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May. 25th, 2023
Prepare for Ludicrous Speed!
May. 25th, 2023 12:02 pmPart of my sparse posting has been my work schedule, dealing with Kirsten's cancer, and not having enough hours in the day. As is typical for a writer, complete ideas spring into my head just as I fall asleep. My muse is a jerk.
But I have a pile of notes for future posts, including more about the K'kree, wrapping up my series on HarnMaster, and more on my work in progress. I'll be writing about Traveller, Ars Magica, and why the San Francisco Giants might be why I need a pacemaker.
My job as a Crossing Guard goes on hiatus for the summer as of June 1st. I'll have plenty of time to write content for all y'all. As a reminder, I crave feedback. Tell me it's good, point out my errors, tell me I've screwed up, and I accept it all.
But I have a pile of notes for future posts, including more about the K'kree, wrapping up my series on HarnMaster, and more on my work in progress. I'll be writing about Traveller, Ars Magica, and why the San Francisco Giants might be why I need a pacemaker.
My job as a Crossing Guard goes on hiatus for the summer as of June 1st. I'll have plenty of time to write content for all y'all. As a reminder, I crave feedback. Tell me it's good, point out my errors, tell me I've screwed up, and I accept it all.
Reflections on The Lost Boys
May. 25th, 2023 10:58 pm(This was mostly written a year ago and updated.)
I’m writing this in a Santa Cruz, CA, hotel room a few blocks from the famous Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. First opened in 1907, going to the Boardwalk has been a rite of passage for Bay Area teens for decades. Going “over the hill” (the hill being the Coast Range) to spend long days enjoying the beach, the rides, and attractions at the Boardwalk - and let’s be real here, scoring weed - was a big part of my teenage years.
But the Boardwalk is also known as one of the more critical settings in 1987’s The Lost Boys, the best vampire movie ever made. I know that’s a challenging statement, especially given the long history of vampire films going back to 1922’s Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens and including such classics as Bela Lugosi making the definitive mark on vampire movies in Dracula (1931), or the even better Spanish-language version filmed at the same time as Lugosi’s film using the same sets. Look it up. It’s amazing.
But I’m going to make the case that while the character of Dracula defined the modern vampire, it is a definition rooted in Victorian mores and concerns. Dracula draining the blood of his victims leaves them pale and listless, similar to the end stages of tuberculosis, a pale beauty also celebrated in La bohème and other works of the era. Also, Dracula cemented the idea of the noble vampire, a character of means and refined manners. Again, this was a Victorian take on culture, allowing the threat to grow because a Count would never be suspected of such murders!
The Lost Boys subverts that meme and does it in the best way. Set in the fictional town of Santa Carla, the movie follows Michael (Jason Patric) and Sam Emerson (Corey Haim), who, with their newly-divorced mother (Dianne Wiest), are forced to move in with their eccentric grandfather (Barnard Hughes). A rebellious and sullen teen, Michael soon falls in with a group of dirt bike-riding punks who terrorize the Boardwalk. His younger brother Sam encounters the Frog Brothers, self-proclaimed vampire hunters who push horror comics on Sam to educate him about the threat.
I’m not going to go into detail about the plot, except to say that it is both funny and scary at the same time. What amazes me on every viewing is that while the visuals are terrifying, much of the dialogue is amazingly quotable and funny. It keeps the viewer engaged and interested in the characters.
“My own brother, a goddamn, shit-sucking vampire. You wait ''til mom finds out, buddy!”
The IMDB quotes page is filled with golden nuggets like these. The dialogue keeps the film from bogging down and reminding us that these kids are the main characters. What’s the worst threat you can make as a younger sibling? Telling mom! That’s not why this is the best vampire movie. So far, it’s a great vampire movie, so what makes it the best?
The vampires.
The Lost Boys is one of the first big-budget movies not to portray vampires as suave upper-crust types or mindless monsters. No, this movie shows vampires to be what they should be: predators. The vampires in this movie don’t seduce their prey or depend on deception or guile. They attack isolated targets and kill to feed. They are predators, and we are their prey. The empathy, the human connection you get in Dracula films, is missing here. They are only reasonably kind to Michael because he’s a recruit. Everyone else is either potential food or a threat to be removed.
Even in recruiting Michael, they show a sadistic glee in tormenting him, pushing him both physically and with mental games. Until he joins them, he is just another amusement. Kiefer Sutherland’s David is a magnificent example of what an immortal hunter would become. He’s scary in the way Bela Lugosi never managed. Not even the more blood-infested Hammer films with Christopher Lee managed to portray the casual dismissal of mere humans the way David does. He is a monster. He is an apex predator who cares only for his fellow vampires.
