The Lost Boys (1987)
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Two teenage brothers move to a coastal town that serves as a hidden haven for vampires.
The story
Teenager Michael Emerson, his younger brother Sam, and their recently divorced mother Lucy move to the seaside town of Santa Carla, California. They live with Lucy's eccentric father, to whom they refer solely as Grandpa. Lucy takes a job at a video store owned by Max, who takes a romantic interest in her. At the local comic book store, Sam meets brothers Edgar and Alan Frog, self-proclaimed vampire hunters who believe vampires have infested the town. Michael becomes drawn to Star, a beautiful girl he meets on the boardwalk. He notices her spending time with David, the charismatic leader of a local gang. Sensing Michael's interest in Star, David challenges him to keep up with them on their motorcycles.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After David leads Michael to a hideout and he drinks a mysterious red liquid, Michael begins to transform into a vampire. He becomes sensitive to light and develops a craving for blood. Sam discovers Michael's condition and realizes the transformation is only complete if Michael feeds on human blood. The boys, including the Frog brothers, suspect Max, the owner of the video store, is the head vampire. David's gang tries to force Michael to embrace his monstrous side. Michael eventually leads Sam and the Frog brothers to the gang's lair to rescue Star and Laddie, who are only partially transformed. During a night-time siege at the Emerson home, the group fights off David's gang. Michael faces David and refuses to succumb to his urges, eventually impaling David. Max is revealed as the true head vampire, who intended to turn the family to create a vampire household. However, Grandpa crashes through the wall and kills Max. This act causes Michael, Star, and Laddie to revert to normal humans.
- First release year
- 1987
- Runtime (minutes)
- 97
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Joel Schumacher
- Writers
- Jeffrey Boam · writer; Janice Fischer · writer; James Jeremias · writer
- Cast and characters
- Corey Feldman · Edgar Frog; Jami Gertz · Star; Corey Haim · Sam; Edward Herrmann · Michael
- Genres
- comedy; horror
- Themes
- coming of age; mythic male bonding
- Tone and mood
- stylized; horror-comedy
- Premise and plot tags
- vampire; teenagers; comedy; horror
- Content notes
- horror
- Reception
- The film was a critical and commercial success, described as a cult classic that helped shift depictions of vampires in popular culture.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 75% · scale: percentage · review count: 80; Metacritic · score: 63 · scale: 100 · review count: 16
- Awards and nominations
- Saturn Award · Best Horror Film · 1987 · win
- Production trivia
- The title is a reference to the Peter Pan and Neverland characters.; The scene where David turns noodles into worms was referenced in 'What We Do in the Shadows'.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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