Get Your Reps In: “The Lost Boys” Turned the Cool Kids Into Vampires

The Lost Boys (1987)

The mid- to late 1980s marked a golden era for vampires in America. In a four-year span, the bloodthirsty undead invaded our suburbs (Fright Night), stalked our nightclubs (The Hunger), and bloodied our Western tableaus (Near Dark). But never were America’s precious youth more corrupted by vampires than in 1987’s The Lost Boys, playing March 14–20 at the Academy Theater. Of the aforementioned horror-genre mashups, director Joel Schumacher’s came the closest to a pop sensation, casting a slew of teenybopper stars (Jason Patric, both Coreys, Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz) and deliberately playing with the lines of post-hippie bohemian lifestyle and satanic panic. After all, it’s harder to tell the vampires from the cool kids when the sound of bangles rubbing on leather jackets is more prominent than flapping bat wings. The ageless undead might just look like mulleted teen bikers to an uprooted family (Dianne Wiest, Patric, Haim) freshly moved to a rotted-out NoCal tourist town decorated by posters of the community’s many missing. While the cast is fun, Schumacher is predictably at his best when The Lost Boys is a vibe check, aestheticizing vampires into an ’80s fashion ideal as they race their motorcycles down the beach, power ballads wailing into the night. Academy, March 14–20.

Also Playing:

5th Avenue: Butterfly in the Sky (2022), March 14–16. Academy: American Psycho (2000), March 12 and 13. One Sings, The Other Doesn’t (1977), March 12 and 13. Coffy (1973), March 12 and 13. Showgirls (1995), March 14–20. Cinema 21: Angels With Dirty Faces (1938), March 15. Cinemagic: Prison on Fire (1987), March 12. True Romance (1993), March 13. Sunset Boulevard (1950), March 13. Leprechaun 3 (1995), March 14. Clinton: Satanik (1968), March 12. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), March 15. Hollywood: Duck Soup (1933), March 13. Ghost (1990), March 15. Madeline (1998), March 15 and 16. Roujin Z (1991), March 16. The Crying Game (1992), March 17. Guru, the Mad Monk (1970), March 18. Tomorrow: Dreams (1990), March 16.