Cry Little Sister: 30 Years of The Lost Boys (1987)
By Aaron Posey
Yesterday was a red-letter day in horror history. On July 31, 1987, 30 years ago to the day, the epic vampire tale The Lost Boys was released.
Directed by Joel Schumacher and an all-star cast including Kiefer Sutherland, the late Corey Haim, Jason Patric and Corey Feldman, The Lost Boys still holds up as a solid film all these years later.
The Lost Boys tells the story of brothers Sam and Michael Emerson. Both brothers move with their recently divorced mother Lucy, to the small beach side town Santa Clara, California to live with their eccentric grandfather.
Upon arrival to the new town Michael sees and instantly falls in love with the beautiful Star. He sees her standing in the crowd of a concert, while a muscled, sweaty man plays the longest saxophone solo in cinema history. Michael attempts to talk to Star but David interrupts. The mullet wearing bad boy with a chip on his shoulder who runs with a group of motorcycle riding vampires.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Lucy gets a job at a video store and Sam meets some friends of his own. In a comic book store Sam begins talking with employee Edgar Frog, played by Corey Feldman. Edgar and his brother Alan, proceed to warn Sam about the town and the deep secrets it keeps. They give Sam a comic book about vampires and tell him to use it as a survival guide, they also give him their number and tell him to pray that he never has to use it.
Meanwhile Michael has begun hanging around with David and his pack of friends. They attempt to have David due crazy things to prove his loyalty to the group like engaging in a motorcycle race that ends with Michael almost plummeting off a cliff and a stunt that involves the group hanging off of a railroad trolley.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Michael is eventually accepted into the fold. Michael is invited down to the below ground lair of these teenage misfits and they give him a strange red liquid. Michael against the protest of Star drinks and slowly begins to change.
Michael realizes David and his group of followers are vampires preying on the town of Santa Clara. Michael realizes he must save Star from David and his brood and he must save himself when he almost turns on Sam.
A battle royale ensues between Michael, Sam and The Frog Brothers fighting the horde of the undead. The forces of good and evil come to a head but will Michael be able to defeat David, save Star, Sam, the Town of Santa Clara and ultimately himself?
The Lost Boys gave us the first pairing of the two Corey’s together as this was Haim’s and Feldman’s first film together. In the film the town of Santa Clara is known as the “Murder Capital of the World” The town had reservations about readopting this moniker as Santa Clara had been home to a real serial killer in the 1970’s.
The Lost Boys impressively was filmed in only 3 weeks. The classic theme song “Cry Little Sister”, written by Gerard McMahon, was composed after only reading the script. McMahon had not seen a single frame of the film.
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The Lost Boys is The Breakfast Club for horror fans. With an all star cast that tells a coming of age story paired with murder and vampires what is not to love? The tagline of the film sums up why we love this film and I will leave you with it: Sleep All Day, Party All Night, Never Grow Old, Never Die.