LOST BOYS: THE TRIBE

Director: P.J. Pesce
Stars: Tad Hilgenbrink, Autumn Reeser, Angus Sutherland, Corey Feldman, Greyston Holt
Year: 2008
Rating: R

What could have been a serviceable "sequel" to Joel Schumacher's 1987 teen vampire hit ultimately falls in on itself under its own weight, via this direct-to-DVD sequel over twenty years later.

Tad Hilgenbrink stars as Chris Emerson, a celebrated surfer who's more or less trashed his career in the wake of the death of his parents, who were killed in a car wreck. As the film opens, he and his younger, 17-year-old sister Nicole (Autumn Reeser) are broke and next to homeless - so are therefore forced to move to a strange town where their Aunt Jillian (Gabrielle Rose) has an extra place to stay.

From the beginning, Chris and Nicole see things aren't going to be easy. Aunt Jillian's a bit of a nut, one who wants to charge them $650/month to live in the nasty, rundown cottage apartment she has on her property. Also, the town is equally rundown, seemingly unsafe and with no jobs; a creepy little coastal haven that seems to be at the butt-end of the universe.

But soon after settling in, Chris meets Shane Powers (Angus Sutherland - yes, another son of Donald's) - a celebrity surfer as well, who disappeared from the surfing circuit a couple of years before. Chris and Shane hit if off, and Shane invites Chris and his sister Nicole to a party the next night ... where it becomes quite obvious that Shane not only lusts after Nicole, but wants to make her his; he has her drink from his flask of "liquor" that evening - and suddenly, the next day, Nicole is sensitive to sunlight and has this rather unusual taste for blood ...

And a meeting with Edgar Frog (Corey Feldman, reprising his role from the original film) informs Chris of what's really going on - that Nicole has drunk the blood of the head vampire in town ... and if he wants to save her, Chris has to kill Shane before the half-vampire Nicole has a chance to make her first kill; one that will cost her her soul forever.

It's an okay premise, and there's nothing to outright hate in the film. But the direction, at times, is a bit ridiculous - with everything from sound effects to entire scenes being shot so close to what appears in the first film, The Lost Boys, that they come off not so much an homage to the original as they do a desperate attempt to show how much this film is like the original (untrue). The motorcycle racing scene from the original? It's here, only the cops are chasing the vamps now. The love scene between Michael and Star (Jason Patric and Jami Gertz) from the original? It's here, shot in almost the same way with Angus Sutherland and Autumn Reeser - only without any of the sensuality or atmosphere. Heck, even another son of Donald Sutherland plays the leader of the young, hot-boy vampire clan! Even the campfire/vampire scene, where - in the original - the boys are trying to entice Jason Patric's character to make his first kill by slaughtering everyone themselves, is remade here with Shane's tribe of boys devouring their dates of the night in front of Chris - in a much gorier version.

Which is something else the movie does - ups the gore and sex/nudity quotient, big time, possibly to show it's 2008 now ... or to maybe distract the viewer from the film's weaknesses. Even Corey Feldman, as the gravel-voiced Edgar Frog - who pals up with Chris to take out the bloodsuckers - literally finds himself quoting exact lines from the first film, in describing what's going on to Chris ... and even still has the exact same "Vampires!" comic book Corey Haim's character Sam had in the original! Sadly, Feldman is giving Edgar Frog the exact same voice and personality he had 21 years ago; the character hasn't developed a bit, and Feldman tries but Frog just comes off way to two-dimensional here.

But again - it all comes off as a pale, desperate attempt by director P.J. Pesce to virtually give viewers more of an update than a remake - and, mind you, a direct-to-DVD update of what was essentially a great film on its own. The performances of the actors are okay - nothing sensational, though Hilgenbrink and Reeser do what they can with the material - but all the humor and fun and rock-and-roll of the first film is missing here, with none of the characters being particularly memorable or fully drawn.

It's not a godawful movie - but maybe only one worth watching when there's nothing else on, or if you're such a fan of the original (like me) that you just have to see it. A brief - very brief - cameo by Haim, early in the end credits, makes the whole thing worth checking out ... but still, save this one either for when it comes on basic cable, or if you can't think of anything else to put on your Netflix queue . ** - Reel Mediocre