I’ve been watching The Lost Boys since I was probably far too young to be watching vampire films in the early ’90s, and somehow it has only gotten better with age.
There’s just something about 1987’s The Lost Boys that works. The horror, the humour, the music, the ridiculous hair, the bikes, the leather jackets, the boardwalk and that absolutely enormous saxophone (iykyk). It’s basically a two-hour advert for everything that was great about the 1980s.
The film is about newly divorced Mum, Lucy (Dianne Wiest) and her two sons, Michael (Jason Patric) and Sam (Corey Haim), who move to the fictional coastal town of Santa Cruz. After moving in with their Grandpa (Barnard Hughes), Michael and Sam slowly discover that there’s a reason why Santa Cruz has the highest murder rate in America… vampires!
This is one of the late great Joel Schumacher’s best films, which is not to say he didn’t make plenty of great films afterwards (Falling Down, Flatliners, Phone Booth… errr, Batman & Robin?… no?). But The Lost Boys feels like one of those movies where everything came together perfectly. The film looks incredible, with Schumacher and cinematographer Michael Chapman turning Santa Carla (in real life, Santa Cruz, California) into this strange mix of bright neon, horror and comedy.
Sure, beyond the obvious Peter Pan reference there’s a bunch of subtext here, like using vampires as a metaphor for the anxieties of broken homes and the hidden dangers of counterculture. Or Micheal’s vampiric transformation as a metaphor for drug abuse. Buuuuuuut, it’s almost too over the top as a film to look too deeply into the hidden meaning of it all. In the words of Basil Exposition… “I suggest you don’t worry about those things and just enjoy yourself”.
It’s also impossible to separate The Lost Boys from its soundtrack, from Cry Little Sister to People Are Strange, the music isn’t just sitting in the background, it’s part of the identity of the film right from the start. Even Tim Cappello’s completely unhinged performance on the boardwalk has become one of those scenes that you simply can’t imagine the film without. It’s stylish, funny and just a little bit ridiculous, which pretty much sums up The Lost Boys perfectly.
It also sits in that brilliant middle ground between horror and comedy, it’s got some genuinely nasty moments and some iconic vampire imagery, but it’s never so serious that it forgets to have fun. The Frog Brothers (Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander) are basically comic-book characters dropped into a vampire movie, Grandpa is hilarious, and the whole thing is packed with one-liners and weird little moments. It’s a horror film, but it’s also a coming-of-age movie, a teen comedy and an ’80s music video rolled into one.
Then there are the two Coreys. For a certain generation, Corey Haim and Corey Feldman weren’t just actors in The Lost Boys, they were the “Two Coreys”, a genuine pop-culture phenomenon. Their friendship and later films together turned them into one of the most recognisable young duos of the period, and The Lost Boys arguably captures them at their best. Haim is the more grounded Sam, while Feldman’s Edgar Frog is gloriously over-the-top, and the two of them bouncing off each other is a huge part of what makes the film so much fun.
And then you’ve got Kiefer Sutherland as David. It’s difficult to imagine anyone else making the character work quite as well. He could have easily just been another over the top ’80s vampire, but Sutherland gives David this mixture of charm, menace and sadness that makes him instantly memorable. The Lost Boys was a massive stepping stone for him, and it’s easy to see why. He absolutely owns the screen whenever he’s around. Jason Patric as Michael also delivers a great performance, earning him leading-man/heartthrob status amongst a new generation of young 80s actors. Despite his steady body of work since then, I’ve always wondered why Jason wasn’t a bigger deal over the years since The Lost Boys.
Video
The good news is that Warner Bros. hasn’t simply taken the old Blu-ray master, given it a bit of HDR and called it a day. This release uses a new 4K restoration, scanned from the original 35mm camera negative and presented in 2160p at 2.40:1 aspect ratio with HDR10. And the difference from the previous 1080p Blu-ray is substantial… because it looks fantastic.
The biggest improvement here I’d say is the colour. The old 1080p Blu-ray had a noticeably murky, slightly washed-out appearance, whereas the 4K disc brings back the richness that cinematographer Michael Chapman’s lighting deserves. The blues, reds and neon lights of the boardwalk really pop, while the darker scenes retain much better shadow detail. Skin tones are also much healthier and more natural than they were on the older disc (something I find in just about all 4K upgrades that are done properly). When you’re watching it on a good OLED TV, the inky blacks really help deliver an extra filmic look that I’ve never experienced before this viewing. The film grain is still there too, and importantly it doesn’t look like it’s been scrubbed clean with aggressive digital noise reduction.
It’s also a great example of a 4K upgrade where you don’t necessarily notice the resolution first. Yes, there’s more detail, but it’s the overall presentation that makes the difference. The image has more depth, better blacks and a much more convincing sense of something that was actually photographed on 35mm film. Ever since I started ‘curating’ a 4K Blu-ray collection, I’ve leaned more toward older films shot on actual film. Sure I get the occasional new release, but as they were more than likely shot digitally, you can mostly get away with a new release on 1080p Blu-ray and it looks just fine.
There are a few minor issues. Some very bright highlights can bloom slightly, particularly in the more aggressively lit scenes, and there are moments where the original anamorphic photography naturally looks softer. But that’s hardly a criticism of the restoration. You’re seeing the limitations of the original photography rather than a bad transfer, and overall this is comfortably the best Lost Boys has looked at home.
This new 4K restoration brings this 80s classic back to life.
Audio
The audio is a slightly different story, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Rather than getting a fancy new Dolby Atmos remix, the 4K disc overlooked the previous 1080p Blu-ray Dolby TrueHD 5.1 presentation and instead opted for a newly converted DTS-HD Master Audio track. And honestly, it sounds great. The front soundstage is punchy, dialogue is clear and the occasional aggressive use of surround effects never feels fatiguing. It’s also a film where the music is such a big part of the experience that having Cry Little Sister filling the room at the beginning in surround sound is half the fun anyway.
Extras
All the special features here look like they’ve been recycled from the previous 1080p Blu-ray release. However, there’s still a lot of fun to be had, with a commentary featuring director Joel Schumacher, plus a bunch of documentaries such as; The Lost Boys: A Retrospective, Inside the Vampire’s Cave, Vamping Out: The Undead Creations of Greg Cannom, and A World of Vampires. Plus the usual trailers and music videos.
The last time I watched The Lost Boys before this 4K release was the old 1080p Blu-ray at a holiday home in Scarborough. There’s something about watching The Lost Boys at the seaside, stick it on after a day at the coast and it just feels… right. Even better if there’s a slightly cheap-looking fairground somewhere nearby, lol.
This 4K release understands what makes the film special, it doesn’t try to modernise it or clean away its ’80s character. After all these years, it’s still one of the coolest vampire films ever made, and this 4K release finally gives it the home cinema presentation it deserves.
Author: Arron, Marketing Department
