A Cult Classic Kiefer Sutherland Movie Is About To Leave Netflix
Make sure to hit Netflix in the next couple of days and stream the biggest Kiefer Sutherland cult classic film before it disappears on April 1st.
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One of the best Kiefer Sutherland films, and arguably the best vampire movie ever made is set to leave Netflix soon. Sutherland was joined by an all-star 1980s cast to give one of the most chilling performances and look at what it meant to be a blood-thirsty creature of the night. The Lost Boys made its debut in 1987 and brought it one of the best soundtracks that have ever been concocted. Simply put, there is nothing to diss about the classic vampire film that truly left a mark on the cinema world. All vampire-based films that came after took creative inspiration from this movie. The Lost Boys is set to leave the streaming platform on April 1st.
The Lost Boys is a cult classic and truly a cultural phenomenon that has stood the test of time. Throughout all these years since it debuted, it became a main influence on the vampire genre. The bloodthirsty nature in which the vampires fed on people in this film is something that had been echoed in Interview with the Vampire, which came out seven years after this Kiefer Sutherland classic. Even the comedy vampire genre has seen fit to incorporate some of the influence that this film had. The Taika Waititi made vampire movie, What We Do in the Shadows, holds a joke dedicated to this film. The joke is the illusionary technique used by the vampires in The Lost Boys, but now being turned into a prank by the vampires in WWDITS. You can see a clip of this below:
The Lost Boys sees David (Kiefer Sutherland) use this illusionary trick on Michael, as he turns the Chinese food they are eating into maggots and worms. This is all a grand illusion to make Michael put his guard down, so that he in turn drinks David’s blood, turning him into a vampire. The above video is showing copying that same trick, only turning the results into something much more hilarious. David and his group of vampires are reminiscent of the community shown in WWDITS as well. As previously stated, the clear influences from The Lost Boys are evident.
The Lost Boys follows Michael (Jason Patric), Sam (Corey Haim), and their mother Lucy (Diane Wiest), as they move from Arizona to Santa Clara. The fictional town, which is based on a real California city, is home to a myriad of disappearances. After Michael befriends a woman, she brings him into a crew of vampires, though he does not know it. He is tricked into drinking blood from the head of the group, David (Kiefer Sutherland), and turns into a vampire himself. Michael must now convince his younger brother, Sam, to help him in stopping the vampire presence in this new town. A fun fact about the film is that the director, Joel Schumacher, was asked to change the name of the city. Most of the filming took place on the Santa Cruz boardwalk. Santa Cruz was turned into Santa Clara. The reasoning behind this is was due to the city of Santa Cruz having the designation, “the murder capital of the world.” This was a fact that was spoken in the film. With serial killers like Edmund Kemper and other killers murdering people in Santa Cruz, it got hit with that nasty nickname, which left the city not wanting to be classified as its given nickname.
The Lost Boys became the standard issue for vampire films, especially with the fantastic performances of Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Patric. The pair’s banter was equal parts intense and held a hint of deep care for one another. Even during the final fight between the two, David claims that he doesn’t want to kill Michael, but wants him to join them in their bloodthirsty pursuits. That same level of “brotherhood” was echoed between Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in Interview with the Vampire years later. The film still holds a “certified fresh” rating of 75% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an even higher 85% audience rating. The box office numbers for the film were $32 million, which equates to $80 million in 2022 numbers via Dollar Times. While the budget was only $8 million, these were some huge gains for the time. The film would go on to secure cult classic status in the years beyond.
The Lost Boys will be disappearing from Netflix on April 1st, so take some time to appreciate the vampire film that started them all. Without Kiefer Sutherland and his performance, there would be no Interview with the Vampire, WWDITS, Queen of the Damned, Underworld, or even Twilight. Go see for yourself why this film is regarded as one of the best in the vampire genre.
