THE LOST BOYS (1987 - Cert 15)

I've been a big fan of the Secret Cinema, you may have seen a couple of my posts talking about them. They transport you inside the film you are about to see with bold set designs, actors and a willingness by the punters to garm up in fancy dress, fully entering into the spirit of it. I had noticed that there was a recent move away from much loved classics, and there was a desire by the organisers to educate rather than entertain. Although I loved The Battle of Algiers, it was a far cry from other events that I had heard of with films like Blade Runner and An American Werewolf in London. The fun seemed to have started to seep out.

Step forward Future Cinema, apparently 'the people who bring you Secret Cinema', and their California double header. Sponsored by the Californian Tourist Board, there were two outdoor screenings on two consecutive days, The Lost Boys and then Top Gun. Part of Canary Wharf was turned into the Santa Carla sea front, with ferris wheel and fun fair. You could have a go at canoeing, there was a army locker room, a briefing room, you could even have a go at a spot of taxidermy. All in all, they did good.

Anyway, the film I opted for was The Lost Boys, the second time I've seen it in the open air after last year's Somerset House double bill with Let The Right One In. It must be said that there are a number of films that I remember from growing up that just haven't stood the test of time at all, they become dated and are never as fun as I remember them being. Exhibit A - Big Trouble in Little China.  The Lost Boys does not fall into this bracket. No way.

It's one of those where everything seemed to fall into place, the stars were aligned. Everyone remembers Kiefer Sutherland's great vampire performance, it launched Corey Haim into the big time, people stood up and took notice of Jason Patric, there was even room for a bit of 80's favourite Corey Feldman, proper thespians Dianne Wiest, Barnard Hughes and Edward Herrmann help to give the film a little more weight, even the remarkably cheesy, dated (and pretty rubbish) theme song Cry Little Sister by Gerard McMann has a charm and somehow fits the film perfectly.

From start to finish it's great fun and entertainment. It scares, the vampire eye's view opening scene still packs a punch, the is a lot more gore than I remember there being, the massacre of some surf dudes have much of the claret than I suspect my younger self could have stomached.There are plenty of jokes in there, Grandpa (Hughes) and the brilliant Frog Brothers (yes, that was my outfit for the event) get the majority. There is even a bit of romance, with the previous winner of cheesiest use of music for a sex scene (the award now taken by Watchmen and it's use of Hallejulah). For this type of film it's got a plot that keeps you guessing to an extent with a good old fashion whodunnit/whoisit element. It also manages to stay on the right side of 80's nostalgia. Although there is cheese (take a look at the band playing at the seafront) it makes you smile rather than cringe. It's all perfectly pitched, taking itself seriously but with a tongue firmly in the cheek.

So it ticks all of the boxes nicely, but viewing it again I noticed something that the film cleverly did, playing to both parents and kids alike. It made parents ask themselves what they thought that their kids were doing when they stayed out all night. Dianne Wiest asks Patric at one point, 'You stay out all night, sleep all day, wear sunglasses in the house', is that not what we all did when we went out clubbing? As someone who did do that, I couldn't help but think that it would be cool if that was how vampires kept their cover. The film also looks at youth subculture and tells the viewer that it's ok to be different, in fact it's bloody cool. No scene better summing it up than the family's first drive through Santa Carla to the Echo and The Bunnymen track People Are Strange.

Is it really nearly 25 years since it came out? Amidst the flood of vampire films that are around at the moment, your Twilights and so on, it could easily sit alongside them. As exciting as when I first saw it, and as current today as it was back then.