The Lost Boys

This movie was...interesting...to say the least. It definitely wasn't what I was expecting. The title The Lost Boys makes me think of the characters in the classic novel Peter Pan which gives me the impression that this movie will have a sense of wonder and fantasy to it. That's true, in a way, since we are once again brought into the world of the vampires. Is this some way of subliminally telling us what is extremely popular in our culture when it comes to the fantasy genre? The fact that this is the third blog post I'm making dedicated to a vampire story makes me both happy and a little wary of what we have come to. Especially since the close second are zombies but I digress.

Anyways, the film wasn't as fantastical as I was kind of hoping it would be. In fact, that went right out the window during the opening scene when it showed this normal run down town that had a lot of biker gang influence and very obvious 1980's imagery. Let's face it....not much was very whimsical or naturally mysterious about the 80's. I could have done without a vampire with a mullet. It brought up some new views upon the vampire world, though. Before we were challenged with the ideas of what was morally wrong or right about sustaining one's existence on another being's life force. Now we are also confronted with the overall effects on a society with a group of vampire creatures within it. You can see this just by the overall stand-offish attitude that most of the townspeople exude by their body language or facial expressions. The environment itself has this rough and tumble look about it that you feel like is attributed to the gangs since the camera then pans to the numerous bikers that don't give a damn about what they're doing in retrospect to anyone else.

Later, you then find out that this particular gang also happens to be vampires. What is interesting about this particular group is that they take a complete laissez-faire approach to their status as members of the undead. Having their abilities and lifestyle is a form of power that is used to influence others to do what they want. They don't have to worry about the implications of their actions because that's what they are meant to do. For once we see vampires enjoying themselves for the heck of it...unfortunately for us humans that means using us as their playthings as the character Michael finds out. You know that he knows that they know they are stringing him along even though he semi-willingly goes along with it. On some account, Lestat would have fit right in with these characters but I don't think he would have liked it very much. Even though Lestat in Interview with a Vampire had embraced his sense of being and the implications that came along with it, he still approached situations with a certain sense of decorum. Yes, he played with his meals (that lovely scene with the prostitutes) and showed no remorse for completely dead corpses (waltzing with Claudia's mother) however he always upheld an air of class. The miscreant in The Lost Boys would sooner piss on Lestat's boots.