thursday 13: behind The Lost Boys

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The Lost Boys was THE movie to see during the summer between my junior and senior years of high school! People were obsessed with this Peter Pan reimagining, turning it into a cult classic, even decades later.

currently streaming: Roku

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1. the Murder Capital of the World

The movie was set in the fictional Santa Carla, shot in the real Santa Cruz. The town was once known as the Murder Capital of the World because of three prolific serial killers in the early 1970s. Over the course of 30 months, from 1970 to 1973, John Linley Frazier, Ed Kemper, and Herbert Mullin murdered 28 people in Santa Cruz.

2. Santa Cruz —> Santa Carla

Originally, the movie was set in in the real Santa Cruz, but the powers that be wouldn’t give the production team the go-ahead unless they changed the name. Santa Cruz was and is a family tourist destination, and they didn’t want the town’s reputation besmirched by the dark movie. Considering it was still known as the Murder Capital, it might have been too little, too late. That and the fact that famous Santa Cruz landmarks are all over the movie.

3. Lost Boys love

Every year at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, The Lost Boys is featured as one of several movies screened during the park’s summer movie series. The movies are screened outside, free to the public.

4. the beginning of The Two Coreys

This was the first movie for Corey Haim and Corey Feldman, beginning a string of movies starring the pair. Just a few months apart in age, they were too young to hang out with the older actors, so they bonded by watching movies at their hotel and going to the local arcade instead.

photo: The Telegraph

5. custom comics

Two comic books were created specifically for the movie, Vampires Everywhere! and Destroy All Vampires. The Frog brothers (Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander) work in their parents’ comic book store and, after realizing Santa Carla is overrun with vampires, discover the comic Vampires Everywhere. They use it as a survival guide to become vampire hunters. When Sam (Corey Haim) comes into the store, the two brothers try to warn him about the situation, trying to give him Destroy All Vampires so he can protect himself and his family.

photos: Fandom: Vampires Everywhere! | Destroy All Vampires

6. Atlantis Fantasyworld

The comic book store in the movie was a real store, but it’s original location was destroyed just two years after the movie release during the Loma Prieta earthquake. But through two more location changes, the store still exists in Santa Cruz. The current owner still carries the original issue of Vampires Everywhere!, the opening page of which is signed by the entire cast. He allows visitors to hold it and take photos with it for no charge.

Fun fact: I’ve been there, although to the previous location. Somewhere, there is a photo of me with the comic book, albeit then framed under glass.

7. Easter eggs

In keeping with the long-standing tradition of directorial Easter eggs, Joel Schumacher decided to leave a reference to St. Elmo’s Fire, so in Sam’s room is a poster of Rob Lowe from the film.

photo: Screen Rant

8. the sax guy

Mullets, chains, and tight pants… truly the 80s! The opening scene is a beach concert, featuring a saxophonist with all of the above. The sax guy is Tim Capello who spent most of that decade and the next playing multiple instruments in Tina Turner’s band. To keep himself looking ripped, he lifted weights and did push-ups during any breaks of filming of that scene.

9. cry little sister

The theme song “Cry Little Sister” became an iconic song, it’s gloomy feel perfect for the movie. While the entire soundtrack did well in the charts, this song has hit the charts more than once by itself. And it’s been covered or sampled by more than a dozen artists over the years.

10. Peter Pan and The Lost Boys

The script was based on the premise that Peter Pan was actually a vampire, which would explain why he never grew up and why he could fly.

11. not-so-kid-friendly

Originally, the movie was planned to be much more kid friendly under the original director, Richard Donner, with a story more in vibe-line to the kid-friendly, action-adventure movie, The Goonies. But after Donner pulled out to work on the movie Lethal Weapon, Joel Schumacher was brought on to direct, and he pivoted to make the darker version of the original idea.

12. let’s blame Kiefer Sullivan

For the mullet. Schumacher wanted David, Kiefer’s character, to have long hair, in platinum. Kiefer already had the long hair, so he dyed it. He absolutely hated it. He felt like he looked like a wrestler, the wrong vibe for the character. So he told the set stylist to cut it off, turning it into a mullet, which became iconic when the movie released. Kiefer has since acknowledged that he might be at least partially responsible for creating the mullet, for which he’s said he’ll apologize until the day he dies.

photo: Ranker

13. the iconic soundtrack

The movie had a pretty A-list soundtrack, with names like Roger Daltrey (The Who), INXS, Echo & the Bunnyman, and Lou Gramm (Foreigner). The director got these big names to contribute to the soundtrack by offering to direct music videos following the end of filming.