The movie ends with a fantastic battle against the forces of darkness and not one but two twists. As we fade to the credits, Echo and the Bunnymen’s cover of The Doors’ "People Are Strange" begins, and it’s one of those films you sit through the credits for, not because of the promise of additional scenes, but because it was so good.
Every year the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has a summer film series, with movies screened to an audience sitting on the beach. The highlight every year is, of course, the night they show The Lost Boys. Every year people dress up in their 80s-fashion best for the movie. Cast members have been known to show up for the event. This summer, we will travel over the hill to watch this movie with the lights and the sounds of the Boardwalk behind us.
And after the movie is over, we’ll hurry back to the car, fearfully looking up to ensure we are not the next items on the menu.
I’m writing this in a Santa Cruz, CA, hotel room a few blocks from the famous Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. First opened in 1907, going to the Boardwalk has been a rite of passage for Bay Area teens for decades. Going “over the hill” (the hill being the Coast Range) to spend long days enjoying the beach, the rides, and attractions at the Boardwalk - and let’s be real here, scoring weed - was a big part of my teenage years.
But the Boardwalk is also known as one of the more critical settings in 1987’s The Lost Boys, the best vampire movie ever made. I know that’s a challenging statement, especially given the long history of vampire films going back to 1922’s Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens and including such classics as Bela Lugosi making the definitive mark on vampire movies in Dracula (1931), or the even better Spanish-language version filmed at the same time as Lugosi’s film using the same sets. Look it up. It’s amazing.
But I’m going to make the case that while the character of Dracula defined the modern vampire, it is a definition rooted in Victorian mores and concerns. Dracula draining the blood of his victims leaves them pale and listless, similar to the end stages of tuberculosis, a pale beauty also celebrated in La bohème and other works of the era. Also, Dracula cemented the idea of the noble vampire, a character of means and refined manners. Again, this was a Victorian take on culture, allowing the threat to grow because a Count would never be suspected of such murders!
The Lost Boys subverts that meme and does it in the best way. Set in the fictional town of Santa Carla, the movie follows Michael (Jason Patric) and Sam Emerson (Corey Haim), who, with their newly-divorced mother (Dianne Wiest), are forced to move in with their eccentric grandfather (Barnard Hughes). A rebellious and sullen teen, Michael soon falls in with a group of dirt bike-riding punks who terrorize the Boardwalk. His younger brother Sam encounters the Frog Brothers, self-proclaimed vampire hunters who push horror comics on Sam to educate him about the threat.
I’m not going to go into detail about the plot, except to say that it is both funny and scary at the same time. What amazes me on every viewing is that while the visuals are terrifying, much of the dialogue is amazingly quotable and funny. It keeps the viewer engaged and interested in the characters.
“My own brother, a goddamn, shit-sucking vampire. You wait ''til mom finds out, buddy!”
The IMDB quotes page is filled with golden nuggets like these. The dialogue keeps the film from bogging down and reminding us that these kids are the main characters. What’s the worst threat you can make as a younger sibling? Telling mom! That’s not why this is the best vampire movie. So far, it’s a great vampire movie, so what makes it the best?
The vampires.
The Lost Boys is one of the first big-budget movies not to portray vampires as suave upper-crust types or mindless monsters. No, this movie shows vampires to be what they should be: predators. The vampires in this movie don’t seduce their prey or depend on deception or guile. They attack isolated targets and kill to feed. They are predators, and we are their prey. The empathy, the human connection you get in Dracula films, is missing here. They are only reasonably kind to Michael because he’s a recruit. Everyone else is either potential food or a threat to be removed.
Even in recruiting Michael, they show a sadistic glee in tormenting him, pushing him both physically and with mental games. Until he joins them, he is just another amusement. Kiefer Sutherland’s David is a magnificent example of what an immortal hunter would become. He’s scary in the way Bela Lugosi never managed. Not even the more blood-infested Hammer films with Christopher Lee managed to portray the casual dismissal of mere humans the way David does. He is a monster. He is an apex predator who cares only for his fellow vampires.
The movie ends with a fantastic battle against the forces of darkness and not one but two twists. As we fade to the credits, Echo and the Bunnymen’s cover of The Doors’ "People Are Strange" begins, and it’s one of those films you sit through the credits for, not because of the promise of additional scenes, but because it was so good.
Every year the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has a summer film series, with movies screened to an audience sitting on the beach. The highlight every year is, of course, the night they show The Lost Boys. Every year people dress up in their 80s-fashion best for the movie. Cast members have been known to show up for the event. This summer, we will travel over the hill to watch this movie with the lights and the sounds of the Boardwalk behind us.
And after the movie is over, we’ll hurry back to the car, fearfully looking up to ensure we are not the next items on the menu.