I love The Lost Boys. It's without a doubt one of my favorite films of all time. A couple years ago, I saw that a sequel had been made, Lost Boys: The Tribe. I knew before I even hit the play button that this wasn't going to measure up to my beloved 1987 classic. That state of mind allowed me to watch The Tribe and not be too critical of it. Was it a worthy follow-up to its predecessor? No. Of course not. But I didn't expect it to be. Although flawed on nearly every level, I did find some redeeming qualities in the film. Now, two years later, yet another sequel has been made, Lost Boys: The Thirst. I watched it with that same mindset I had for The Tribe and , I'm sad to say, I was still very disappointed.
Lost Boys: The Thirst takes two of the most recognizable and cherished figures from the original and tries to turn them into the main characters. An idea that doomed the film from the beginning. Don't get me wrong. I love the Frog Brothers. I think they're two of the greatest supporting characters in movie history. Emphasis on SUPPORTING Characters. Neither Corey Feldman nor Jamison Newlander have the charisma to be leading men. Feldman's uber-macho voice was funny in 1987 when he was a preteen vampire killer. But now that he's grown, it seems so forced that it borders on pathetic. And Newlander's acting is so bad that I didn't even complain that he's barely in the movie.
Lost Boys: The Thirst gets some brownie points for trying to be original and not copy the first film too much, which is what The Tribe attempted to do. As a matter of fact, this movie does too good a job establishing itself as a stand-alone film. To the point where it doesn't even feel like it belongs in the Lost Boys series. Sure, there are references to old characters and even footage taken directly from the 1987 original, but to be honest, seeing that just made me want to watch the first movie again.
All in all, The Thirst is a big disappointment. Even if your expectations are already low.
