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Lost Boys: The Tribe (Uncut Version)

Rating: 1 out of 5 stars - A definite contender for Worst Sequel Ever Made
I have never written a review for a DVD before, but this one was so bad that I feel compelled to warn people about it. The only reason anyone should watch Lost Boys: The Tribe is as a lesson in film-making, to see all of the ways in which a sequel can be utterly ruined beyond any hope of salvage.

It is an apt (though unintended) metaphor for the film that it begins with Tom Savini, the legendary make-up and special effects man for countless horror films who has a cameo here, getting his head cut off in the opening sequence, thus eliminating the only person who knows anything about how horror films should be made from the rest of the movie.

Here is a list of everything that went wrong with this movie:

(1) None of the talented people who were behind the original Lost Boys had anything to do with the writing, producing or directing of this wretched sequel. The writing for Tribe is so awful it's hard to believe anyone thought it should be made into a movie. Hans Rodionoff should hereafter be limited to writing menus for fast-food chains. Bad fast-food chains. The directing is so emotionless and disjointed that P.J. Pesce should never be let near a director's chair again unless it's as a gofer to bring the chair to someone who actually knows how to direct a film.

(2) Everything that made the original Lost Boys work is missing from the sequel, most particularly originality and humor. Tribe has not even the tiniest spark of originality and is utterly devoid of the humor that made the original so much fun. The handful of jokes fall utterly flat. A good example of the difference is in the family members the main characters move in with. The original had Bernard Hughes as Grandpa, and he was genuinely funny and engaging in his role. The Tribe has an aunt who is never anything but annoying. Even Corey Feldman, who is genuinely gifted at being funny while playing the roles straight as he did in the original, is left struggling here with the banal dialogue the leaden script has saddled him with, half of which seems to be word-for-word repeats of his dialogue in the first movie.

(3) They're all too old to be "boys". In the original Lost Boys, the main characters were meant to be teenagers and they looked it as the actors playing the parts were all between 15 and 21, except for the youngest one - "Laddie" - who was 10. In The Tribe, the "lost boys" don't look the part at all because all of the actors are too old, the youngest being 26 and the oldest being 30!

(4) Bad casting. Tad Hilgenbrink and Autumn Reeser, who play the two main characters, are a big part of why this film doesn't work. If nothing else, they deserve Razzies for Worst Brother-Sister Portrayal Of 2008. If there is an absolute minimum that an actor can put of themselves into a role, both Hilgenbrink and Reeser fall short of that minimum. There is never any chemistry between the two of them or between either of them and any of the other actors in the film. And most of the rest of the actors never rise above bland genericness.

(5) Bad editing. Most particularly with the fact that Edgar Frog (Corey Feldman) keeps making references to his brother Alan but Alan Frog (Jamison Newlander) does not make a single appearance in the movie! All of Newlander's scenes were in fact deleted from the final cut, so the repeated references to him stand out like so many sore thumbs. The only place he shows up is in the two alternate endings provided on the DVD, where he is only seen briefly, from behind, where it could have been anyone.

(6) Corey Haim. Corey Haim is arguably the scariest thing about this movie, even though he, like Jamison Newlander, does not actually appear in the movie itself, only in a brief scene inserted in the ending credits and in the two alternate endings. What's scary is that he's almost unrecognizeable - like someone spent the last 20 years beating him with an ugly stick - and all of the talent and promise he showed as a young actor is completely gone. In his brief scenes, he acts and sounds like he showed up late, spent all of ten minutes prepping for his role, stumbled through it and then grabbed his check and ran.

On the plus side, I would mention three of the actors:

Corey Feldman deserves credit for being a professional and putting himself totally into his performance. He's almost the only actor in this movie who seems to actually be trying to make it work, but even he cannot overcome the bad writing and directing. I've heard there is a Lost Boys 3 in the works in which he will again be appearing. I can only hope that this time around he'll have better luck. He deserves it.

Angus Sutherland was a perfect choice for this movie. He has the talent and is both reminiscent of Kiefer Sutherland in appearance and manner but at the same time distinctly different. You can see enough of him in his scenes to realize how good he could have been. With a decent script and direction, he could have made a memorable vampire successor to the original's David. As it was, however, the leaden script and direction killed any chances he had of doing something with the role.

Monica Delain is incredibly hot and can actually act as well. They could have done a lot more with her in this movie - she was the only decent vampire besides Angus Sutherland - but unfortunately she gets killed off fairly quickly in a completely predictable while at the same time no-I'm-not-buying-this way. Another victim of the bad writing and directing.

Do not waste your money on this movie. If by chance someone gives you a copy for free and you can fast-foward through most of it, then just watch the few bits worth seeing and avoid the rest.





Rating: 1 out of 5 stars - Rubbish
I didn't want to give it one star. This movie is a total stinker. I loved the original. It's just a shame to ruin the memory of it with this garbage. Next time, just don't bother....



Rating: 1 out of 5 stars - What a shame....
I want to forget that this movie even exists. Somehow it even ruined the first movie for me. I wish I never watched it.



Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - WOW!!
I received this in record time and it is in very good condition. Thank you very much.



Rating: 2 out of 5 stars - Who Exactly Was Demanding This Sequel?
Lost Boys 2 was relatively entertaining, keyword being "relatively." There were no surprises, no major twists, everything was nice and predictable. I wasn't blown away by this flick but, believe it or not, this little direct-to-DVD sequel wasn't half bad for what it was. I never once figured it'd be good enough to hit theaters but Pesce's direction is competent and Rodionoff's screenplay was slightly better than a Sci-Fi Original film so take that however you want. I wasn't incredibly enamored with the feeble attempts at comedy relief or the go nowhere subplot involving Edgar Frog's absentee suck-monkey brother but I wasn't really expecting perfection. If you were, you're definitely new to the game.

Really though, the acting was decent, the FX was the real deal stuff, not that CG trash, and the updated version of "Cry Little Sister" sounded awesome. I was a bit disappointed when I realized Haim was missing from the film until I watched the alternate endings and came to the conclusion that he sucked harder than a Hoover-mouthed street walker. After all these years who would have thought Feldman would have ended up being the better actor?

By the way, it's eerie how much Angus Sutherland, Keifer's half-brother, resembles, and even acts like, his father Donald. It was like watching a younger, better looking Donald in action.

I know a ton of people hated this and their animosity toward the film is understandable but it really wasn't all that bad. This here is one of those totally unnecessary, utterly disposable horror sequels that you'll either love, hate or "meh." I suppose I'm in the "meh" category because I can live with or without it. I was able to see it, allow myself to be mildly entertained by it and that's that. I won't be purchasing this or renting it again but that doesn't mean hardcore Lost Boys fans shouldn't at least give it a shot.



 

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