Joel Schumacher is a director that is either loved or hated. Hated mostly because of his Batman films. A hate that I neither condone nor entertain; their comic book films, no different from the tongue and cheek jokefest that is most superhero films nowadays and coming in the near future. In 1987 Horror movies were at their peak in the nineteen eighties and vampires were on a revolving door of used movie monsters during the decade. We already had Tobe Hooper’s mini-series Salem’s Lot based on a Stephen King short story and a few years prior to the Lost Boys we had Tom Holland’s Fright Night. However, there was a script floating around Hollyweird playing with the concept of the immortal Lost Boys from Peter Pan except with Vampires. The project was set to be directed by Richard Donner who had already gained success with The Goonies and was going to repeat the same ideas of adolescents with the Vampire genre.

Of course, like many things, schedules were conflicted and Richard was unable to direct the film. So the script fell into the Hands of Joel Schumacher (Saint Elmo’s Fire). Joel like most of his films wanted to change the themes of the film from the light hearted Goonies into a more mature film that blended humor with supernatural horror. The ages were raised and rewrites happened. The film was given a sexier feel to it, very stylized, more Miami Vice than Huck Finn if I can even make a comparison.

The cast consisted of young up and coming actors like Jamie Gertz, Jason Patrick, Kiefer Sutherland, Corey Haim and Feldman, Ed Hermann, Billy Wirth, Alex Winter, Brooke McCarter, Jamison Newlander, Bernard Hughes and the animal actor that played Nanook.

The film has become a classic with young people and especially today’s middle-aged nostalgiholics (yes, i made that up).
Filmed almost entirely on location in California except for the Vampire cave which was a soundstage. The film embraced and showcased a young vibrant and hip story of two young boys moving to a new town and becoming complete fish out of water outsiders to an environment and understanding that is completely foreign to them. If you thought fitting in was bad enough, imagine trying to fit in as a young man with the next person possibly being a face ripping vampire.

I remember not only the concert at the boardwalk, motorcycle chase scene and the iconic bonfire scene. But, the one  memory that is easily triggered is of the Soundtrack. The soundtrack  rocked but, everyone only remembers Tim Capello’s shirtless saxophone cover of “I Still Believe” and the main theme, “Cry Little Sister” by Gerard McMahon. Other things to appreciate is the way it’s filmed. I’ve always liked Schumacher films for the way they look and the attention to mood even if there is some levity sprinkled about. Another example of this is his films: Flatliners (1990), Falling Down (1993), 8mm (1999), Flawless (1999), Tigerland (2000), The Number 23 (2007). 8mm being a very very good film.  Tigerland is also recommended.

I remember Sutherland and is band of vampires being one of the coolest looking gangs of white kids ever on film.

I remember Star being really Hot. I remember thinking “What’s up with the little kid?” and “Why did Grandpa let his family move to a town infested by vampires?” Was he that much of a drunk or was vampirism so ‘everyday’ that the locals were just like “meh” and desensitized.

The Lost Boys was released in theaters on July 31, 1987, peaking at to the number 2 spot at the box office and earning $32 million domestically with a budget of only $8 million. If you think about that $32. million in today’s market would make this a pretty successful film. A modest success like this would’ve spawned a dozen sequels and comic books in 2018. Look at the nonsense Blumhouse puts out and no one bats-an-eye.
That being said, Schumacher did try to pitch a Lost Boys sequel to executives but his proposal fell on deaf eyes and vacumm sealed wallets. I must admit upon reading his idea right now about the possibility of Kefer Sutherlands character somehow surviving being impaled on antlers and returning to a sequel revolving around a coven of female vampires sounds very intriguing. But, what do suits in hollyweird know? They know jack s#*+.

