Lost Boys

          In my opinion, Lost Boys has changed the way vampires are viewed. Unlike like Dracula, Twilight, and other vampire movies; Lost Boys doesn’t portray the cliché version of vampires. They’re not pale, they don’t wear capes, or glow with glitter in the sun. They are young, stylish vampires who ride motorcycles and hang out where they don’t belong.

          The Movie stars Michael Emmerson (Jason Patric) whos a teen trying to fit in with the crowd. His younger brother Sam Emmerson (Corey Haim) who befriends two comic book workers Edgar and Alan Frog (Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander), who claim to be vampire hunters. While the mother, Lucy (Dianne Wiest) is caught up dating Max (Edward Hermann), owner of video store, who gives Lucy a job. After Michael is caught up with the wrong crowd, Sam and the Frog brothers must try to save Michael before its too late.

        The “Lost Boys” was filmed in Santa Cruz, California. Throughout the movie they mention the town of Santa Carla but what people don’t know is the town of Santa Carla does not exist. Landmarks such as the boardwalk, Grandpa’s House, Max’s Video store, And The Frog Brother’s Comic Book Shop are shown throughout the film which reveal its real world location as being close to Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is home to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, California. Most of the movie was shot on location in and around the northern California coastal community of the boardwalk such as the Lighthouse Point and West Cliff Drive. The cave the lost boys call their home is located in Palos Verdes, California near to the site of the “Marine Land” theme park.

           Lost boys was directed by Joel Schumacher in 1987. It is rumored that the original inspiration of the film came from James Jeremias, who caught upon the conception that Peter pan can fly, he visits Wendy and her brothers at night, and they never grow old. Supposedly, in the first draft, David (the leader of the lost boys) was originally Peter Pan, and other characters had names from the Peter Pan story as well. In the final draft, Michael and John were changed to Michael and Sam, and Wendy was changed to Lucy. Nanook ( Sam’s pet dog in the movie) was a notion to Nana the dog in Peter Pan. The Frog Brothers, Edgar and Alan, are named after Edgar Allan Poe.

 The movie starts off by introducing us to the vampires. It shows these young men hanging out in a merry-go round then eventually approaching a couple, but instead of talking they just toy with them.  After the situation gets heated, the park’s security guard throws them out. It doesn’t explain to the audience who these young men are, what they intend to do, or that their even vampires.

The introduction of the movie shows these two teens (Michael and Sam), their mother (Lucy) , and dog (Nanook) traveling from Arizona to Grandpa’s house in a town called Santa Carla. Later on in the movie it is established that Santa Carla is the murder capital of the world. As driving their passing people outside the boardwalk who look strange and stand out the director plays a song which relates to both the family and these strange people.