The Lost Boys Turns 35

One of the most iconic vampire films of the 20th century, Joel Schumacher's The Lost Boys, opened in theaters 35 years ago today on July 31, 1987. In many ways, the film not only reinvented the Hollywood take on vampires but blazed a trail for a completely different kind of live-action vampire entertainment, a trail that would eventually lead to Twilight, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, True Blood, The Vampire Diaries, and so much. more. The film itself was inspired by another iconic vampire story, Anne Rice's Interview With the Vampire — screenwriter James Jeremias previously told Empire he had read the novel and "in that there was a 200-year-old-vampire trapped in the body of a 12-year-old girl. Since Peter Pan had been one of my all-time favorite stories, I thought, 'What if the reason Peter Pan came out at night and never grew up and could fly was because he was a vampire?'" and with vampires poised to have another resurgence in entertainment thanks to a new adaptation of Interview, fans are taking a moment to celebrate The Lost Boys on its anniversary.

The Lost Boys stars Corey Haim, Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, Corey Feldman, Dianne Wiest, Edward Hermann, Billy Wirth, Brooke McCarter, Alex Winter, Jamison Newlander, and Barnard Hughes and follows the story of teenage brothers Michael (Patric) and Sam (Haim) who move with their mother (Wiest) to a small town in northern California. Younger brother Sam finds friends in fellow comic book fans Edward (Feldman) and Alan (Newlander) while Michael falls for Star (Gertz) who unfortunately is in thrall to David (Sutherland), the leader of a local gang of vampires. It is then up to Sam and his new friends to save Michael and Star from the undead.

The film received generally positive reviews and was a commercial success, but its success has gone far beyond its initial release. The film has become something of a cult classic but has also had a major influence on not just film, but cultural depiction of vampires. It also spawned a franchise with two sequels and a comic book series and there have been several attempts to launch a television series rebooting the story, though as recently as 2020 The CW's reboot of the film was on hold once again.

Read on for how fans are celebrating the 35th anniversary of The Lost Boys and be sure to chime in with your own thoughts in the comment section!