The Lost BoysMovie Reviews

Poster art for "The Lost Boys."

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Avg. Critic Score: 63 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 80
    The New York Times |

    The Lost Boys is to horror movies what ''Late Night With David Letterman'' is to television; it laughs at the form it embraces, adds a rock-and-roll soundtrack and, if you share its serious-satiric attitude, manages to be very funny. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    The Lost Boys is a horror movie that's funny without making fun of itself and scary without trying to make you sick. [31 Jul 1987, p.86] Read full review

  • 75
    Boston Globe | Jay Carr

    The Lost Boys is schlock, but it's juicy schlock. [31 Jul 1987, p.34] Read full review

  • 70
    Washington Post | Rita Kempley

    It starts slow, but finishes fast with some clever plot twists. In the end, all is not lost with these boys. Read full review

  • 63
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    There's some good stuff in the movie, including a cast that's good right down the line and a willingness to have some fun with teenage culture in the Mass Murder Capital. But when everything is all over, there's nothing to leave the theater with - no real horrors, no real dread, no real imagination - just technique at the service of formula. Read full review

  • 60
    Los Angeles Times | Michael Wilmington

    Midway through The Lost Boys there's a brief scene that suggests the magic and power it could have had. This scene suggests a fable of seductive evil-but nothing in the movie is ever half as evocative again. It's more lost than the Boys: a glossy fiasco with most of the real blood sucked out of it. Read full review

  • 60
    Washington Post |

    The film loses courage (or imagination) and hews to the Spielberg school of climactic denouement, so that teen farce and special effects take over. By the time the thing has played out, that subtle scare/laugh mix is a thing of the past and you feel as though you just walked out of "Breaking Away" or Goonies. Ah well. Read full review

  • 50
    USA Today | Mike Clark

    Director Joel Schumacher, whose pastel color schemes vitalized St. Elmo's Fire, gives this a sensual, at times even erotic, sheen. And a few subplot issues - single motherhood, runaway kids, midlife dating - hint that at least someone involved with this project intended to go after bigger game. [31 Jul 1987, p.4D] Read full review

  • 20
    Wall Street Journal | Julie Salamon

    Maybe the worst part (there's so much to choose from) is the sight of a good actor like Edward Herrmann parading around looking like a demented quarterback, the shoulders of his suit jacket grotesquely padded. Mr. Schumacher has dressed the adorable Corey Haim in even weirder getups, jackets with pastel stripes and little outfits that resemble dresses. The vampires aren't nearly as creepy as those clothes. [6 Aug 1987, p.1] Read full review

  • 10
    Variety |

    The Lost Boys is a horrifically dreadful vampire teensploitation entry that daringly advances the theory that all those missing children pictured on garbage bags and milk cartons are actually the victims of bloodsucking bikers. Read full review


Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Scary '80s vamp film. Older teens only.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this movie isn't suitable for kids. While not constant, there are some graphic gory moments. One is a vampire feeding frenzy and the other is the climactic scene where the brothers defend themselves and their friends from attacking vampires. Killing of innocents are mostly implied. One notable scene features a hallucination of maggots and rice.
  • Families can talk about peer pressure. Why did Michael go along with the pack? Even though he later regrets it, what could he have done (if anything) to keep himself from falling into their trap?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Main characters are good children, brothers who look out for each other and their family. All socially deviant behavior (in this case, vampirism) has consequences (in this case, death).
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: Implied killing of innocent people, gory deaths with a lot of bitings, dismemberments, and impaling.
  • sex false3 Sex: Implied sex.
  • language false3 Language: Infrequent use of the word "s--t."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false0 Drinking, drugs and smoking: One reference to possible marijuana use.

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