Film reviews

Opening on the glittering boardwalk with its flashing lights and disco-like carnival atmosphere, The Lost Boys lets the audience know right from the start that this holiday atmosphere hides something more horrid. A teen couple are hassled by a gang of wild-looking youths (led by Kiefer Sutherland), and the security guard who steps in to tell the boys to leave might as well have been wearing a red shirt.

Yes, the wild youths are the Lost Boys, a gang of vampires whose activities have made the town of Santa Carla, California, the “murder capital of the world”. And one knows that the poor security guard is not going to make it safely to his car that night.

The plot is fairly standard – recently divorced mother arrives in Santa Carla with her two boys (Michael and Sam) to stay with her father, a lovable but strange old coot. Spoiler The eldest son, Michael, becomes instantly infatuated with a beautiful girl he spots at a rock concert down at the boardwalk, and his efforts to get to know her finally lead him into a matey session with the Lost Boys in their underground hang-out, the remnants of a tacky and sunken hotel. Of course the wine he’s dared to drink isn’t wine at all…

In the meantime, younger brother Sam has met two somewhat weird teens at the local comic book shop – the Frog Brothers, who dress like Vietnam veterans and affect a hilariously deadpan style of talking. They give him a comic book about vampires, telling him to think of it as a “survival manual”.

What follows is a nicely paced blend of horror and comedy, a blend which is tricky to pull off in film. This is never over-the-top hilarious, but has some good lines and nicely judged characterisation from the actors. The cinematography is excellent, and the ambience is well portrayed. The scenario plays out without breaking any new ground, but it works well. The humour comes more from the delivery of lines than from the lines themselves – the actors all use their material with panache and there’s a nice dynamic, especially, between the brothers Michael and Sam, and between Kiefer’s vampire and Michael.

Spoiler The final revelation of the head vampire’s identity, whose death will save Michael from becoming a full vampire cursed for ever, isn't really a surprise, but deftly portrayed. One very nice touch maintained during the film is the parallel drawn between the vampire gang and the “lost boys” of the Peter Pan story. The similarity means that the little twist at the end actually makes sense.

The film is drenched with 80s style, and that gives it a slightly kitsch feeling at times. This may not be a masterpiece of a film, but it is an enjoyable one.