LOST BOYS: THE TRIBE - Blu-ray review

"Never grow old. Never die. Never know fear again."

Before becoming bitter enemies on their controversial reality series "The Two Coreys" on A&E, former best friends Corey Feldman and Corey Haim made movie magic together during the late 1980s and early 1990s. They've co-starred in a number of films including "License to Drive" (1988)," Dream a Little Dream" (1989), "Blown Away" (1992), and "National Lampoon's Last Resort" (1994), but their most memorable team-up is their first--1987's "The Lost Boys."

Besides being Kiefer Sutherland's breakout film that launched his career into stardom, "The Lost Boys" has risen to cult status over the years and many (myself included) consider it to be one of the best vampire films of all time. Even though it's somewhat dated by today's standards, it still has this fun factor about it that makes it an entertaining movie to watch. In fact, I had the pleasure of seeing it again on Blu-ray recently and I enjoyed every minute of it. Anyone who grew up in the 80s should love the retro music and fashion--as they're definitely a blast from the past.

Rumors of a sequel to "The Lost Boys" have been circulating for decades and one of these proposed productions was tentatively called "The Lost Girls." While that one apparently had a stake driven through its heart before it had a chance to crawl out of its coffin, the dream finally became a reality with 2008's "Lost Boys: The Tribe." Unfortunately, sometimes it's best not to reawaken sleeping monsters from their slumber.

In "The Tribe," professional surfer Chris Emerson (Tad Hilgenbrink) and his younger teenage sister Nicole (Autumn Reeser) move to Luna Bay on the coast of California after their parents are killed in a car crash. With his sister along for the ride, Chris explores the town searching for a job as a surfboard shaper, which leads them to the dilapidated trailer of Edgar Frog (Corey Feldman). Unable to find Frog, Chris leaves a note and the two of them head home.

A little while later, Chris decides to go for a walk near the beach and meets Shane (Angus Sutherland, Kiefer's actual half-brother), who also happens to be one of Chris' former surfing idols that suddenly vanished off the circuit. At their encounter, the two start chatting and eventually Shane invites Chris to a party at a house on the beach. Chris isn't in the mood to go out that night and even thinks Shane is a bit of an oddball, but he mistakenly shares the party information with Nicole who keeps prodding her brother until he changes his mind. Long story short, the two newcomers unknowingly find themselves at a rave from beyond the grave surrounded by vampires, with Shane moving in on the beautiful Nicole...

The main problem I had with "Lost Boys: The Tribe" is that Hans Rodionoff's script is basically just a carbon copy of the original. I experienced déjà vu when the two central characters move to a new town, one gets involved with the wrong crowd of thrill-seeking undead and is turned into a half-vampire, while the other sibling joins forces with bloodsucker-slayer Edgar Frog to kill off the lead vampire to save his family. It really felt like all Rodionoff did was change the character names, strip away most of the pizzazz, and replaced it with excessive bloodshed, nudity, and sexual situations. But part of the first film's appeal is that it got along just fine without brutal beheadings and boobs. Well, the boobs weren't exactly brutal, but you get my point.

Director P.J. Pesce doesn't help matters, either. He anchors Angus Sutherland as the new head vampire obviously to try and cash in on his brother's fame. The younger Sutherland wasn't all that bad, except he can't compete with Kiefer's charisma and sometimes you could almost sense that he was reading his lines from the way he practically paused after every syllable. Plus with Pesce going as far as including a familiar boardwalk saxophone player and an updated version of the catchy tune, "Cry Little Sister," "The Tribe" feels more like a tribute to "The Lost Boys" rather than an actual sequel.

Another nitpick I have is that while it doesn't specifically spell it out, the film hints that Chris and Nicole are supposedly the children of Michael (Jason Patric) and Star (Jamie Gertz) from the first film. The timeline fits and they do share the same last name (Emerson), but that's as far as it goes. Since things like this bug me, I scoured the Internet and discovered the existence of a comic book miniseries called "Lost Boys: Reign of Frogs" that links the two films together, and from what I can tell it seems to confirm that this is true. Why couldn't we have two new and unrelated people? Isn't it a little convenient that the same thing happens to a new generation of the same family? In my book, it's a total copout killing off major characters without any rhyme or reason.

"Lost Boys: The Tribe" fails because it completely disregards the lighthearted nature of the first film and instead tries to retell the story while going down a much more darker path.

But if it ain't broke, don't try and fix it.

Video:
"Lost Boys: The Tribe" is transferred to a 25GB Blu-ray disc (VC-1 codec) and although it is a direct-to-video release, it still features a cinematic widescreen 2.40:1 aspect ratio. To me, it was almost as if the filmmakers had spent the money for one good camera and tried to scrape by with another poor one. About half the shots were pretty decent while the other half were riddled with so much noise, grain, and other ugliness that the end result is just a huge eyesore. If you were deliberately trying to win the prize for worst Blu-ray transfer, Warner Bros, be proud because you've won it here.

Audio:
The disc features three Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks (English, French, and Spanish) and includes optional subtitles in those languages to match. While the sound is the best part of the release, that isn't really saying much since WB didn't even bother putting on any of the lossless codecs. What we end up with is an average soundtrack that basically just serves its purpose. Dialogue is clear and the music isn't overbearing, but the overall audio is relatively flat with very little dynamic range. It most certainly could have been a lot better, but at least it wasn't terribly awful... like the video.

Extras:
Don't bad omens usually come in threes? Well, with a rather bland movie and downright embarrassing picture quality, Warner Brothers completes the hat trick thanks to a bottom-of-the-barrel assortment of bonus materials:

First up are two featurettes: "Action Junkies" (4:23) takes a brief look at the stunts in the film, and "Edgar Frog's Guide to Coming Back Alive" (5:06) features Corey Feldman in character giving a quick rundown on how to send vampires back to the bowels of Hell. Pay attention, his words of wisdom might just save your life someday.

After the featurettes, viewers will find the MIA Corey Haim in a pair of alternate endings. "Alternate Ending #1" (1:44) has Sam (Haim) tracking down Edgar at his place to warn him about a new threat, and "Alternate Ending #2" (1:53) is an alternate version of the first ending, except Sam is now wearing sunglasses after being turned into a half-vampire. Jamison Newlander also reprises his role as Alan Frog.

The only other bonus is a collection of four music videos. We get "Cry Little Sister (All-New Remix)" by G Tom Mac, plus three more by a gothic-looking band called, Yeah Whatever: "Downfall," "Hell Is Full," and "It's Over Now." Yeah, whatever...

The Final Cut:
I'm already boycotting Disney for making sequels and threequels (hey, it's my review so I can make up my own word) for practically all of their animated classics. They've taken the path of the dark side by exploiting their untouchable films just for the sole purpose of making a quick buck. It's sad, disappointing, and not to mention cheap.

But now with Warner Bros. jumping on the bandwagon with "Lost Boys: The Tribe," I'm wondering why it is that I write reviews instead of penning scripts. I mean, if all it takes is to go through a studio's back catalogue, locate a hit movie, use the same basic screenplay but change a few names and strip away most of the coolness... then where do I sign up? I'd love to write "The Shawshank Redemption 2: I'm a Freeman." Get it? No wait, I guess I should check and see if Tim Robbins even has a brother first.