The Tribe - Lost Boys 2

Directed by: P J Pesce

Starring: Corey Feldman, Corey Haim, Autumn Reeser, Tad Hilgenbrink, Tom Savini, Angus Sutherland, Jamison Newlander, Gabrielle Rose, Moneca Delain, Sarah Smyth, Ildiko Ferenczi & Mike Witherington

Synopsis

The Tribe is set in the shady surf city of Luna Bay, California, where vampires have reign over the frightened inhabitants. Chris Emerson (Hilgenbrink) and his younger sister, Nicole (Reeser) are forced to move here, after the death of their parents. They move in with their eccentric Aunt Jillian and become fresh blood for a tribe of biker surfers. When Nicole falls for the head vampire, Chris must locate and destroy him before his sister kills and there’s no turning back.

Review

There were two vampire movies released in the US, back in 1987; The Lost Boys which was a hip movie designed to appeal to the MTV generation and introduced us to the phenomenon that is Keifer Sutherland, the second was the underrated cool movie called Near Dark. This brought back the ensemble from Aliens in the form of Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, and Jeanette Goldstein and introduced us to Adrian Pasdar who is now in the popular TV show, Heroes. Near Dark was clearly the more cerebral of the two, dealing with the issues of living forever and what it means to take a life, to continue existence. The Lost Boys was just fun.

Fun is not a word I could use to describe the sequel. But first the positive; the gore is cool. The tribe of young looking vampires shoot the breeze by torturing each other, in a bizarre twist on Jackass pranks. Some of the FX is handled quite well, if not low key.

That’s about it on the positive front. Rather than shoot some of the more interesting scripts that have been knocking about during the last twenty years, the filmmakers settled on a dull retread of the first film. Instead of emulating the energy of the first, we are treated to dull actors, dull music, bland characterisation, and an unsuitable Canadian location doubling for a Californian beach front resort. At first it looks like the movie could be like Point Break with vampires, especially as groups of surfers are known as tribes. I could have lived with that. It would have been more original than what was presented.

The plot is a cross between the original and what seems like a fascination with the track Cry Little Sister (Theme from The Lost Boys). The scriptwriters seemed to think “I know lets make the vampire the sister this time around”. A rubbish love scene even uses a cover of the track. Whereas, the original contained interesting sub characters, especially with the other vampires, this movie seemed intent on filling the screen with instantly forgettable faces. Autumn Reeser looks and acts like any twenty-something actress in any TV show. Ted Hilgrenbrink, who plays her brother, is just as forgettable. Angus Sutherland, chosen possibly for his link to the actor in the original movie exudes neither the presence nor the force of his brother. His attempts at seduction provide unintentional comedy. He makes Haydn Christiansen, in Attack of the Clones look good.

The other link to the original is Corey Feldman, returning as Edgar (not Ed) Frog. He plays the part exactly the way he did when he was twenty years younger. This jars with the modernistic, bland approach that the moviemakers strived and succeeded with. The end credit scene is pointless and stupid and cements the idea that complete idiots made this film. Some reviewers will mention the “clever” and “subtle” references to the original peppered throughout. Mercifully, I didn’t and couldn’t catalogue any of these, apart from the times when whole pieces of dialogue were ripped from the original.

There’s not much more to be said. The budget was used competently but it doesn’t matter when the movie was made for fluffy people without a brain. One blooper was so huge, I wondered if anyone bothered to edit it properly. One character says that there’s no moon out and in the next scene, the moon couldn’t be any more prominent in the sky. That says it all, and I’ve said enough.

Score: 1/10 (Wayfarer)