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Film: Lost Boys: The Tribe
Year: 2008
Director: P.J. Pesce
Writer: Hans Rodionoff
Starring: Tad Hilgenbrink, Angus Sutherland and Autumn Reeser
Review:
This film begins with a group of surfers coming to a gate and jumping it. They go surfing in the ocean and the owner comes out of the house to see what the commotion is, the owner played by Tom Savini. The leader of the surfers is played by Angus Sutherland. With him are Shaun Sipos, Merwin Mondesir and Kyle Cassie. Savini yells at them for trespassing and threatens them, revealing that he is a vampire. The group also reveals themselves to be vampires and they kill Savini.
We then see a car pull up dragging a U-Haul trailer. The driver of the car is Tad Hilgenbrink. With him is his sister, she is played by Autumn Reeser. They are coming to live with their aunt, who is played by Gabrielle Rose. They are renting her guest house. Hilgenbrink used to be a pro-surfer but after their parents died; he lost his temper and lost his sponsors as well as getting kicked out of competing. He is now looking for work.
They go to a surf shop where the kid running it recognizes Hilgenbrink. He asks if they need help and he informs him they do not. Hilgenbrink wants to sculpt surfboards so the kid gives him a map to meet with a guy who does it for the shop. Reeser stands outside when a guy approaches her. He is played by Greyston Holt and he tries to be smooth, but fails. He gives Reeser his number though.
The two of them drive out to the trailer where the sculptor lives, but no one answers the door. Hilgenbrink leaves their address and phone number in hopes that he can get a job. Reeser isn’t too big on this and stays in the car. They go home.
Hilgenbrink sits out on a dock watching the sunset when he is joined by Sutherland. Hilgenbrink didn’t even hear him come up, but he does recognize Sutherland. He used to be a pro-surfer as well and just stopped what he was doing. Sutherland was Hilgenbrink’s idol when he was growing up. Sutherland leaves, but invites Hilgenbrink to a party before he does.
He doesn’t really want to go though, but Reeser tries to talk him into it. It is confirmed they are going when Rose shows up wanting to watch The Goonies with them.
They go to the party and it is crazy. Hilgenbrink wants to leave though when he sees Cassie. Cassie is an instigator and he is the reason that Hilgenbrink is no longer a pro-surfer. They got into a fight and he ruined Cassie’s knee during it, taking him out of it as well. Reeser convinces him to stay when she points out that Moneca Delain is making eyes at him. She leaves to go inside.
Holt notices her and tries to bring her a drink, but he is stopped by Sipos and Cassie, who direct him elsewhere. Sutherland then introduces himself to Reeser and they hit it off. He takes her on a tour of the house. This leads to his bedroom, where he gives her something to drink that makes her sick to her stomach. Hilgenbrink and Delain move to the shower where they start to make love, but he leaves when he thinks he hears Reeser. He is upset that she was riding on a motorcycle with Sutherland and he takes her home. She throws up in the car, which he thinks is due to her drinking too much, but she is really changing into a vampire.
Delain shows up later that night to finish what they started. She gets a little rough and Hilgenbrink pushes her off. She runs into a deer antler on the wall and she becomes stone, before disappearing. He doesn’t understand what happens. The man that he went to visit the day before shows up, played by Corey Feldman, to inform him that she was a vampire. He also tells him that his sister is changing into one, but she has to feed first.
She tries to do that by inviting Holt over. Before she can though, Hilgenbrink shows up with a cross. He tries to tell her what Sutherland did to her, but she doesn’t believe it. She has a crush on him and won’t hear it.
Sutherland also wants Hilgenbrink to join their group as well. Feldman and Hilgenbrink try to figure out where the nest is and it is decided that Hilgenbrink will pretend to join them to find it and save his sister. Can they stop these vampires before it is too late? Can they save Reeser before she changes? Or will Hilgenbrink be seduced by them?
I want to lead of stating that I really like the original film, it is a classic. This one had potential to be really good. I like Reeser, I think she is attractive and is a pretty decent actress. It is fun to see Feldman return in his role as Edgar Frog. I also liked seeing horror veteran Savini in this film as well. The final thing I will say about the acting is that I do think Sutherland and his crew were pretty decent cast as the vampires. It is really interesting that he is the half-brother of Kiefer, who was the main vampire in the original film. I like that this isn’t a remake, but took the concept of two siblings, made one of them a sister and the older one is the one that has save the day. I don’t mind sequels using similar concepts, but just tweaking it.
This film I was slightly disappointed in though. I’m not really sure why the subtitle is The Tribe. The vampires in this one aren’t much different than the previous film and at least that one had a great twist I didn’t see coming at the climax. The vampires were much more interesting in the original one as well. This film also seems to move way too fast. Reeser is seduced almost immediately and I wasn’t a huge fan of that. I can let this slide a little, since vampires have the ability to charm their victims. They also take in Hilgenbrink way too easily, even after he killed one of theirs. They might be just too stupid since they do not have someone looking over them, but it doesn’t really explain then who turned Sutherland. I just feel this plot wasn’t thought out well enough and it moves too fast.
With that said, I wouldn’t recommend this film. It had potential to be much better than what it is and it has big shoes to fill being a sequel to a classic. The acting actually isn’t all that bad, but it is hampered by poorly written story and execution. This film gets right into the action, which is a good thing, but it moves too rapidly through everything as well. I would stick to the original, but if you are interested in seeing the story continue on, then I would recommend this film. You wouldn’t be missing much though if you decided to pass.
My Rating: 4 out of 10