Napping at Red Lights

Sleep all day.  Party all night.  Never grow old. Never die.

Every child of the ‘80s knows this tag line.  It’s from the cult hit The Lost Boys — one of my favorite guilty pleasures.

For the last 20 years, I have enjoyed the tale of Sam Emerson (Corey Haim) partnering with Edgar (Corey Feldman) and Alan (Jamison Newlander) Frog to save his brother Michael (Jason Patric) from becoming a vampire and joining the likes of David (Keifer Sutherland) and his bloodsucking friends.

So when I heard about a sequel last April, you’d think I would have been ecstatic.  But then I read that it was going to be a direct-to-DVD release and involve surfing vampires.

Since I can’t recall ever being impressed by a direct-to video sequel and the thought of surfing vampires (I thought they couldn’t be in the sun) seemed absurd, I put The Lost Boys 2:  The Tribe out of my mind.

That is until I saw the trailer for the new movie.

The trailer looks like a second-generation of the first movie, complete with the Frog brothers to the rescue.  Sure the movie doesn’t look it’s going to score high in the originality category with blood being substituted for wine again and more vamps on motorcycles, but it still looks like a fun movie.

Besides the movie stars Autumn Reeser who I came to love as the chatty, but insecure Taylor Townsend that eventually wins the heart of Ryan Atwood (Benjamin McKenzie) on The O.C.  I would enjoy seeing her again.

The Tribe picks up 21 years after its predecessor.  Feldman and Newlander reprise their roles as the Frog brothers, who have embraced their life as vampire slayers, becoming the leading authorities in their field (I’m not sure Buffy would agree).  In addition, word is that Haim will return as Sam, although he is not seen in the trailer. 

Recycled plot aside, the film links itself back to the original through character connections.

In the sequel, Sam’s niece and nephew lose their parents in a car accident.  Would that make Chris (Tad Hildenbrink) and Nicole (Reeser) Emerson Michael’s children?  I wonder if Star (Jami Getz) was their mom.

Needless to say, as orphans they are sent to live with their Aunt Jillian (Gabrielle Rose) in Luna Bay, another small seaside town.  I’m not sure who Jillian is – Sam’s wife or a maternal relative.  But either way, you can expect the brother-sister duo to run into an undead problem.

And who’s the big bad in this movie?  A vamp named Shane (Angus Sutherland, Keifer’s younger half-brother).  When Nicole falls under his spell, Chris turns to the Frog brothers for help.

Although the movie continues to be listed as direct-to-DVD, Feldman said in an interview with MTV that it hasn’t yet been decided whether it will be a theatrical or a DVD release.

If the movie does go to the theaters, although I think Feldman is just being optimistic, I’ll be shelling out my nine bucks.  I’m not really buying into the tag line “Raising the Stakes” and I know I’m probably in for a let down, but the thought of a Lost Boys franchise is so appealing.

The movie is currently scheduled for a July 2008 release.

So what do you think?  Is the movie worth seeing?