Halloween Update-O-Rama: The Lost Boys Review

I know, I know, these Halloween updates we're supposed to be everyday but I'm in the middle of CIFF 2004 and I'm busily transcribing my interview with Session 9/The Machinst director Brad Anderson.

When was the last time you saw The Lost Boys. Let's face it LB is a movie worth watching over and over again. Even without the Frog Brothers this dark riff on Peter Pan stakes most other recent vampire flicks to the ground. And Warner has just released a fabulous two-disc Special Edition.

THE LOST BOYS SE

Warner Home Entertainment

I can't even remember how many times I've looked at the cheap no frills DVD version of The Lost Boys and thought “maybe now is the time.” But I always put it back thinking that it would be around more or less forever and I'd get it if I ever needed it to finish a writing project etc. Such thoughts generally speak to whether a film is considered important enough to own but in this case I just couldn't bear owning a no frills copy. The Lost Boys is one of the most important horror films of the 80's and along with Fright Night indispenable for true fans of the genre. Almost no recent horror films aimed at teens are as good,on any level as The Lost Boys. Funny, frightening, dripping with subtext, this movie understands why we love the vampire AND the vampire hunter offering a dark and dangerous take on the story of Peter Pan and coming of age. Of course this is also the movie that introduced the “two Corey's” Corey Feldman and Cory Haim, who went on to appear in several films together.

When a mother and her two young sons move to Santa Meara California after a messy divorce the boys are left to putter around Grandpa's weird but comfy old house and try to make friends on the nearby seaside boardwalk. But when older brother Michael makes the wrong kind of friends it's up to younger brother Sam to turn to the local comic shop inhabitated by The Frog Brothers, a pair of geek vampire hunters who may or may not take his brother down with the rest of the young turk vampire clan.

The design of this film is still a wonder. Dressed as new wave gypsies Kiefer Sutherland and his band of lost boys truly do rule the night. And The Lost Boys remains one of the truly scary and funny horror comedies offering potent chills, spookhouse boo's and a just enough vampire staking to let you know it takes the undead seriously.

There's also a strong undercurrent of lost-ness implying that it might not be all that great to be undead which could tie-in to some great discussions on the nature of cool for teens.

The special features are extensive although one wishes for more than just Joel Schumaker to do the commentary. Where's Kieffer? The Corey's? A Frog Brothers commentary would have been grand. Other features include a retrospective documentary a "Vamping Out" featurette on the undead creatures a "The Return of Sam and Frog Brothers: The 2 Coreys and Jamison Newlander" - multiangle video commentary (not of the film, just scenes from it and not in character) "Inside the Vampire's Cave" - 4 featurettes, a music video (unfortunately not I Still Believe), deleted scenes, and a photo gallery.