The Lost Boys (4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review)

Directed by Joel Schumacher, the 1987 comedy/horror The Lost Boys is a bit of a cult classic from the decade. When a newly single mom and her two sons move from Southern California to a new town in Northern California, they find the town is a haven for vampires led by a mullet-donning, motorcycle riding Kiefer Sutherland as David. The older son Michael (Jason Patric) is lured into the vampires’ lair by the beautiful vampire Star (Jami Gertz) and he is turned into one of them by David. Now his younger brother (Corey Haim) must try to rescue him from their clutches with the help of two local, bumbling comic book enthusiasts (Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander).

The Lost Boys was shot on location in Santa Cruz by Schumacher who infuses the film with the mid-1980s MTV visual aesthetic and energy that would help define some of his later films (Batman & Robin). Here, he manages to keep some of his excesses somewhat in check and offers up a hip, youth-infused revisionist vampire comedy/horror that avoids the brooding and angst of films to come like Twilight. With its young cast and familiar sounding pop-soundtrack, the film became a bit of a hit even if its convoluted screenplay does not hold up so well over the years.

The Lost Boys (1987)

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The Video

Warner Bros. does not provide any information on the transfer, but The Lost Boys is an original 35mm anamorphic production shot on the Panavision Panaflex Gold camera with Panavision E-Series lenses. This is the first time the film is appearing on 4K Ultra HD and it arrives in a 2.40:1 HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) encodement with HDR10. The original imagery is a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to detail and grain structure. The grain generally looks natural, but there are some scenes – such as at the 46:29 mark when the mom comes back home and sees the carton of milk spilled out on the kitchen floor – where the grain and overall picture softens. It looks a bit scrubbed and details in faces seems to disappear and get smooth, but it could also be inherent to the original production as some scenes also look a bit grittier and show heightened grain. I also saw a couple of places with a bit of washout in the dark areas, but mostly the black levels look deep and there is strong contrast thanks to a fine application of the HDR10. Specular highlights in lights and fires really ‘pop’ and colors, especially reds in blood or the often-used red lighting in scenes is vibrant.

The Audio

The Lost Boys hits 4K Ultra HD with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio mix. There seems to be a bit of elevated sound in the surround channels and a heavy dose of atmospherics, but this works for the most part. It is not a spectacular showcase mix in the modern sense, but it gets the job done, especially in the most active scenes, such as when the vampires hang from the train tracks.

The Supplements

The bonus features in this release have all been previously released. All but the audio commentary resides only on the Blu-ray Disc.

• Movies Anywhere Digital Code
• Commentary by Director Joel Schumacher (4K & Blu-ray)
• The Lost Boys: A Retrospective (1080p; 00:24:00)
• Inside the Vampire’s Cave (1080p; 00:18:49)
• Vamping Out: The Undead Creations of Greg Cannom (1080p; 00:14:02)
• Haimster & Feldog: The Story of the 2 Coreys 1080p; 00:04:41)
• Multi-Angle Video Commentary by Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, and Jamison Newlander
• A World of Vampires (1080p; 00:14:02):
  • Asia
  • India
  • Australia
  • Eastern Europe
  • Great Britain
  • Central and South America
• The Lost Scenes (1080p; 00:15:16)
• “Lost in the Shadows” Music Video by Lou Gramm (1080p; 00:04:34)
• Theatrical Trailer (1080p)

The Final Assessment

An ‘80s phenomenon that is a worthy popcorn flick and a solid entry in vampire revisionism on the big screen is nicely spruced up on 4K from Warner Bros.

The Lost Boys is out on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack September 20, 2022 from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

• Rating Certificate: R
• Studios & Distributors: Warner Bros. | Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
• Director: Joel Schumacher
• Written By: Jan Fischer (story) | James Jeremias (story) | Jeffrey Boam (screenplay)
• Run Time: 97 Mins.
• Street Date: 20 September 2022
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
• HDR Format: HDR10
• HDR Metadata:
  • MaxLL: 998
  • MaxFall: 281
• Primary Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1
• Secondary Audio: French DD 2.0 | German DD 2.0 | Italian DD 2.0 | Spanish (Castilian) DD 2.0 | Spanish (Latino) DD 1.0
• Subtitles: English SDH | French | German SDH | Italian SDH | Spanish (Castilian) | Dutch | Spanish (Latino)