Monday, August 11, 2008

The Lost Boys: The Tribe


"Who ordered the stake?"

Directed By: PJ Pesce

Written By: Hans Rodionoff

My rating: 3/10

Ok, Buffy can say "Who ordered the stake" and get away with it...Corey Feldman cannot!

I'll be honest and admit that I only rented this movie out of divilment and never thought for a second it would be anything more than something to make fun of. Unfortunately for me, it didn't fall into the category of "so bad it's at least entertaining". It took itself quite seriously and was just so heart-wrenchingly standard it was almost upsetting. However, if you're one of those people who just like horror movies and you'll enjoy nearly anything, then this will satisfy. It's got some nice gore and it has some nice vampire ladies for the boys! For fans of the original, this film will disappoint. The first movie was cheesy, yes. But it was delightfully innocently cheesy and it also had a genuinely clever script. This film is just medicority embodied.

The plot follows newcomers Chris (Stifler's Brother from American Pie: Band Camp, hmmm) and Nicole (replacement Mischa Barton from The O.C.), brother and sister who have more sexual chemistry than acting skills, which is disturbing. Apparently, according to interviews with the crew, these kids are supposed to be Michal and Star's children. This is never referenced and is just silly. Anyway, they come to town and are seduced by vamps. Chris must save his sister from a life of goth-hood. That's about it. Oh and the head vampire is played by Kiefer Sutherland's half-brother. I guess that could be called a nod to the original.

The Frog Bothers are now the Frog Brother, Edgar (Corey Feldman). The other Frog Brother is not referenced (until briefly at the end, we'll get back to that). Edgar is pretty much the same character as he was in the first one. To be honest, you hardly even notice that he's a grown-up now. He's still as deep-voiced and vicious as always and this character works, for the most part, but as per my first remark he really should lay off the cheesy slayer-speak. The end of the movie is a brief, pointless reference to the other Frog brother, and Sam, our teenage hero from the first movie which suggests some sort of mythology the audience is not aware of. Why? I dunno! Makes little sense! Why not just make a movie about what happened to Sam and the other Frog brother? Be sure to check out the alternative endings on the DVD, they make waaaaay more sense than the endings they used.

This is a silly little horror film, and all references to the original genius Lost Boys movie are purely cosmetic. Nothing sets this apart from any other straight to video horror flick...but curiosity killed the cat as they say, so if you must rent it (like me), don't get your hopes up too high.

- Charlene Lydon 11/08/08

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