Welcome to the Galactic Theater, where we'll explore the works of master manipulators of light waves, examine the themes brought to play, and critique the final products of months of hard work.

This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the movie.

That said, on to the review!

For the living, death is a bereavement, a separation from loved ones. It is a time of grief and pain, not soon forgotten. But for the dead...is it truly the end? And what if the dead don't know that they've died? What if they're clinging--for good or ill--to the life they left behind?

After their mother Lucy's divorce, Sam and Michael returned with her to father's home in Santa Carla, California. It's a tolerably nice place: it has a boardwalk with amusement park rides, a generous slice of humanity (surfers, bikers, etc.), businesses in need of new employees. The place even has its own unique brand of population control. For Lucy it's a chance to start over. For Sam it's a nice enough place, especially once he finds a comic book store. For Michael, though, Santa Carla has its own attractions, like beautiful girls. There's one girl in particular who's caught his eye. Her name is Star, and she seems nice enough. Little does Michael know, however, that her the girl with the heavenly name will lead him along the path to hell.

Because Santa Carla has a dark secret lurking beneath its wild surface, one which the Frog brothers who run Sam's comic book shop warn him about: vampires. And all the disappearances which have been plaguing Santa Carla may be the results of their depredations. Moreover, it may be that the girl that figures so prominently into Michael's dreams is the girlfriend of one of those undead fiends. But of course, everyone knows there are no such things as vampires, right? Sam is unwilling to believe the Frogs, who seem to be somewhat fanatical in their military-style clothes and obsessive in their insistence in giving Sam comics about vampires. And of course, there's no evidence to prove the Frogs' assertions. Of course, Sam doesn't believe so he doesn't tell Michael. Not that Michael would believe either, not when he's blinded by Star's beauty and the way Star's boyfriend's biker gang abruptly accepts him into their number. And that's when things to start spiralling out of control.

Now, after a night of eating and drinking with the guys, Michael has trouble with the sunlight. He starts to drink some milk, only to have his entire body rebel and another craving washing over him. He's bitten by his brother's dog after breaking into the bathroom and nearly attacking Sam. His reflection is transparent, allowing Sam to see his hand through Michael's reflection. And after settling into a restless doze, he finds himself floating near the ceiling of his room, unable to get down and practically floating out the window into the night sky. And the next morning, the bite he received from the dog has healed completely. What's going on? And what can Sam do to help? Because he'd better help if he doesn't want to become Michael's next meal, even if he does love his brother. And he'd better do something soon before the Frogs decide the best way to help Sam is to stake Michael through the heart.

The title should be something of a hint about the overall hidden plot. After all, the Lost Boys in J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan were in need of a mother, which Peter Pan provided in the form of Wendy. After all, a mother provides control and structure to the lives of her children. So what, exactly, does all this have to do with the vampires in Santa Carla? At first glance not much. But who exactly is the driving mind behind the vampires? Is there a leader or a hidden vampire that no one knows about? The movie answers those questions, of course, but I'm not going to since it would give away the entire plot.

At first glance you might think this movie a B-list movie with little known and uninspiring characters. But when you include Dianne Weist (Parenthood, The Horse Whisperer), Barnard Hughes (Doc Hollywood, TV's Blossom), Edward Hermann (Richie Rich, TV's The Gilmore Girls), Keifer Sutherland (Stand By Me, The Three Musketeers), Corey Haim (License to Drive, Lucas), Corey Feldman (Stand By Me, Bordello of Blood), Jason Patric (Speed 2: Cruise Control), and Jami Gertz (Twister), and add to them director Joel Schumacher (Batman & Robin, 8MM), then you have a cast and crew capable of doing much more than B-list work.

I have nothing to really complain about, except that I'm getting somewhat tired of seeing vampire movies (and television programs) where the vampires are all brutal killers who prefer violent gouts and spurts of blood when a simple bite (given that they're considerably stronger than ordinary humans) would be enough to draw blood. Sure, there should be pain and struggling involved, but take a look at the old-time vampire movies, like those with Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee, or even the (relatively) more recent Bram Stoker's Dracula from Coppola. Those vampires were more...delicate...in their bites. Instead it's like most vampire movies since then (Blade, From Dusk Till Dawn, Bordello of Blood) rely on orgies of blood and death in order for the vampires to be completely satisfied. Where's the elegance and grace that Dracula, probably the most famous vampire book of all, brought to the entertainment industry? The vampires' eyes were good, though.

The Lost Boys has its redeeming moments of humor and comedy, all from gross understatement to over the top hilarity. Still, all in all this movie is definitely horror. I'll say this at least for the movie: all the action in the movie seems to have taken place within the span of five nights of Sam and Michael's arrival in Santa Carla. How's that for fast-paced and thrilling?

Interested in buying this video? You can! Just follow the link to order the VHS version or the DVD version. You can also visit the Stellar Video Store for other titles.

You are the th visitor to this page since October 16, 2000.

Back Home Sign Guestbook View Guestbook

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page