Saturday with the Kids - The Lost Boys (1987) / The Monster Squad (1987)
When I watch “The Lost Boys” (1987), I’m immediately hooked
and just grin all the way through it. I guess, to me, “The Lost Boys” is like
comfort food. It’s like a nice cheesecake that I revel as I go through it. When
I see Haim in this—while I realize during its making he was introduced perhaps
to many of the demons the haunted him the rest of his life—I just feel a time
warp back to when I watched “The Lost Boys” for the first time. You are
introduced to this incredibly unique setting of Santa Cruz, with its infamous “Murder
Capital of the World” moniker, boardwalk full of free people (a lot of young
adults, but certainly a pool of different kinds of locals, lots of diverse
culture, colorful, full of interesting faces), the music (the muscled sax
rocker without the shirt and his band killing it on stage to a rowdy,
rambunctious, alive crowd leaves a memorable imprint), busy streets (it seems
like the human traffic never lets up at any point during the day), and active,
thriving community constantly out and about. It makes sense considering the
beach and water but Santa Cruz just feels like a very distinctive place with a
personality all its own. And with Patric as the ideal candidate to join
Sutherland’s brood, lured into “joining” them thanks to his attraction to
Gertz, as Haim becomes associated (not always voluntarily) with the Frog
Brothers (Feldman and Newlander), the complications of eventual vampirism ruins
what should have been a fun summer before school starts back. And the brothers
had already seen their mother (Dianne Wiest) weather a devastating divorce that
left them broke and moving in with her father, the eccentric taxidermist,
Bernard Hughes (who could never get used to those damn vampires), as a resort
that seemed to be the only serious option to start over, moving away from
Phoenix. Patric is toyed with by Sutherland and his pack, tricked into drinking
blood, worsening as the vampire curse begins to take hold. Haim, obviously, is
worried that his brother will eventually attack him or that Max (Edward Herrmann),
Wiest’s employer and romantic love interest, could be the head vampire over
Sutherland’s pack (living in a cavernous dwelling, mentioning that it was a
collapsed ornate hotel in parts). Schumacher uses headlights a lot to tell us
Sutherland’s pack are there, and there are plenty of POV where they rip away
victims (and car hoods and doors) from mid-air, swooping down or flying around.
The camp fire slaughter where Sutherland goes full-on vampire will always be a
highlight as is Winter’s staking while upside down like a bat in the cave by
the Frogs. Hanging off the train rails, as Sutherland challenges Patric to let
go, nudging him to realize that he is one of them, immortal but must eventually
feed. The makeup for the vampires and the eye contacts I always liked. Patric
at the end, realizing that despite impaling Sutherland on Grandpa’s deer
antlers, is a cool “gotcha” moment when Herrmann has Haim in his clutches and
informs Wiest that she must be his wife and mother to a new vampire family. And
Bernard Hughes’ home has this “nature-themed” aesthetic to it, and in every
room, on every wall, in every corner; there is something kooky or odd. It is
fun to just investigate Hughes’ house for something else outré.
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| Mummy from The Monster Squad |
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| Gillman from The Monster Squad |
Saturday afternoon was a wonderful viewing of “The Lost Boys”
(1987), having only watched one other time a couple years back since I used to
have it on constantly as a youth, especially in the late 80s and early 90s.
Besides when I first bought the Special Edition of “The Monster Squad” (1987)
at 2008, I had only revisited it for October a few years ago, too. Exercises in
style over substance, with cult followings (both films were on heavy rotation
when I was a kid), “The Lost Boys” was Schumacher operating at the height of
his powers while “The Monster Squad” had Richard Edlund lighting effects (that
amulet was an emerald dynamo) and Stan Winston monster effects (that Gillman
and Mummy were gnarly!). I mean you have all the Universal monsters in “The
Monster Squad” and classic Kiefer Sutherland as the coolest fucking vampire,
the spiked and long blond hair, swagger, charisma, smooth deliver and presence,
on his intimidating motorcycle in “The Lost Boys”.
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