The 1987 film, Lost Boys is a classic piece of genre cinema. It starred the hot actors of the day, like Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric and the two Coreys (Feldman and Haim). The vampire flick was filled with action, humour and class and put director Joel Schumacher on the map, before Batman and Robin took him off it.
A sequel has been in development since the first one wrapped and now it’s here. However, it wasn’t worth the wait.
Chris and Nicole are siblings who move to Luna Bay after the deaths of their parents. Shane Powers is an ex-pro surfer, like Chris and he invites him and his sis to a party. Nicole falls for Shane. Chris tries to protect her, and soon learns that Shane and his pals are vamps. He enlists the aid of vamp hunter Edgar Frog (Corey Feldman reprising his role from the first film) and a battle ensues. That’s basically it. It’s a simple story, but so was the first one, yet that one worked, whereas this film does not. That’s essentially because The Tribe lacks any subtlety. It tries to tie in with its predecessor, with a reference to The Goonies (another classic 80s film starring Feldman), has some mild humour, and also has original actors Corey Haim and Jamison Newlander in two different post-credits scenes. It also has a cameo by special effects guru Tom Savini (who played a vamp in From Dusk Till Dawn, and himself in the Simpsons) as well as a new version of the memorable Cry Little Sister song from the original.
However when the cast’s main stars are Kiefer Sutherland’s half-brother and the guy who played Stifler’s brother in an American Pie film, warning bells go off. Now that doesn’t necessarily mean they make the film bad. Unknown actors can do wonders in any film, but they don’t here. The charisma is lacking from the first film and it just feels like a straight to DVD feature, which it is. The special effects are OK, but the story lacks any charm and just makes the original appear in greater regard. It seems to attempt a modern update by throwing in unnecessary gore (including decapitation and intestine spillage) and nudity and sex scenes. It doesn’t help the cause at all.
Feldman is a treat though and doesn’t look like he’s aged twenty years. Avoid unless you’re an 80s junkie, otherwise, like so many sequels these days it may just ruin the magic of the first film for you.
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