It wouldn’t be another 25 years or so that a sequel would be made; a direct to DVD sequel and it’s follow-up centered on the now adult Frog brothers still battling the undead in Santa Carla, California.
Vertigo comics, the adult themed extension of DC comics had plans for a Lost Boys comic book following Sam, Michael and the Frog Brothers in Santa Carla however, I never saw it to read it.. If you any of you have please leave a comment telling us what you thought about it and the DVD sequels.

Other than that, keep it classy and keep your fingers on the Rewind Button.

This past week marked the anniversaries of two classic animated films. The first being the R rated cult film HEAVY METAL based on the adult graphic magazine of the same title or originally titled Metal Hurlant in France.

It was August 7, 1981 and Heavy Metal for some reason was made into an anthology animated feature film. A collaborative effect directed by Gerald Potterton and produced by Ivan Reitman and Leonard Mogel. The stories within were taken from the pages of the source material coupled with new material.

The title sequence was written by Dan O’Bannon (Aliens, Return of the Living Dead). The story “Harry Canyon” was written by Daniel Goldberg (Meatballs, Feds, Stripes) and Len Blum (Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone); with the voices of John Candy and Richard Romanus. Den was directed by Robert Balser, using rotoscoping, written by Heavy Metal writer Richard Corben with the voice talents of John Candy, Jackie Burroughs and Marin Lavut. My favorite story of the bunch is Captain Stern, directed by Paul Sebella and written by legendary comic book artist Bernie Wrightson (EC Comics, Swamp Thing). Voiced by Rodger Bumpass (SpongeBob Squarepants, Joe Flaherty (SCTV), Eugene Levy (American Pie), John Vernon (I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Airplane 2, Josey Wales) and Music by Cheap Trick. B-17 written by Dan O’Bannon. So Beautiful So Dangerous written by Angus Mckie who wrote and illustrated the story originally for Heavy Metal magazine. The final story is “Taarna”, an original story by Daniel Goldberg and Len Blum; inspired by Moebius’ Arzach stories.

The release grossed nearly $20,000,000 in spite of critics dismissing the film (like Suicide Squad). Prior to official release on VHS and Laserdisc in 1996, the film was re-released to 54 theaters on March 8, 1996 taking in $550,000. The subsequent home video release moved over one million units. The film was released on Blue-ray Disc on February 1, 2011 as a Best Buy exclusive and it was later released everywhere on June 14.

The first sequel, titled Heavy Metal 2000, was released in 2000. A second sequel has been in various stages of development since, in other words who knows.

Second is TRANSFORMERS: the Movie. Released in North America on August 8, 1986 and in the UK on December 5, 1986. The film was co-produced and directed by Nelson Shin, who produced the originalTransformers television series, and features the voices of Eric Idle (Monty Python), Judd Nelson (Breakfast Club), Leonard Nimoy (Star Trek), Casey Kasem (Top 10 radio), Robert Stack (Airplane, Unsolved Mysteries), Lionel Stander, John Moschitta, Jr. (Micro Machines), Peter Cullen and Frank Welker. It also marked the final roles for both Orson Welles (Citizen KANE, Touch of Evil), who died the year before its release, and Scatman Crothers (Coonskin, The Shining), who died months after its release.

The story takes place in 2005, 20 years after the events of the TV series’ second season and serves to bridge into the third season. Yadda Yadda Yadda, you know who dies. The whinny one is the chosen one. Bad guy becomes even more super powered henchmen for Galactus… I mean Unicron. Autobots go here and then go there. Lazers. Lazers. Big fight. Boss Battle. Big Win. Explosions. Happy Happy. Killer Soundtrack, although not better than Heavy Metal’s. The End.

The film was released on 990 screens in the United States and grossed $1,778,559 on its opening weekend. It opened in 14th place behind “About Last Night” (great movie) which had been in theaters for six weeks at the time. The film’s final box office gross was $5,849,647 which made it the 99th highest-grossing movie of 1986.

So if you ask me, just watch HEAVY METAL.

Stay cool and keep your memories alive and your fingers on that damn rewind button.