The Lost Boys came out in 1987 and was directed by Joel Schumacher and starred well-known actors like Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, and Kiefer Sutherland. The movie takes place in Santa Carla and highlights the dark edge that came with the 80s. The basis of the movie is that anything could be hiding in the shadows and you never really be prepared for it. The viewers follow two brothers, Michael and Sam, as they move to Santa Carla and each meets very different groups of friends. 

Michael’s friends are punks that cause trouble on the boardwalk and are only really his friends because of his attraction to a girl who rides around with them named Star. They meet the first night the Emersons are in Santa Carla at a concert. The two young adults have a tumultuous relationship that really only leads to more problems in the end. Really the entire reason the problems in the movie happen is that they were attracted to each other and in order to look cool in front of what I would like to refer to as her brothers, he drinks from an unmarked bottle and gets weird powers that have drawbacks. For example, the sun makes him sick and his temper seems to explode at unreasonable times. There’s also the fact that he wants to drink his brother’s blood at one point and the only reason he doesn’t is that Sam’s dog saves him right in the nick of time. Man’s best friend indeed huh. 

Sam’s friends are two brothers that work at their family-owned comic bookstore, Alan, and Edgar. When they all first meet Sam thinks the two boys are strange because they force him to take a comic book about vampires and then end up running after a couple of dudes that stole from them. Only after Michael drinks from the bottle and turns into a halfling does Sam call them and ask them for help. Granted, their suggestions included killing his brother or moving in order to stay alive but they tried their best. 

The main antagonists of the movie are a group of 4 boys named David, Dwayne, Paul, and Marko. They all live in a cave and spend every night terrorizing people in order to have fun. We meet them in a video store which sets up the idea that they aren’t very well-liked because of the ruckus they make. Despite being beautiful, they are still judged for how they dress and behave. Their dress includes mostly black leather and layers. After the boys bring Michael to their cave home and have him drink from their bejeweled, unmarked bottle full of blood, they begin to try and make Michael become a full vampire-like themselves. Michael fights them mostly the whole way through and only really makes an effort to connect with Star. After Sam and The Wonder, Twins kill one of the fantastic 4, the remaining trio goes to the Emerson home in order to get revenge, only to also end up murdered. After David is finally taken out, the mother, Lucie, and her boyfriend, Max, show up at the house destroyed and three bodies. When Lucie begins questioning the teenagers, a plot twist comes out of nowhere once Max tells the group that the boys were his sons and they needed a mother figure to look after them. Max’s plan to turn Lucie would only work if they turned her sons. Which inevitably fails when Sam meets the comic store-owning vampire hunters. In the end, Max is thrown into the sharp edge of an animal horn and murdered. Everyone is left with the knowledge that the things that go bump in the night ARE real and possibly very dangerous, but that they are also capable of being reduced to mortality. 

The movie The Lost Boys is pretty cheesy but despite that, it’s very enjoyable. The acting is good and despite it coming out in the 80s, it is still very well-loved. The coloring of the film and how they set up the pacing and scenes make it mesmerizing to watch and interact with. I would say the movie gets a solid 7.8/10. I loved it a lot but it wasn’t the best movie I’ve ever seen. I would definitely recommend it, it’s an interesting watch. Whether you watch the movie or not, I hope you enjoyed reading the article and have an amazing day.