Review of The Lost Boys (1987) by Alison O — 13 Nov 2010

I was annoyed by Ebert's review back in 1987 when I was in clueless fanboy mode as a teenager who went to the theater for it 9 times (hey, it's still better than that Twilight crap), yet I find myself agreeing with much of that same review today. The film starts out well and Michael Chapman's cinematography is a big help for creating the atmosphere of its better scenes, but this film really devolves into generic 'final battle' mode in the last act. Some of the film's casting is even good. I will give Joel 'Mr. Neon' Schumacher points for making this a better film than the 'Goonies w/ vampires' wannabe that Richard Donner had originally intended to make before he got tied up w/ Lethal Weapon. I'd be curious to see a European arthouse re-interpretation of this film, maybe in neo-realism mode.

I still have a certain affection for the soundtrack.