🎶Cry little sister…🎶

Story: Brothers Michael and Sam just moved to “Santa Clara” with their mom. Their grandpa is weird, the beach is awesome, and the nightlife is… Deadly.

Scares: A bit? Kinda? More chills and suspense, but the comedy balances things out.
Splat Factor: Lots of blood, lots of vampire death.

Subgenre:
Year Released: 1987
Remake, Sequel or OG (Original Ghoul)?: Based – loosely, obviously – on Peter Pan.

Trick or Treat?: I loved this movie back in the day. Had the six sheet sized poster hanging above my bed. Was embarrassingly obsessed with Kiefer Sutherland’s David. And I’ve gotta admit, rewatching it now? I’m still in love with all of it.

There’s so much to love here. The mid-80s aesthetic. The killer soundtrack! The first pairing of The Two Coreys! All that homoerotic subtext-as-text! That sax guy! And a film that packs a whole lot of fun in a tightly paced hour and a half. Director Joel Schumacher nailed the gritty, empty promises vibe of being Gen-X in a world that felt like it had no promises for us. (Also see: St. Elmo’s Fire, set and partially filmed in Georgetown; gotta love a local vibe, yall.) This was horror movie as wish fulfillment, where everyone I knew – myself included – wanted to be as cool, beautiful, and immortal as these vamps. Or at least rock their outfits and pretend real hard. It still calls to anyone who longs to ditch the normies, and while things don’t exactly go right for our teen vamps, we’d do better, right? Sure thing.

It’s tough to pick up things about this movie that nobody’s thought of, so let me just wax poetic on my favorite aspects of Boys. Michael Chapman’s beautiful cinematography, Thomas Newman’s lush score, the production design, costuming, and even that 80s hair. Then Schumacher shoots the film with loads of bright lights and deep shadows, always keeping his characters front and center in the best way. Jan Fischer, James Jeremias and Jeffrey Boam created a fantastic screenplay with believable dialogue, scenes, and a funny but creepy build-up to a climax that I still adore to this day.

Speaking of? That cast went above and beyond, knowing exactly what they signed up for and dialing things up to 11. I mean seriously; Sutherland tears into the scenery as if he was born to play this character. And screw 24, this is his shining moment. And was anyone as angelic as Jason Patric as Michael, and Jami Gertz as Star? I didn’t think so. Special shout out to Barnard Hughes as Grandpa, for delivering one of the best final lines on film.

And yeah, the story was originally set in Santa Cruz, but the city didn’t want “murder capital of the world” as their moniker. (Even though they’d had several killers calling it home.) While I love the UC Banana Slugs, I think they could call themselves the Santa Cruz Lost Boys and rake in the merch revenue. Just a thought.

Score: 4.5 out of 5 pumpkins. Taking a half star off for the tacked on love story between Michael and Star. Their big bang scene feels like padding in an otherwise slick film.