Retro Spins: The Lost Boys

As I make my may through 2020's Retro Spins, I actually find myself having a really good time. There's something to be said about songs which can induce visual memories in your head from not only a classic film, but also a point in time of your life.

The Lost Boys is one of my fondest films of the 80's, and probably  my all time favorite vampire film. Corey Haim, Corey Feldmen, Kiefer Sutherland and Bill S. Preston himself, Alex Winter, all play fantastic characters in this timeless (cult) classic.

Sam and Michael are all-American teens with all-American interests. Sam likes comic books. Older brother Michael likes girls. But after they move with their mother to peaceful Santa Carla, California, their relationship mysteriously begins to change. Sam still likes comic books. Michael now likes ghouls. Just wait 'til Mom finds out!

Want a movie with horror, humor, rock 'n' roll? Then sink your teeth into the stylish, with-it horror-comedy The Lost Boys. Filmmaker Richard Donner, whose Lethal Weapon brought a manic twist to buddy-cop pictures, teams with director Joel Shumacher (St. Elmo's Fire) and producer Harvey Bernhard (The Omen) to give a right-now, razor-toothed intensity to vampire tradition in the must-see shocker packed with heart-pounding terror, rib-tickling laughs and body-gyrating rock from INXS and Jimmy Barnes, Lou Gramm, Echo and the Bunnymen and others.

Also bringing new life to the age-old vampire lore is a superb cast, including Corey Feldman (Stand By Me, The Goonies), Jamie Gertz (Crossroads, Less Than Zero), Corey Haim (Lucas), Edward Herrmann (The Purple Rose of Cairo), Barnard Hughes (The Cavanaughs), Jason Patric (Tough Love), Kiefer Sutherland (Stand By Me) and Dianne Wiest (Hannah and Her Sisters).

Stake out your evening's entertainment and thrill to vampirism at its hippest, funniest, scariest. Party with The Lost Boys! - Back cover of the original VHS

I'm noticing a trend with 80's VHS covers where they're making it a point to not only promote the films, but also the soundtracks. As if they were hoping it would bring with it more sales of both. Maybe it did. I don't know.

The Lost Boys soundtrack, a fan I am not. You may boast a timeless movie behind you, but the album itself is pretty much a dud. Also, let's take a moment and look at that album cover. Could it be anymore boring than it is?

There are a handful of songs which make the album salvageable. I mean, who doesn't love the theme song, Cry Little Sister with it's haunting "Thou shall not fall, though shall not die, though shall not fear, thou shall not kill..."? Lou Gramm's Lost In The Shadows also isn't bad. The Door's classic People Are Strange, as covered by Echo and the Bunny Men, is decent, but truthfully I'd rather just listen to the original versus a cover.

Speaking of covers, Roger Daltrey's cover of Elton John / Bernie Taupin's Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me is also decent, but again, just give me the original. Not only that, but come on. It's Roger Daltrey. Couldn't he have contributed something a little more than a cover song here?

I Still Believe by Tim Cappello is memorable, but only because of the scene from the film where Cappello is belting it out on the beach with his saxo(ma)phone. Anyone catch The Simpsons reference in that last sentence?

Around the halfway point of it, I actually found it to be quite annoying and difficult to even ignore. I wanted so badly to turn this thing off, but plowed through it in hopes I would eventually come across something so amazing it would make it all worth the effort. This never happened. Instead, it climaxes with Thomas Newman's circus like instrumental track, To The Shock Of Miss Louise, as if to mock me upon its exit like I was some sort of clown for listening to the whole thing.

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