The 1987 horror-comedy about teenage vampires in a California beach town is The Lost Boys. The story follows brothers Michael and Sam Emerson, who move with their recently divorced mother to Santa Carla, a fictional seaside community hiding a dangerous vampire gang.
Michael is drawn into the group led by David, played by Kiefer Sutherland, while Sam teams up with Edgar and Alan Frog, comic-book-store vampire hunters. The film blends frightening imagery with teenage rebellion, rock-and-roll style, humor, and the visual atmosphere of an exaggerated summer resort town.
Joel Schumacher directed the film, which was originally conceived as a younger, more juvenile vampire adventure before being reshaped into a sexier late-1980s horror movie. It is commonly confused with Fright Night, another 1980s vampire film, but The Lost Boys is specifically set around Santa Carla’s boardwalk culture and a gang of youthful vampires. Its mix of horror and comedy helped make it a cult classic.