Tag Archives: Kiefer Sutherland

The Lost Boys – Sleep All Day, Party All Night After 35 Years

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Few better ‘gateway’ horror movies exist than The Lost Boys. By ‘gateway horror’, of course, The Lost Boys was the perfect introduction to horror for early teens. It’s also a nearly perfect time capsule, warts and all, for the decade in which it was released. From its ‘Brat Pack’ casting to its MTV rock-infused soundtrack, it immediately wears the decade on its sleeve. Fortunately, director Joel Schumacher’s horror comedy doesn’t feel dated despite its 80s roots. To date, it remains one of the best vampire movies made – a commercial and critical success that hasn’t lost its bite after 35 years.

The Lost Boys Put a Fun 80s-Flavored Spin on Vampire Mythology

Today, filmgoers – particularly comic book fans – hold director Joel Schumacher in pretty low regard. After all, he’s  the man who ruined Batman until Christopher Nolan saved the franchise. But before Batman & Robin, Schumacher had assembled a filmography that included Flatliners and Falling Down. With The Lost Boys, Schumacher delivered a vampire movie that shook off the cobwebs from the contrived Hollywood vampire mythology. By the 1980’s, vampire films felt dated and had been supplanted at the box office by masked psycho killers.

By the 1980’s vampire films felt dated and had been supplanted at the box office by masked psycho killers.

Along with its cast of up-and-coming young stars that included Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric, Jamie Gertz, and ‘The Corey’s’ (Corey Haim, Corey Feldman), The Lost Boys gave vampires an 80’s makeover. Forget about the Gothic roots of vampires from Hammer Horror and Universal Studios. The Lost Boys injected some fun and a ‘coolness’ factor into vampire mythology with its teen vamps. These weren’t tortured souls sulking in the shadows. On the contrary, Kiefer Sutherland’s ‘David’ and his vampire pack were hip, motorcycle-riding rebels. The lived n an abandoned hotel with a giant Jim Morrison poster in the background. Just like it’s tagline, ‘they slept all day, and partied all night.’ It was a direction that made the vampire instantly more appealing to its young target audience in the 1980’s.

The Lost Boys Was Cool Blend of 80s Pop Culture, Comedy, and Horror

One thing that makes The Lost Boys a standout effort after 35 years is Schumacher’s blending of the comedy and horror with 80s pop culture. That is, Schumacher confidently transplants the vampire from the Gothic era of Hammer Films into the neon world of 80s California. Though it’s hard to believe today, in the 1980’s, MTV played music videos. Not surprisingly then, a big part of the success of The Lost Boys was its MTV-sensibilities, both in its pacing and editing, but also reflected by its soundtrack. While not quite as epic as the Top Gun soundtrack, The Lost Boys soundtrack boasted some great rock songs. It included a couple of INXS tracks, a cool cover version of The Doors’ ‘People are Strange’ by Echo and the Bunnymen, and Gerard McMann’s appropriately creepy ‘Cry Little Sister’.

References to ‘Eddie Munster’ and ‘the blood-sucking Brady Bunch’ probably haven’t aged well.

Aside from its high pop culture I.Q., Schumacher expertly juxtaposed horror and comedy. The Lost Boys never slips into the more absurdist horror-comedy of The Evil Dead or Return of the Living Dead. No, a more mainstream effort, The Lost Boys focused on hip, snappy one-liner’s. Most of the humour comes courtesy of The Frog Brothers (Corey Feldman and Jamison Newslander), the inept teen ‘vampire slayers’. Admittedly, much of this humour is a bit ‘hit and miss’. Like the neon-80s clothes, some of the one-liners are groanworthy now. References to ‘Eddie Munster’ and ‘the blood-sucking Brady Bunch’ probably haven’t aged well. But much of the humour plants both feet successfully, giving the horror-comedy a sense of wild, escapist fun missing from most vampire films.

Schumacher Balances His Humor With More Traditional Horror

This humour is also well-balanced with The Lost Boys’ more traditional horror elements. Schumacher puts together several inspired vampire moments. Working well with the available special effects, Schumacher never overexposes his vampires. Michael’s initiation into David’s ‘pack’ is a clever blending of teen rebelliousness and monster imagery. Moreover, the beach attack on the ‘surf nazis’ offers some grisly fun. It’s also one of the better uses of rock music in horror.

Perhaps the best illustration of the balance of humour and horror comes in The Lost Boys’ climatic showdown with Sam and The Frog Brothers delivering some levity, while Michael and David’s confrontations gets the dramatic heft it deserved. To date, Kiefer Sutherland’s ‘David’ remains one of the better cinematic vampire incarnations.

