Soundtrack Review: The Lost Boys (1987)

Posted by Jorn Tillnes

November 7, 2008

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110308 2149 soundtrackr1 Soundtrack Review: The Lost Boys (1987) This is a review of the motion picture soundtrack to The Lost Boys.

“With an immortal main theme and vampire power that will suck your blood and leave you wanting more, it’s pretty much the perfect vampire soundtrack”

The Lost Boys was THE vampire movie of the 80s directed by Joel Schumacher starring badass Kiefer Sutherland as the head vampire David and of course the infamous Corey’s (Haim and Feldman). Even Bill S. Preston Esquire himself from the most excellent Bill & Ted played a vampire called Marko. That’s how awesome this movie was and still is. I had the pleasure to watch it again recently and it still is as great as ever. How cool is Kiefer Sutherland? The coolest vampire ever, that’s how cool. What really made this movie one of the greatest vampire movies ever was the soundtrack which didn’t have the star power of Top Gun and Rocky IV, but a really great underground sound to it. It’s almost as Quentin Tarantino was involved with the choice of songs on this soundtrack. Most of these guys never made it to the big time, heck, you might not even have heard of half of them. Whoever these guys are or wherever they are, they became legends on release day. So let’s go back to 1987 and re-visit a soundtrack you can’t dismiss or put down.

Track List

INXS – Good Times
Lou Gramm – Lost in the Shadows (the lost boys)
Roger Daltrey – Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me
INXS – Laying Down the Law
Echo and the Bunnymen – People are Strange
Gerard McMann – Cry Little Sister (Theme From the Lost Boys)
Eddie and the Tide – Power Play
Tim Capello – I Still Believe
Mummy Calls – Beauty Has Her Way
Thomas Newman – To the Shock of Miss Louise

Thomas Newman

Oh yes, did I forget to tell you? Thomas Newman composed for this score, but a score was never officially released, but there is a complete version out there which includes 20 cues by Mr. Newman. His score is a great and powerful complement to the songs featured in this movie. I especially like the Frog Brothers heroicly funny theme as they come to the rescue on their small bikes. The only cue they put on this soundtrack is “To the Shock of Miss Louise” which is an interesting one. It’s the circus track when Michael and Sam enters the circus. A bizarre track to say the least, but it is a good and twisted reminder of the strange people out there and I’m not talking about the bearded lady.

Ode To The 80s

The opening sequence to this movie is simply awesome as the camera pans in over the small coast town of California propelled by the main theme of The Lost Boys called “Cry Little Sister” by Gerard McMann. Where do they come up with this stuff? It is heard throughout this movie in both instrumental and vocal form. I remember I used to know the lyrics by heart and surprisingly it still sits. You can’t help but sing on the chorus: “Cry little sister, thou shall not fall”. Echo and the Bunnymen, remember them? Me neither, but they sure had a nice little song in “People are strange”. It sets the tone of the movie, and already here you can sense that there is something big brewing. The Emersons drive into town while the camera switched between the freaks of the world and the soccer mom’s while Echo and the Bunnymen keep singing in their own twisted way “People are strange, when you’re a stranger” and nothing can dispute that and especially not for this town.

People might think I’m a crazy man, but around 10 minutes in comes possibly the best song on the album. What can be better than “Cry Little Sister”? I am not saying it’s better, because their styles are so different. I am talking about the ode-to-the-glorious-80s song “I Still Believe” by Tim Cappello singing it while flexing his muscles on stage. There is a party going on and everyone’s invited. While “Cry Little Sister” has more stayer power and definitely more nostalgic potential when linked to this movie, Tim Cappello’s powerful song “I Still Believe” is what made the 80s so great. It has everything a great 80s song should have and more. The powerful chorus, the rocking sax, the great voice, you can’t help but eat it all up and we’re not even 15 minutes in the movie yet.

Death By Stereo!

INXS has two songs on this album and the first one “Laying Down the Law” get’s its premiere when Sam Emerson (Corey Haim) meets the Frog brothers. There is Corey Feldman as Edgar Frog and “the other guy”. INXS puts it all together with a nice little powetrip tune which is a great intro to a very cool track they have later on called “Good Times”. I remember one scene from this movie which has me in stitches. It’s just too funny when Sam Emerson shoots an arrow through the vampire’s heart, and he get’s thrown back into the stereo. The stereo of course starts to play INXS “Good Times” which is just perfect. To end it all, Sam get’s to throw out a legendary line: “Death by Stereo!” Another great song is Lou Gramm’s “Lost In The Shadows (Lost Boys)” which is featured in the mad motorcycle race between Michael Emerson (Jason Patric) and the vampires, almost with a fatal outcome. It gives us a little glimpse in the rivalry between Jason Patric and Kiefer Sutherland’s character which is like a mini-movie in itself. As Lou Gramm says hello to the night, it certainly takes a darker turn, which means less vocal songs and more instrumental score by Thomas Newman.

Where’s The Love?

The Lost Boys soundtrack also have lesser elements like Mummy Calls “Beauty has her way” which is played when Star, Michael’s love interest, chooses to go with Kiefer Sutherland’s character David instead of Michael. Speaking of love interests, there are two in this movie, mom Lucy Emerson played by Dianne West and Max played by Edward Herrmann. Then there is the main love interest between Michael and Star. Where are the love themes? That’s the only thing missing from a perfect album. Even if the love themes aren’t there in song, there are so many great moments, some not even featured on the official soundtrack like the funny singing scene with Corey Haim’s character singing out loud to the lyrics of Clarence “Frogman” Henry’s great song “Ain’t Got No Home” to the campfire killings by the sound of Aerosmith and Run D.M.C’s “Walk This Way”. In the end credits we can hear the very appropriate “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” by Roger Daltrey. A perfect ending I Would say, but unfortunately it didn’t end there and the Corey’s came up with the idea of a second movie. Avoid that one, although Aiden’s version of “Cry Little Sister” is pretty good.

Conclusion

Foks, it doesn’t get much better than this and if you haven’t seen the movie or heard the soundtrack before, you should do so right away. The Lost Boys is my generation, the movies and music I grew up with and with an immortal main theme and vampire power that will suck your blood and leave you wanting more, it’s pretty much the perfect vampire soundtrack.

110308 2149 soundtrackr2 Soundtrack Review: The Lost Boys (1987)