The Lost Boys 2 Review by Serena

Lost Boys: The Tribe Movie Details: DVD, Theatre Date, News, Trailers & More

The Lost Boys 2 Review

Written by: Serena

For years and years, fans had been asking for a sequel to one of the most beloved cult horror films ever made. First there was supposed to be a sequel with the surviving cast from the first film. (Something I was rooting for.) Then there was much rumored The Lost Girls, and lastly we all got hints of a potential Frog Brothers spin-off. As soon as fans moved on from the idea of The Lost Boys getting a sequel, we were hit with the news that a Straight to DVD installment starring both of the Coreys was in the works. We all knew this was a disaster waiting to happen, and even though it was obvious this film was going to be inferior every way, shape, or form…we all still were somewhat rooting for it.

So to improve my chances of liking this film a lot more, I decided to get together with one of my fellow horror geek friends and have a few drinks before putting on the most hyped up direct to DVD sequel ever made. I went in with zero expectations and I thought maybe…just maybe the film would not be a total catastrophe. So was the movie as bad it as looks? No…in fact…it was much worse than I had ever anticipated it would be.

The film “cleverly” starts out with a brother and sister (who could possibly have incestuous tendencies) named Chris and Nicole (played by Tad Hilgenbrink and Autumn Reeser) moving to California to stay with their crazy aunt after their parents have died in an accident. Unfortunately for them, they have moved to a place where blood hungry vampires have taken over. When Nicole becomes seduced by head vampire, Shane, (played by Angus Sutherland) Chris must find a way to kill the vampires before his sister’s transformation becomes permanent. To do so, he must rely on the skills of Edgar Frog (played by Corey Feldman) to make him into a “stone-cold” vampire killer. An unnecessary sequel ensues.

So before I take out my claws and rip this film to shreds, I will comment on the very few good moments in this movie. This was a significantly lower budgeted film than the original, and because of that I was actually fairly impressed by the special effects in this film. Surprisingly, I had no problem with how the vampires looked. Of course, they don’t look nearly as good as they did in the original, but they were fairly scary enough to look the part as a psychopathic vampire gang.

The opening sequence is also a great opening and everyone will love the cameo done by the one and only, Tom Savini. The blood, the gore, and the kills were fantastic…too bad those scenes were very few and far in between. In that case, it could have made up for a poorly scripted film with horrific acting performances.

The Tribe (I refuse to call it The Lost Boys 2 again.) has the visual and cinematic quality of a youtube fan-based video. I have no idea why the filmmakers and film studio thought this was the film fanboys/girls had been waiting for for over two decades. The Tribe is chock-full of embarrassing references that will cause many head smacking “I can’t believe they went there” moments. The audience is also treated to another slap in the face with a rock cover of “Cry Little Sister.” This cover would sound great in a bar done by a local band, but hearing it in a scene which is supposed to homage Star and Michael’s love scene from the original was again insulting. The film even messed up its own universe’s mythology. In this film, the vampires can not turn into bats, nor can they fly, and when they get killed, they turn into stone and then explode. (Yes, very lame indeed.)

Tad Hilgenbrink (a.k.a. “Stifler Jr.) who plays Chris, did not sell me as the film’s main protagonist. He seemed far too wimpy to ever even dare pursue the surfer vampire gang.

Autumn Reeser who plays Nicole, did what she had to do, which was to look pretty. The only major complaint I had with both these actors (aside from their atrocious dialogue they had no control over) was how they interacted with one another. These characters are supposed to be siblings, yet they came off too many times as a couple. There was a very unintentional “Sam and Frodo” vibe these two were giving off, and I found it very distracting at times.

Now getting Kiefer Sutherland’s half-brother in real life to play the lead vampire in this film could have been fairly smart casting if in fact Angus Sutherland was actually right for the part. There was nothing particularly scary about Shane, (other than his hairstyle) and this could be due to fact I could hardly understand anything coming out of his mouth. I had no clue as to whether he was disguising a surfer dude accent with a British accent or vice versa. All I knew is that I needed the subtitle track on whenever this “Ozzy Osbourne in training” entered a scene.

Lastly, the only reason why I was curious in seeing this movie was to see Corey Feldman reprise Edgar Frog onscreen once again. Sadly, I was not impressed by the role this time round. It seemed odd to see Feldman speak in the way he had in the original, wear the same clothes, and recite lines verbatim from the original film. His role would have been far more interesting if they had actually had Edgar grow up into a man still dealing with vampires, instead of making him into a caricature of a cool ass character he once was. Luckily, Feldman has one scene that is worthy of applause….too bad for the poorly written line that followed it.

Like Halloween:Resurrection, The Lost Boys:The Tribe is a sequel I am most likely going to pretend NEVER happened. In fact, this review would have been in earlier if it wasn’t for the fact that I was forgetting the film as soon as I watched it. A repeat viewing proved to be almost as painful as a stake in the heart. If you haven’t watched the first film, you will find this to be a fairly painless viewing experience. However, if you’re a die-hard fan of The Lost Boys, you will surely be disappointed because this film is definitely a slap in the face to fans. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

P.S. If you’re wondering what happened to Corey Haim’s character, Sam and Alan Frog…stays tuned during the credits and watch the alternate endings. Trust me…you won’t be happy. I’m still seeing red from watching those extras.

This is a community member review and not a staff member review. We appreciate and respect the opinions of our readers and are gratefull that they took the time to contribute it.