What an absolutely brilliant film The Lost Boys is! The ultimate vampire movie? Yeah I think so! It is the same as horror movies, I prefer those that aren’t all about gouging eyeballs out but instead have a multi-layered plot that you can imagine actually exists - that is ultimately more terrifying and believable. That’s why The Lost Boys captured the imagination whilst instilling fear, it is one of those movies that you forget just how much you loved it and how scared it made you in parts. The point where the car roof was torn off and the occupants dragged out is one that haunted me as a kid and was no way going to ever find a place in this interpretation! What I love is that it is another cracking example of how darkness resides so closely with normal life, where evil walks the same streets as those that will become prey. Under the bright glows of the board-walk and the iconic fair that dominates, the screams of excitement mask those of terror. That giddiness from the buzz and intensity of the rides and the crowds blur the lines between what you think you saw and what you actually just did. It has an almost drug-like quality to it and that is what I wanted to portray within my take on this amazing movie. The rich glows of the fairground and the pier, the warm glow of the fire that burns on the beach and the beautiful sky all mask the much more sinister plot. Key details are placed within the scene, some subtle, others more disguised but all combine to not just pay homage to the film but to allow you to decipher what is happening. Where are the key characters? By placing the fire close to you in the foreground you could imagine that Michael and Star are stood just behind you staring into the flames, possibly. That is what I love about not showing the characters within my work and by positioning the details in the way that I do, it means they are there, just out of sight but you’re part of it, you’re amongst them, right amongst them. Another quality of the film and link to my work is that it makes you look at what is actually genuinely evil, and who if anyone is actually born evil or simply put under a spell, either by an individual or by life itself. It’s the battle to be set free, either yourself or a loved one, to win out and beat the curse and not to succumb to the demons even if you are bitten by life, or love.
