Lost Boys
There are some directors who actually work best on what can be strictly called a for hire basis. In terms of visuals, camerawork, and style, their work can be downright masterful, although there’s less expertise when it comes to the areas of story, dialogue, and characters, usually because of them working from someone else’s finished script. And yet even still, sometimes these same directors can get it just right by expertly utilizing the perfect script melded with their own artistic specialties. Such a case was Joel Schumacher, long hated by comic book fans for utterly destroying everything that Tim Burton and Michael Keaton tried to create in the Batman franchise with his own disastrous follow up entries Batman Forever and Batman And Robin, but he’s also the guy who helmed the stunning early 90s statement drama Falling Down, and even before that in 1987 was responsible for one of the greatest vampire flicks ever made, a tour de force with an eclectic yet memorable cast of characters, a funny, witty script that successfully appealed to 80s teen sensibilities, and a number of serious scenes that were just dripping with sleek atmosphere aided by one of the best and truly iconic soundtracks of the decade which most notably featured the unforgettable song Cry Little Sister by Gerald McMann. The movie gained so much steam with its popularity and its immense rewatchability in the years since, succeeding in entertaining continuously while other films of that time faltered, including its own cheap, direct to video sequels some 20 years later. Even better, it hinted at having its own whole entire world and mythology without directly explaining every single detail ad nauseum even as a possible full on franchise failed to take shape in order to expand upon its themes and unique setting, a slightly dilapidated beach / boardwalk community that once one is enveloped in it, makes the rest of humanity seem like a million miles away. And indeed, during the opening credits sequence, Schumacher gives us a stunning montage that gives us a good idea of what Santa Clara, California (actually Santa Cruz) is all about, literally a mini metropolis of lost souls exemplified by its punk rockers, sad eyed teenagers, disparate vagrants, and a oblique economic situation best summed up when one character asks someone if there are any jobs around there only to get the glib reply, “Nothing legal”, which of course makes it obvious that most of the disaffected citizens have nothing better to do but spend their time wandering around both the boardwalk and the beach looking for some key to their happiness that will most likely never come but maybe at least find one that will unlock their boredom. Into this environment comes the Emerson family, with the mom Lucy (Dianne Wiest, an acclaimed, two time Oscar winning actress whom many felt took a step down from her usual fare with this part, but still makes for a pleasant presence), fresh off her divorce, and her two sons, Sam (Corey Haim) and Michael (Jason Patric). The two brothers make an interesting contrast: Haim was already well known (and much hated) for his twerpy, smartass characters in such unwatchable 80s turkeys like Lucas, and in some ways here was utterly humiliated as his dorky, comic book loving kid (as written) was made out in such a way with his frizzed out hairstyle, fey, effeminate wardrobe, and most notoriously, his huge, lifesize poster of a near naked Rob Lowe on his bedroom wall, to obviously being gay even as no direct mention is made of it and Haim desperately plays out his part with his usual squeaky voiced, wanna be hip demeanor that results in several unintentional laughs towards his oblivious performance. Patric on the other hand is much more interesting, projecting a smoldering intensity that both here and in later films usually compensated for him having any actual solid acting skills, but it’s more than enough here for him to carry the film while even being given a passing comparison to Jim Morrison himself with a famous dissolve shot and even more surprising that the comparison just about comes off as valid given Patric’s natural charisma and the way he carries himself throughout the picture, even as poor Patric himself has tried (and failed) in the intervening years to distance himself from this film and move on to other projects in his career, often being said to actually become nasty or sullen to other people whenever this film is brought up in his presence. The three of them move in with their crazy, eccentric Grandpa (Barnard Hughes, one of the most underrated character actors of all time), who spends much of the movie pretending to have no knowledge at all as to what’s going on while giving off the impression that he’s just an old crackpot, but appearances can be deceiving. The two brothers hit the boardwalk to check out the local scene, with Haim heading to the local comic book store and making the acquaintance of two more legendary characters, The Frog Brothers, Edgar (Corey Feldman, making his first appearance with his lifelong best friend Haim), and Allen (Jamison Newlander), two guys with a tough, military style, teenage act (Feldman even does a dead on Stallone impression), who seem to be completely whacked out of their minds, telling Haim that the town is loaded with vampires and even handing him a horror comic with their phone number on the back (and indeed, one of the film’s best moments is when we first see them kill a vampire in a smooth business as usual fashion, proving to us that these two were actually on the level and for real)! Patric for his part falls under the spell of a beautiful girl with a gypsy style look (Jami Gertz), who leads him into the path of a pack of motorcycle riding teens led unforgettably by Kiefer Sutherland, who even in his early twenties was hitting it out of the park with a number of stunning villainous roles but really hit the A-list here playing his vampire leader with a stunning combination of both evil charisma and profound mystery, and we can actually believe it when the impressionable Patric falls under his dark spell, using the classic teen angle of peer pressure and getting his prey to wanna hang out with the cool kids as a way to draw Patric into vampirism. As these various characters start to converge on themselves, Wiest meanwhile begins a sweet romance with a slightly nerdy, yet still hip video store owner (Edward Herrmann, the one time king of Disney live action films in the late 70s who was renown for his put upon nice guy roles, which given the circumstances, was probably why he was cast here), and the fluid, almost dreamy visual style brought on by Schumacher to a number of scenes not so much cancels out the oftentimes cutesy comedic moments but rather complements it nicely, bringing some bloody meat to the bones that the serious vampire movie fan can chew on, and slowly allowing select scenes of gore and makeup effects to enter the fray with an energy level that can only be described as second to none. What the failed low budget sequels (which only brought back The Frog Brothers and briefly, Haim) were unable to grasp was that heavy dose of irony that comes with the idea that in some ways the concept of vampirism was the ultimate definition of cool, allowing one to sleep all day, party all night, and basically do whatever the hell you felt like doing with no repercussions whatsoever unless of course a trained and ready vampire hunter were to track you down. This movie though, manages to nail that idea down cold, so much so that one does wish that a proper sequel (even one that had more backstory) could have been made instead of the lame remake / rehashes that we were served up with instead. And with that soundtrack carrying the viewer’s attention all the way through, The Frog Brothers getting most of the best and funniest lines, Sutherland’s unforgettably sinister turn of pure, seductive evil that leaves you wanting more, Schumacher’s sure handed direction keeping the movie on point, well paced, and engaging enough to enjoy watching more than once, and of course the enigmatic Patric in the lead role who never quite lived up to his potential after this, one can really see why the word “classic” always gets so readily applied here, and not just of the 80s variety…
10/10