Horror Movie 18: The Lostboys

The Lostboys for me is one of the best vampire movies to come out of Hollywood.  It’s arguably the movie Twilight longs to be, but will never achieve.  It has a love story attached to it, it’s got gore and it’s got the Frog brothers! I’m sure we can forgive it for having Corey Haim though; it’s just one of those things that can’t be changed so we will with it.

The story starts by introducing us to two brothers, Michael and Sam as they move to a new town with their mother.  Michael the leather jacketed delinquent that he is soon runs into trouble by falling in with a group of delinquents who turn out to be vampires.  After drinking some blood (which he believes to be wine) he slowly begins to turn into a vampire.  Sam and two comic store owning brothers known as the Frog brothers are given the task of saving Michael from fully turning, and rid their town of the vampire menace.

What makes this movie so good? I’d argue the characters.  The Lost Boys are mysterious bloody and violent they are what vampires should be.  These boys aren’t over emo sparkling losers who whine about how they are monsters; these boys accept what they are and enjoy it.  Keifer Sutherland is the main vampire (David) and he plays his role adequately as always.  As I said in my Flatliners review, he’s not the best actor really but I’d say this is probably one of his best roles.

The Frog Brothers steal every scene that they are in.  Fearless vampire killers who have never fought a vampire in their life but are ready for action.  They form a Three Stooges style relationship with Sam while trying to help him deal with Michael (which normally involves trying to kill him).  They provide the comical element in the movie which keeps it light while never overshadowing the horror element of the vampire story.

The ultimate character though is the grandfather; though his role is limited he brings the best line to the movie.  Most of what comes out of his mouth is highly quotable and his quirkiness puts him right up there with the Frog Brothers for the comedy.  The rest of the actors are good enough to keep the movie entertaining.

So yeah, this is how vampire movies should be made.  Movies we see now like Twilight and the Vampires Assistant are tame in comparison and don’t compare.  In the 80’s we had vampire movies like this, Fright Night, The Hunger and even in the 90’s we had The Interview with the Vampire which, while being quite “emo” still had s style about it, still accepted the style that vampire movies need.  So yeah, I recommend this movie as a true Vampire movie.  It’s one that’s not afraid to be funny at times but also one that knows when to give the horror sometimes.

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Paul Metcalf

Paul can often be found on Twitter talking about his favourite movies, games, technology and books when he is not reviewing them and adding news to Pissed Off Geek. Be sure to follow him on Twitter and on the Pissed Off Geek Facebook page. As not only owner, managing editor and webmaster of the site he is also the owner of Pissed Off Geek sister site Truly Disturbing. He can be contacted by emailing here

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