The Lost Boys Remains a Fun Horror Film For New Audiences

Though its 80s fashion may prompt unintentional laughs from younger audiences, The Lost Boys’ staying power isn’t stuck in nostalgia. From its quick pacing to the apt balance between humor and genuine horror, Schumacher re-imagined the vampire for a modern era without discarding what made the creature terrifying for years. The Lost Boys remains a fun, scary movie that never takes itself too seriously. To date, it’s the rare older horror film that I would recommend to even casual horror fans.

Flatliners: A Good Day to Die …Then and Now

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We’ve always had an innate fascination with death. In fact, Freud himself once argued that we are born with a death drive – thanatos.  See what Marvel did there? Quite obviously, horror movies deal with death as it’s pretty much part and parcel with the genre. But horror movie have also frequently explored where humanity fits in the grander scheme of things. From Frankenstein to Re-Animator, horror often concerns itself with the consequences of our desire to control the natural forces around us. Joel Schumacher’s (The Lost Boys) modest 1990 box office hit, Flatliners, gave audiences a ‘Brat-pack’-lite take on this theme. Having ransacked the ’80’s horror catalogue in the 2000’s, Hollywood eventually turned its attention to the 1990’s. In 2017, Flatliners got its remake. Like the original, this Flatliners stacked its cast with several bright young actors. But how does it compare to the original?

Flatliners (1990) Offered 90’s Audiences Light Frights

Following his success with The Lost Boys, Joel Schumacher wasted little time returning to the horror genre with Flatliners. Featuring a cast of hot young-and-upcoming stars that included Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, William Baldwin, and Oliver Platt, Flatliners proved to be a modest box office hit. It was also one of those movies that sharply divided critics and audiences. Flatliners’ story of medical students experimenting with ‘life after death’ was hip horror-lite for the Generation X but less appealing for critics at the time. While Peter Fiaridi’s screenplay bases its horror around the confrontation of guilt and our sins in the afterlife, there’s not much depth to the concept. Instead Flatliners uses the idea to set up safe jolts and scares. And that’s the basic thrust of Flatliners – safe scares for general audiences in darkened movie theatres. This is fun popcorn horror that lets you walk out after the credits without feeling unsettled.

This is fun popcorn horror that let’s you walk out after the credits without feeling unsettled.

The strengths of Flatliners lies in Schumacher’s slick direction and the strong cast. Love him or hate him, Schumacher knows how to stage his action and suspense scenes with style. He also uses colour and blue tinting to give the characters’ visions a nightmarish quality. If the material is a little superficial, the cast is more than up to the task of elevating it. Sutherland brings the same intensity to his role as he did as Jack Bauer in 24. Both Kevin Bacon and Julia Roberts are excellent with Bacon’s ‘David’ representing the moral core. Oliver Platt capably adds some levity, not unlike his role in Lake Placid. It’s a fun and diverting movie with little depth or tension.

Flatliners (2017) Remake Offers More of the Same With Diminished Returns

In spite of its interesting premise, the original Flatliners was by no means a classic. In fact, this is probably one of those rare cases where a remake has an opportunity to re-imagine a concept. Maybe this time some of those deep philosophical questions might get a bit more treatment. Directed by Niels Arden Oplev (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) and starring Elliot Page, Diego Luna, and Nina Dobrev, the Flatliners remake hit theatres in September 2017. In spite of its potential, the remake fared even worse with critics, taking a critical drubbing on Rotten Tomatoes. To be fair, the Flatliners remake is nowhere near as awful as its Tomatometer suggests. Like the original film, Flatliners is guilty of lacking any genuine scares or suspense. Aside from a few cheap jump scares, Flatliners plays it very safe. As a result, the remake never creates any sustainable tension. Maybe one or two jolts register but Oplev never convinces audiences that things won’t wrap up nicely.

Most importantly, Ben Ripley’s updated screenplay sticks to the original’s simplistic ‘atonement’ approach for past sins.

Perhaps where Flatliners truly falters is in its refusal to diverge from the original movie. The ‘sins’ of the main characters are updated for time period – Elliot Page’s ‘Courtney’ is responsible for a car crash while texting that killed her sister. A few other plot points are altered here and there, but the end destination remains the same. Most importantly, Ben Ripley’s updated screenplay sticks to the original’s simplistic ‘atonement’ approach for past sins. No effort is made to delve deeper with the source material. This leaves the remake feeling like just a glossier update when there was real potential to offer a new twist.

Original Or Remake? Take Your Pick

Flatliners presented the rare opportunity for a remake to re-imagine what was a promising, if not underwelmingly executed, concept. In a strange move, the remake opted to make largely cosmetic changes. By and large, the remake maintains the original’s simplistic morality angle intact. The result is two similar and largely inoffensively diverting efforts that will have different appeals depending on your age. Younger audiences will prefer the updated Flatliners, while older viewers will enjoy the nostalgia of the original film. Neither film is bad, but you’re not likely to add either one to your favourite’s list.