The Lost Boys 1987 film. This is one of my first modern vampire films I saw at the theater. instead of the classic character vampire dressed in black cape and formal attire, speaking with Romanian accent.  He is presented in a 80’s “rock star” style and promotes the idea of vampires living together with us in our modern times undetected.

The story goes, Michael Emerson and his younger brother, Sam  move with their recently divorced mother, Lucy  to the beach community of Santa Carla, California. The family moves in with Lucy’s father, a cantankerous and eccentric old man who lives on the outskirts of town and enjoys taxidermy as a hobby.

Michael becomes fascinated by Star , a beautiful young woman he spots at the Boardwalk one night and who is in a relationship with David.  David (Keifer Sutherland) is the handsome and mysterious leader of a local gang. Meanwhile, in the local comic book store, Sam meets brothers Edgar and Alan Frog, a pair of self-proclaimed vampire hunters, who warn him that Santa Carla is under attack from vampires and give him horror comics to teach him about the threat.

Michael finally talks to Star and is approached by David, who goads Michael into following them by motorcycle down the beach until they reach a dangerous cliff, which Michael almost goes over. At the gang’s headquarters, a sunken luxury hotel beneath the cliff, David initiates Michael into the group, having him drink from a bottle of wine. Star warns Michael not to drink, telling him it’s blood, but Michael ignores her advice. Later on, David and the other, especially Michael, head to the train track where they hang off the edge of the track over a foggy gorge below where they all fall down into the gorge, but Michael loses his grip and falls down with them.

The next day, Michael develops a thirst for blood and impulsively attacks Sam. Sam’s dog retaliates, pushing Michael away from Sam and biting him in the hand. Sam realizes that Michael is turning into a vampire by his brother’s reflection on the mirror being transparent, a terrified Sam flees to his room with Michael trying to talk to him about the situation. After Michael retreats to his room, he begins to develop supernatural powers. He realizes he is turning into a vampire, and asks Star for help but has sex with her shortly afterwards. From comic books, Sam discovers that, since Michael has not killed anyone, he is a “half-vampire” and his condition can be reversed upon the death of the “head vampire”. The next day, Sam and the Frog brothers conclude that Max is the head vampire, and test this theory whilst he is dating Lucy. However, Max appears to be human.

In an attempt to force him into killing, David takes Michael to a bonfire, and instigates a feeding frenzy. Horrified by the sight, Michael escapes and returns home to Sam. Star arrives, and reveals herself as a half-vampire who is looking to be cured. It emerges that David had intended for Michael to be Star’s first kill, sealing her fate as a vampire. The next day, a weakening Michael leads Sam and the Frog brothers to the gang’s lair. They impale a vampire called Marko with a stake, awakening David and the two others, but the boys escape, rescuing Laddie, a recently abducted half-vampire child.

That evening, while Lucy is on a date with Max and the grandfather is out of the house, the teens arm themselves with holy water filled water guns, a Longbow, and stakes, and board themselves up from the attacking vampires. David and the gang attack, and are each killed. The Frog brothers and the Emerson’s dog manage to get Paul, one of the vampires, killed by pushing him in a bathtub filled with garlic and holy water, dissolving him in the process. Sam is attacked by Dwayne, another vampire, and squirts him in the face with holy water from his water pistols. Sam then shoots an arrow from his longbow into Dwayne which goes through his heart and into the stereo behind him, electrocuting him to death, causing parts of his body to explode. Michael then attacks David and impales him on a set of antlers. However, Michael, Star, and Laddie do not transform back to normal with David’s death as they had hoped. Lucy and Max return home and Max is revealed to be the head vampire. He informs the boys that to invite a vampire into one’s house renders one powerless, explaining why their earlier summation had been incorrect. Max’s objective had been to get Lucy to be a “mother” for his “lost boys”. However, he is killed when Grandpa crashes his jeep through the wall of the house, impaling Max on the wooden fence posts he is carrying, causing the impaled Max to fly into the fireplace, where he explodes. Michael, Star, and Laddie then return to normal.

The film ends with Grandpa casually retrieving a drink from the fridge, seemingly oblivious to the carnage around him. He then declares, “One thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach…all the damn vampires”, revealing that he had known about the vampires all along.