VOD Spotlight: “Lost Boys: The Thirst”

By Elaine Bergstrom

Among the legion of vampire films, a few stand out for their perfect blend of comedy and suspense. One of the best was The Lost Boys, a 1987 film that introduced the world to the vampire-hunting Frog brothers, Edgar and Alan. Surprisingly, it took 21 years before the sequel Lost Boys: The Tribe — again featuring Corey Feldman as Edgar Frog — was made. Now Feldman and Jamison Newlander, who played Alan Frog in the first two films, are back in Lost Boys: The Thirst. Here, the pair battle a vampire peddling vampire blood as a designer drug to create an army of the undead.

Screenwriter Hans Rodionoff, who was responsible for maintaining the consistent voice and tone of the two sequels, says of all three films, “I’ve always felt that two of the best things about the original Lost Boys are that it’s about family, and it’s about addiction. [In the first film,] Michael basically chases a girl, gets involved with a bad crowd and becomes addicted to blood. Becoming a vampire is a metaphor for drug addiction. It’s Michael’s love for his family that pulls him free from his addiction. I really wanted to return to those themes in The Thirst. The Frog Brothers are front and center in this movie, and it’s their relationship that drives the whole plot.”

Rodionoff stresses that he much prefers sequels to remakes, noting, “I will take a sequel or a prequel over a remake every time. Remakes essentially say, ‘We can do it better’ and with the Lost Boys, I just don’t think that’s possible. It’s one of those lightning-in-a-bottle films. Everyone involved in the original film was at their peak, and … you will never have a better David than Kiefer [Sutherland], you will never have a better Michael than Jason Patric, a better Star than Jami Gertz, a better Sam than Corey Haim or better Frog Brothers. It’s impossible. It’s like remaking The Hitcher. You will never top Rutger Hauer. Why try?

“The other thing about sequels is that, if you don’t like them, you can ignore them. I don’t really care for Episodes I-III of the Star Wars saga, but they don’t dampen my enjoyment of the original trilogy. Now, a remake of Star Wars … that would piss me off. Who are they gonna cast as Han Solo? I shudder to think.”

This Lost Boys film, like The Tribe, should sate the thirst of the franchise’s legion of fans for more vampiric thrills.

“Lost Boys: The Thirst” is now showing on Video On Demand. Check your cable system for availability.

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© 2010 Warner Home Video