The Lost Boys

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Joel Schumacher directs. Michael Chapman behind the camera. Thomas Newman scores. Robert Brown cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Made its money back 3.8× over at the box office.
• 239 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 3Part of the "Lost Boys Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
• 4Directed by Joel Schumacher, shot by Michael Chapman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by Thomas Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Robert Brown shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Jason Patric and Corey Haim and Dianne Wiest carry the top of the cast.
• 8Marketing tagline: "Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It's fun to be a vampire.".
• 9IMDB entry: tt0093437 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 10Classified under 18 themes, including "small town", "california", "street gang", "parent child relationship".
• 11Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Michael Chapman

Original score

Thomas Newman

Editing

Robert Brown

Production design

Bo Welch

Costume design

Susan Becker

Makeup / hair

Ve Neill

Sound

Rick Alexander

Stunt coordinator

Gary Davis

Runtime

97 min · 1h 37m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$8,500,000

Box office

$32,222,567

Return

379% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

The Lost Boys (1987) ↗

Part of

Lost Boys Collection

The Lost Boys is a 1987 American horror comedy film starring Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman, Dianne Wiest, Edward Herrmann, Alex Winter, Jamison Newlander, and Barnard Hughes. The film is about two Arizona brothers who move to California and end up fighting a gang of young vampires. The title is a reference to the Lost Boys in J. M. Barrie's stories about Peter Pan and Neverland, who, like the vampires, never grow up. The film was followed by two direct to video sequels, Lost Boys: The Tribe and Lost Boys: The Thirst.

• 
  The Lost Boys

  1987 · this one
• 
  Lost Boys: The Tribe

  2008
• 
  Lost Boys: The Thirst

  2010

Also by

Joel Schumacher

• 
  House of Cards

  2013 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Falling Down

  1993 · ★ 7.4
• 
  A Time to Kill

  1996 · ★ 7.4
• 
  The Phantom of the Opera

  2004 · ★ 7.3
• 
  Phone Booth

  2003 · ★ 6.9
• 
  2000 Malibu Road

  1992 · ★ 6.9

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Awesome Monster Bashers

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  What Happened To Michael?

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  One Of Us

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Maggots, Worms and Blood

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Bad on the Boardwalk

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Frog Boys Back at the House

  Clip · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Wuchak2025-03-14
  ★ 7/10

  Several lost boys but, unfortunately, only one lost girl After a mother and two sons move from Phoenix to coastal town in Northern California, the older son (Jason Patric) gets involved with a gang led by a sinister guy (Kiefer Sutherland) while the younger son (Corey Haim) hangs out with two geeky vampire hunters (Corey Feldman & Jamison Newlander). Meanwhile the mother (Dianne Wiest) starts dating a shop owner (Edward Herrmann). Jami Gertz in on hand as the sole young female. Released in 1987, "The Lost Boys" is a stylish and hip vampire flick that expertly meshes horror and humor. I usually don't like horror-comedies, but this one works well. The horror is pretty horrifying (in a fun way) while the comedy is consistently amusing. The coastal California locations are superb. However, the excellent train trestle sequence was shot in Alabama (see below). I generally don't like 80's new wave pop rock, but the soundtrack is enjoyable, particularly the creative Lost Boys Theme, "Cry Little Sister" by Gerard Mcmann (with a catchy chorus sung by children). "Lost in the Shadows" by Lou Gramm is good as well. INXS, Roger Daltry and Echo and The Bunnymen also have songs on the soundtrack, the latter group doing a mid-80's version of The Doors' "People Are Strange," which is very close to the original song and actually sounds like its Jim Morrison singing. The sax-playing beefcake sequence features one-hit wonder Tim Cappello playing "I Still Believe." Speaking of beefcake, this zeroes in on my problem with this flick: There are multiple lost boys, but only one lost girl. Although Gertz is good-looking, she's always wearing a long skirt and so we never get a good look at her beyond her face (not talkin' 'bout nudity), with the exception of a campfire sex scene that doesn't work because it's premature and overall lame. Needless to say, a mid-80s horror flick without adequate females is scandalous. Director Joel Schumacher needed to take notes from the six Friday the 13th movies that had been released by the time "The Lost Boys" was shot. Oh, wait, Schumacher is, um, nevermind. While the movie was largely shot in Santa Cruz, California, the vampire cave entrance was 350 miles south at Rancho Palos Verdes whereas the train trestle sequence was shot in Bayou Canot, Mobile, Alabama. The boys were able to jump into the underlying fog because the river was only 12-15 feet below, although the movie gives the impression that they were way higher up. Interior shooting was done in the studio at Burbank. It's short 'n' sweet at 1 hour, 37 minutes. GRADE: B

  Read full review ↓
• Bri2025-11-26
  ★ 9/10

  “First come, first staked.” The Lost Boys (1987) is still a great camp classic with a stellar soundtrack, corny lines, and intense gothic horror comedy vibes. I LOVE this movie and it’s taken me ages to find it on streaming somewhere. This only reminds me I need to own this masterpiece. Even though it’s been a while since I’ve seen it, I still remembered all my favorite lines word for word. If you’ve never seen The Lost Boys and love 80s horror, then you might just wanna sink your teeth (haha) into this.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Warner Bros. Pictures

  US

Key crew

• Makeup ArtistVe Neill
• Theme Song PerformanceLou Gramm
• ProducerHarvey Bernhard
• Co-Executive ProducerMark Damon
• Executive ProducerRichard Donner
• Co-Executive ProducerJohn W. Hyde
• EditorRobert Brown
• CastingMarion Dougherty
• Production DesignBo Welch
• Art DirectionTom Duffield
• Set DecorationR. Chris Westlund
• Costume DesignSusan Becker
• Production ManagerWilliam L. Young
• Special EffectsDonald Elliott
• Special EffectsSam Marquez
• Special EffectsTim Moran
• Special EffectsDoyle Smiley
• Special EffectsBob Stoker
• Special EffectsLucinda Strub
• Special EffectsRichard Stutsman
• Special Effects CoordinatorMatt Sweeney
• Special EffectsFred Tassaro
• Special EffectsMike Wever
• Special EffectsD. Kerry Prior

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• small town
• california
• street gang
• parent child relationship
• vampire
• saxophone
• boardwalk
• single
• murder
• amusement park
• blood sucking
• seaside town
• pets
• 1980s
• brother brother relationship
• playful
• beach town
• cliché

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1987-07-31R
• Physical1988-10-18R· VHS

Also known as

International titles

• Que no se entere mamáAR
• Изгубените момчетаBG
• La generación perdidaCL
• Ta paidia tis nyhtasGR
• Izgubljeni dječaciHR
• Straceni chlopcyPL
• Izgubljeni dečaciRS
• Kayip ÇocuklarTR
• Jóvenes del malAR
• De fortapteNO
• Los muchachos perdidosMX
• Los irremediablesMX
• İtmiş GənclərAZ
• Os Garotos PerdidosBR