(Joel Schumacher; 1987)

Starring:
Kiefer Sutherland, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Jason Patric, Jami Gertz, and Alex Winter.

Sounds:
[Corey Haim: "Death by Stereo"] [Frog Bro: "Kill your brother"] [David:"Never grow old..."]

Not your average teen movie as this one was a cross-over between teen and horror. The basic story involving Michael and his mum and younger brother (Corey Haim) moving in with their Grandfather in a city dubbed the murder capital of the country. Death is definitely in the air as more and more people are going missing and Granpa is constantly increasing his collection of stuffed, dead animals. Whilst in town Michael falls for this mysterious girl who leads him to David (Kiefer Sutherland) and his gang. They trick him into joining them as vampires. Michael can't believe what is happening to him at first, but help is at hand as his younger brother has met the Frog brothers who are vampire hunters, armed with water pistols full of holy water, they tell Michael he can be saved. He is currently only half turned, he won't be a complete vampire until he feasts on a human. All they have to do to save him is kill the head vampire before he fully turns. But who is the head vampire?

Not as tacky as it sounds this film includes the classic line "Death by stereo" as one of the vampires bites the big one. It is both gripping and exciting. Whilst the Frog brothers provide good comic relief. It is suitably dark for its subject matter and although a comedy it isn't as unbelievable or as silly as Fright Night for example. The direction is excellent. Good shots as though flying through the air and when Michael falls from the train bridge, through the mist into his bed. The main star of this other than Corey Feldman is Kiefer Sutherland. He is perfectly cast. He is both scary and believable. His hissing "Michael" in the dark is probably one of the most memorable things from this film. You can see when watching this why they thought the director Joel Schumacher would be a good choice to take over from Tim Burton for the Batman films. If only they knew the neon nightmare he would turn them into! Don't let that put you off seeing this film though. This is actually very good.

There have since been two sequels to The Lost boys, both starring Corey Felman. The first - Lost Boys 2:The Tribe is essentially a weak copy of the original but without the twists. Corey Feldman is still great as Edgar Frog but overall the film is dissappointing. I have not yet seen the third film - Lost Boys: The Thirst but this in theory could be quite good as it involves both Frog brothers reuniting. We shall see...