it pertains to horror films. Saving Private Ryan is a great movie, one of the best ever in my opinion, but I don't go to see Halloween: Ressurection looking for the same kind of entertainment. I understand that it's someone like Roger Ebert's job to see movies and critique them, but what I fail to understand is why films in the horror/slasher genre are seemingly held to the standards of other movies.
Plot development? Character depth? Continuity? These concepts rarely exist in horror films, nor should they. When I go to see a film like that, I want a high body count, corny one liners that are so bad that they're good, and a villain that makes Undertaker look like Ricky Steamboat in the selling department. I don't need the history of the Tommy Jarvis character in the Friday The 13th series, I just need to know that Jason is stalking his ass and that he's ready to fight to the death. About the only exception to this is how exactly Jason went from "going to hell" in Part 9 and then have him back to normal in time for Jason X.
Very few horror films can stand up to the standards of regular films. The original Halloween is pretty capable of doing so, as it's nearly unanimously loved, as does Halloween: H20. Everything else is pretty hit and miss in its own genre, much less the whole Hollywood universe. If you're a critic, or just a regular moviegoer, don't go to the latest slasher film expecting anything else than cool death scenes, at least one nudie shot, and lots and lots of blood. If that kind of stuff doesn't appeal to you, that's perfectly ok, everyone has their own tastes. But to trash an entire genre of movies, which has a rather large cult following, on the simple basis that it's not the type of film that's going to garner any Oscar awards, well, that shows a pretty narrow mind, don't you think?
The Feature Presentation
This week's review, while not a slasher film, is still generally regarded as a horror film. Perhaps it's because it has to do with vampires, or because there are some pretty kickass death scenes, but The Lost Boys has never been scary to me. What it has been, however, is an incredibly cool movie that featured hot young actors, a pretty neat story, and a mega-awesome soundtrack. Of course there was also the incredible fashion sense that the movie held, but others might disagree.
The film is set in the fictional town of Santa Carla, California (filmed in the very real town of Santa Cruz), and follows the Emerson family: mom Lucy (Dianne Wiest), brothers Michael (Jason Patric) and Sam (Corey Haim), and Grandpa (Barnard Hughes). Lucy, Michael, and Sam move in with Grandpa after a bitter divorce, and the brothers soon realize that something very strange is up in Santa Carla. Michael meets a pretty girl by the name of Star (Jami Gertz), who in turn introduces him to her "friends": The Lost Boys (never called as such). Headed up by David (Kiefer Sutherland), this group of guys quickly adopt Michael as one of their own, something that he doesn't catch on to until it's too late.
Sam, meanwhile, meets the Frog Brothers, Edgar (Corey Feldman) and Allen (Jamison Newlander), who are just as strange as everyone else in the film. They claim to be vampire hunters, fighting for "truth, justice, and the American way". Lucy meets someone too, a video store owner by the name of Max, who offers her a job on the spot. Grandpa, not the social type, remains sparse and mysterious, aside from the occasional visit to Widow Johnson (never seen). All of these characters come together through various parts of the film, usually to great success.
As said before, David&Co. take Michael under their wing, turning him into a half-vampire; he can't become a full one until he makes his first kill. Obviously displeased with this turn events, Michael fights back with the help of Star, Sam, and the Frog Brothers, and the battle rages on. The supporting characters, including little half-vampire Laddie (Chance Michael Corbitt), contribute nicely to the pacing of the film, even if their screen time isn't all that great. The climatic battle at the Emerson house is very well-done, with an ending that delivers a good payoff, even if you can see it coming a mile away.
Overall, the film stands as an entertaining use of an hour and a half. There's just something about the movie that says "cool"; maybe it's all the snazzy black leather, who knows? It's one of my favorite films, one that I can watch over and over again without it getting old. It's campy, it's corny, but it's a cult classic that you just can't help but love. And hey, how can a movie with the Corey Twins NOT be good?
The Credits
This week's triviata, courtesy of, as always, IMDB.
-The film itself is based loosely on Peter Pan, as noted by the title.
-Originally scripted to be about 5th-6th grade "Goonie-type" kid vampires. Director Joel Scheumacher hated the concept and changed it, but kept the title.
-The town of Santa Cruz, where filming took place, asked that the name of the town be changed for the film, as the chamber of commerce didn't want to revive the "Murder Capital Of The World" moniker that it was given due to a serial killer's spree in the 70's.
-David doesn't die at the end of film, despite Max's claim. He was simply knocked unconcious when impaled on the antlers, something that was supposed to be picked up on in the sequel that was scripted, but never made.
-There is currently a movie in development entitled The Lost Girls. It's been in development for awhile, although there has been very little movement in the past couple of years. It's not definitive whether or not this will be a prequel, sequel, or remake of the original film, or if any of the characters from the first film will return.
And although I'm a bit late for the season, here's my top five list of horror/slasher films to see, in no particular order.
5)Saturday The 14th-The #5 slot is generally reserved for parodies, and while this isn't a straight mockery, it's still pretty funny. Definitely more entertaining than Scary Movie.
4)Wes Craven's New Nightmare-I saw this movie for the first time just last month, and although I'm not much of a Freddy fan, this movie rocks! That little kid freaks me out when he does Freddy's nursery rhyme.
3)H20-Such a badass movie that thankfully ignores all the other entries aside from the first two. Kinda short, and the ending is very abrupt, but is made all the much cooler when it's explained in Halloween: Ressurection.
2)Jason X-I love F13 movies (except Part V), so picking between them is like deciding which family member I'm going to save from a burning building. Part IV is wicked, but there are just so many cool scenes in this one, especially virtual Camp Crystal Lake, and a lot of laugh-out-loud scenes as well.
1)Halloween-Before Freddy and Jason, there was Michael, and he kicked ass! I've watched several documentaries on this film, and it amazes me how much work and thought went into it. This launched Jamie Lee's career, and has the most haunting music ever.
I get the feeling I'll be hearing from some of you about the movies I've left off, but what can I say: those are my favorites.
Next week (I swear!), it's onto sports, as I step up to the plate to swing away at one of the (in my opinion) funniest movies to ever be made. Want a practice swing? Here's one right down the middle.
You trying to say Jesus Christ can't hit a curveball?
