The Lost Boys

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This article is about the 1987 movie. There is also an unrelated novel called Lost Boys.

The Lost Boys is a 1987 American comedy/horror film about young Californians who must fight a gang of teenage vampires. It stars Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman, Dianne Wiest, Edward Herrmann, Alex Winter, and Barnard Hughes. It was directed by Joel Schumacher. The film's title is derived from Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie.

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Box Office and Critical Importance
4 Possibility of Sequels
5 Soundtrack
- 5.1 Track Listing
6 Quote
7 External link

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Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

A divorced mother and her two teenage sons move to live with her father in the small California town of Santa Carla (based loosely on the city of Santa Cruz, California), plagued by problems with a motorcycle gang and unexplained killings. The older boy is drawn into the motorcycle gang by a beautiful girl and starts showing the symptoms of vampirism by sleeping all day and going out all night. His younger brother joins up with two inept vampire hunters to track down the head vampire. The movie ends with two twists — one regarding the identity of the head vampire, and the other sure to make you laugh.

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Cast

Jason Patric - Michael Emerson
Corey Haim - Sam Emerson
Diane Weist - Lucy Emerson
Barnard Hughes - Grandpa
Edward Herrmann - Max
Kiefer Sutherland - David
Billy Wirth - Dwayne
Alex Winter - Marko
Jami Gertz - Star
Corey Feldman - Edgar Frog
Jamison Newlander - Alan Frog
Brooke McCarter - Paul

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Box Office and Critical Importance

The Lost Boys performed well at the box office grossing over $32 million at the US box office which was a strong performance for a horror movie especially as it was R rated.

It won a Saturn Award for Best Horror Film in 1987. The film was part of a postmodern trend to transplant the European folklore of vampires into the new world that included 1987's western-gothic Near Dark. Such works paved the way for Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The Lost Boys was the first performance together of Corey Haim and Corey Feldman, who thereafter became known as the two Coreys for their performance together in a range of teen movies.

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Possibility of Sequels

Joel Schumacher made several attempts at a sequel during the 1990s. At one point a possible remake by the title of Lost Girls was mooted, but it never saw the light of day. An uncredited script for Lost Boys 2 has been circulating ever since the late 1980s. It's unknown if the script was a legitimate attempt at a sequel, or who wrote it. There has been some speculation that it might have been Joss Whedon due to two interesting coincidences. First, there was a biker chick vampire by the name of Angel. In the script for the Buffy pilot, Angel was going to be a biker. Also the mayor of Santa Carla (Al U. Card) was set up as a possible villain in a third movie. This closely mirrors the way that the mayor of Sunnydale was slowly introduced in Buffy.

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Soundtrack

The soundtrack contains a number of notable songs, including "Good Times", a duet between INXS and former Cold Chisel lead singer Jimmy Barnes which reached number 1 on the Australian charts in early 1987. This cover version of a 1960s Australian hit by the Easybeats was originally recorded to promote the Australian Made tour of Australia in early 1987, headlined by INXS and Barnes.

The soundtrack also features a cover version of The Doors' song "People are Strange" by Echo & the Bunnymen. The theme song "Cry Little Sister" was originally recorded by Gerard McMann - in 2004, the Lost Brothers recorded it as "Cry Little Sister (I Need U Now)" with the track reaching the UK top 20 and Australian top 40. Thomas Newman wrote the score.

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