Before Twilight’s Edward and Bella, The Vampire Diaries’ Elena and Stefan or Elena and Damon, there was The Lost Boys (1987). This 80s classic made being undead not just scary but also cool and sexy long before Robert Pattinson had young girls contemplating the upside to eternal life with an immortal hottie.
Starring iconic teen heartthrobs Corey Haim and Corey Feldman, The Lost Boys is about some very fashionable vamps who reside in Santa Carla, California. They set their sights on the new guy in town, Michael (Jason Patric). It’s up to Michael’s little brother, Sam (Haim), and comic store proprietors the Frog brothers to save Michael from joining the ranks of the undead. The Lost Boys is a beloved classic and is being turned into a CW show.
“Good Night Blood Sucker!”
The Frog brothers were known for their immense hatred of all vampires, their vampire hunting skills that everyone else seemed to laugh at, and their one-liner quotes.
Edgar Frog doesn’t miss the opportunity to yell out a one-liner quote as he attempts to kill one of the vampires in David’s group.
“Lucy, You’re The Only Woman I Ever Knew That Didn’t Improve Her Situation By Getting Divorced.”
Lucy decides to move back to the small Californian town of Santa Carla and bring her two young sons to live with her father after going through a divorce.
Her father isn’t one to hold in his thoughts or opinions whether it’s about the high death rate in the town, the vampires that plague the city, or his thoughts about his daughter’s divorce. It’s a surprisingly supportive quote as he wants the best for his daughter and wants her life to be better, and it’s a funny generalization saying that most women are better after leaving unsupportive partners.
“Drink This Michael. Become One Of Us.”
David seeks out Michael from the beginning of the movie and wants to convince him to become a vampire and join their gang of young vampires. Michael is entranced by Star and goes out with her and her friends including David.
David turns Michael and tells him to drink a goblet full of blood so he can become one of them. Michael still doesn’t fully understand what’s happening in the scene but he goes along with everything anyway.
“If All The Corpses Buried Around Here Were To Stand Up All At Once, We’d Have One Hell Of A Population Problem.”
Michael and his younger brother Sam move to their grandfather’s house at the start of the movie and their grandfather seems to know something about the small Californian town.
Everyone just dismisses his odd yet memorable quotes at the beginning of the movie including this one talking about all of the corpses buried around the town.
“You’re A Creature Of The Night, Michael. Just Like Out Of A Comic Book.”
Sam gets an early heads up from comic book aficionados-vampire hunters Edgar (Feldman) and Alan Frog (Jamison Newlander) about the proliferation of vampires in Santa Carla. Sam is not a fan of horror comics or much of a believer in supernatural bad guys. Then Michael starts sleeping all day, relying on sunglasses as more than an accessory, and throwing around some serious attitude. But, when Sam sees Michael’s reflection fading in a mirror, the Frog brothers’ warning becomes a reality.
There’s no right or wrong way to deal with the news that a family member is a vampire, but Sam’s bratty kid brother’s reaction of threatening to tattle is oddly believable and absurd at the same time.
“You Better Get Yourself A Garlic T-shirt, Buddy, Or It’s Your Funeral.”
Once Sam strong suspects Sam is a vampire or something close to it, he turns to the resident experts, the Frogs. Edgar and Alan’s motto is there’s no such thing as a good vampire: brother or no brother, it’s up to Sam to kill or be killed.
Sam isn’t quite ready to off his brother, so Edgar’s next best advice is to go old school. Twenty-first-century vampires don’t are seemingly immune to garlic, but, in the 80s, the Frog brothers still labor (they find out later it’s just a myth) under the misconception that it’s an effective tool to help ward off anyone or anything trying to give a potential victim a hickey from hell.
“Kill Your Brother. You’ll Feel Better.”
The Frog brothers not only know Santa Carla is a “haven for the undead,” but they also believe in ghouls and werewolves. This raises the question of why they would continue to live there, but that’s an issue for another time.
But their primary mission is to kill vampires. Alan’s suggestion to Sam is simple as well as effective, but his delivery lacks… sensitivity. It’s a bit too pragmatic. It’s up to Sam to convince the Frogs to help him save Michael who is technically only half-vampire. You’d think the Frogs would be up to date on all their vamp lore, but maybe their preoccupation with killing is responsible for their lack of knowledge regarding this very big loophole.
