Lost Boys: The Thirst

If you go into this movie expecting something that directly compares to the original then you will be disappointed. It's not The Lost Boys as you remember and if you are looking for something comparable to the original in terms of story, atmosphere or style then you're unlikely to find what you're looking for in this film.

What we have instead is something that feels more like a spin-off rather than a direct sequel. Following the now grown up vampire hunter Edgar Frog (who you may remember from the first film as the young head band wearing vampire expert and comic store dweller that befriended and aided Sam and his family in the original Lost Boys) the film takes on a tone and style to match the lead character's somewhat over dramatic personality rather than attempting to directly imitate that of the original. It's cheesy, the acting is oh-so hammy and more often than not so over the top you're really not sure if it's intentional or not, but it fits the character of Edgar Frog and is about what I would have expected from a film with a comedic supporting character promoted to the lead.

Feldman plays the character of Edgar Frog as a more exaggerated version of the character we met in the original film, complete with a comical gruff voice and over-the-top tough guy persona - it's silly, but it fits and the scripting often plays to the inept hero quality of the character. The vamps are back and retain the characteristics and appearance of those in the original, but they lack the character, personality and depth of Sutherlands gang and instead simply serve as somewhat two dimensional bad guys - perhaps one of the biggest failings and disappointments of the film. The supporting characters are likewise cheesy and ham up their roles accordingly, some of the acting is downright terrible (Tanit Phoenix), but it's passable and even borders on amusingly bad at times.

On the whole, it's not a bad film (or perhaps it is.. but in the right way) nevertheless, it's bound to leave a bad taste in the mouth of anyone hoping for or expecting more of the original. As a sequel it's pretty poor, as a spin off it's really not too bad.

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.

'LOST BOYS: THE THIRST': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

Corey Feldman takes the lead for the first time in a 'LOST BOYS' film returning once again as Edgar Frog. Jamison Newlander reprises his role of Alan Frog for the first time in this third installment. It's not the 'Frog Brothers' reunion fans were hoping for though as Newlander's scenes are extremely limited. It is nice to see them back together in action again, for what little time they are on screen together though and that's the highlight of the movie. As far as the rest of the film goes it's definitely disappointing. I prefer the second film to this one, although it's not much better.

The film opens with a flashback of Alan Frog being turned into a vampire. If you saw the second film you know this, as well as the fact that Sam (the late Corey Haim) was turned as well and Edgar was forced to kill him. Edgar is now haunted by these painful losses as we see through several flashbacks, using clips from the classic original. He's also broke and being evicted from his trailer. So when a beautiful woman ( the gorgeous Tanit Phoenix) shows up at his door offering him a job to rescue her brother from a gang of ruthless vampires he eagerly takes it. He recruits the help of a comic book clerk (Casey B. Dolan) and reluctantly teams up with a reality TV star and his cameraman (Joe Vaz) and the group raids the vampires' den where they attempt to convert a rave party full of unsuspecting victims into vampires.

The movie is about what you'd expect from a direct to video sequel. The acting, dialog, and over all production values are a little weak. I'm a huge fan of the original film and I think it's still popular enough, and developed a big enough cult following, that they could have made a decent theatrical sequel. So it's extremely disappointing for me to see one sequel after another turned out (so far only two but they're could very well be more) in depreciating value. I guess you might say it's better than nothing and like I said seeing the 'Frog Brothers' reunite is pretty cool. This franchise could have been so much more though.

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Who's the boss? Well the Frogs are back in town ... or something like that. This ups the ante on the "humor". Which also makes it move farther away from the classic that was the first movie! Frog brothers .. are they funny or not? Depending on your view on that, you will like or hate the movie.

The twist at the end is as predictable as most if not all of the jokes. Humor is in the eye of the beholder though, so as said, this is up to you. Don't expect amazing though and don't compare this to the original either

The cash grab that was The Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008) was never likely to set the world on fire but managed to deliver a watchable if a tad contrived bit of entertainment.

The Thirst follows on from the previous movie but this time Edgar Frog is our lead and we get the see the reuniting of the Frog Brothers for the first time since the original movie back in 1987.

This time our hero is recruited to save a woman's brother from the clutches of the vampire alpha who is peddling vamp blood as a new designer drug.

Much alike the previous film you'll find no surprises as this is justifiably straight to DVD stuff but it's a harmless enough vampire fix.

There was supposed to be a fourth movie featuring Corey Haim but after his passing in 2010 it brought into question its likelihood. Were now almost 8yrs later with no sign so this is likely Mr Frogs final outing.

The Good:

Corey Feldman

Great soundtrack

The Bad:

Hardly mind blowing stuff

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

They absolutely have to fit Cry Little Sister into these films wherever possible