“Initiation’s Over, Michael, It’s Time To Join The Club.”
David speaks this line second right before both Michael sees him and his undead minions for the monsters they are. It’s unusual for bad guys to wait until the film is half over to reveal themselves, and The Lost Boys slowly builds up to this climactic moment.
Throughout the movie, there’s evidence that terrible things are happening, but a scary movie can’t leave everything up to viewers’ imaginations. Michael finds himself an unsuspecting but not necessarily unwilling spectator to a gruesome spectacle. He suspects what’s coming, but he has to know for sure.
“You’ll Never Grow Old, Michael, And You’ll Never Die. But You Must Feed!”
The audience knows David (Kiefer Sutherland) and his gang are supposed to be badass vampires, but there’s only one scene in the movie when Michael witnesses it firsthand, and it isn’t pretty. Michael demands answers from David, and he gets them. Any lingering doubts disappear just like the bodies of David’s victims.
Vampires don’t have to adhere to any moral codes or be law-abiding citizens, but looking good forever comes at a steep price, and these vampires don’t make do by sipping on the local wildlife or stealing from blood banks.
“She’s One Of Them! And Don’t Tell Me It Doesn’t Make Her A Bad Person, Mike.”
Star (Jamie Gertz) arrives at Michael’s after he learns why Santa Carla is the “Murder Capital of the World.” Sam is still struggling to come to terms with Michael being a half-vampire, and now the beautiful girl with great hair who gets them into this mess shows up. The Lost Boys does avoid the cliches of bats and mist, but let’s just say Star doesn’t use the front doors or the stairs to get into Sam’s second-floor bedroom.
Sam’s go-to reaction remains a mix of panic and humor every time his comic book content jumps off the page, causing life to imitate art.
“Even Though You’re A Vampire, You’re Still My Brother.”
With Michael growing weaker, there’s no choice but for Sam and the Frogs to take control of the situation. The Lost Boys doesn’t work without the strong bond between Sam and Michael.
The movie doesn’t spend much time establishing their emotional connection because this is a horror movie, not a serious drama. But it’s implied the two are tight. The line itself is funny, but Haim delivers it with a genuineness, keeping it from becoming completely campy.
“Holy S***, Vampire Hotel.”
The Frog brothers take vampire hunting seriously so they take Sam to look for the vampires to try to save Sam’s older brother Michael from being forced to be a vampire for his entire life.
The three kids find where the vampires sleep during the day and see that they all sleep upside down hanging from the ceiling like bats. Alan Frog says this line commenting that it looks like a vampire hotel full of all the younger vampires sleeping during the day.
“Death By Stereo.”
This one-liner may not rank up there with"Yippee-ki-ya, Motherf***er" or “Go ahead, make my day,” but it’s safe to assume Sam’s reaction to a vampire’s hi-fi related death will always conjure up images of the heroes of The Lost Boys making their last stand.
Audiences have seen many, many vampires meet creative ends but never as the result of low-end stereo equipment.
“Great! The Bloodsucking Brady Bunch!”
Maybe it’s a twist you see coming, maybe not, but the biggest bad of all isn’t David after all, and Michael isn’t supposed to be the only vampire in the family. The Lost Boys boils down to being a twisted love story between video store owner Max (Edward Hermann) and Sam and Michael’s mom, Lucy (Dianne Wiest). All of this carnage occurs so head vampire Max can sit at the head of the table on Thanksgiving with his extended homicidal family.
Max does his best to make his plans for Lucy and her sons sound like a Norman Rockwell painting while Edgar relies on an incongruous pop culture reference.
“One Thing About Living In Santa Carla I Never Could Stomach…All The Damn Vampires.”
With all the craziness taking place under his own roof, Grandpa (Barnard Hughes) seems somewhat impervious, choosing to focus on his taxidermy. Looking back, there are some subtle clues he knows more than he lets on: his wariness regarding joining Max for dinner and those fence posts conveniently carved into large spikes.
It’s such an unexpected and perfect way to end the movie. Michael and Sam’s grandfather saves the day with minimal effort and considers vampires an annoying inconvenience—an unspoken downside to living in an otherwise idyllic town.
