Ask anyone who spent their teenage years in the 1980's what their favourite vampire movie is and, in most cases, you'll get an enthusiastic, "The Lost Boys!" as your answer. I myself still prefer Kathryn Bigelow's superior Near Dark (which came out the same year but didn't get nearly as much attention), but you can't deny the cult/fan following that The Lost Boys has garnered over the years. It's even been copied in some ways by more recent fare like Forsaken and The Covenant. So, I guess I shouldn't really be surprised that Warner Brothers finally decided to make a direct-to-DVD sequel. What's really surprising is just how bereft of original ideas it is and how much it cribs off the previous film.

Things don't start off too badly, as a bunch of surfers, who have a penchant for fake-sounding "hip" dialogue, sneak onto the beach of a fancy house to catch some waves. They must've been making a bit too much noise because the owner (make-up maestro Tom Savini, making a cameo) happens to be home. And he's one pissed-off homeowner, and a vampire to boot. But so are the surfers and their gang attack on him is our introduction to the new gang of bloodsuckers taking up residence in Luna Bay.

Chris (Tad Hilgenbrinck) and sister Nicole (Autumn Reeser) come to town looking for a new start and hoping that they'll get free accommodations from their Aunt. So much for that when it turns out she wants rent. Chris goes off and gets a job in a local surf shop, since he's conveniently an ex-surfing champion, and Nicole meets up with a suave local called Shane (Angus Sutherland).

In between bouts of vapid dialogue and a lots of twenty-something hogwash, we find out that Shane is the leader of the group of vampires who are spending their nights partying and generally causing havoc. Chris is going to learn this first hand, when it turns out Nicole gets in way too deep with them and is turned by, get this, drinking a flask filled with blood. That's when her big brother has to call in the help of a one Edgar Frog (Corey Feldman) in order to try and save his sister.

A noble cause, since he's not at all freaked out by the fact she can levitate or has fangs, but scripter Hans Rodionoff (Man-Thing) decides to toss in a twist by having him become part of the gang. It not only eliminates any sort of hero, because (let's be honest here) Feldman is only here for a paycheque, It all leads to a finale in the "Lost Boys" subterranean lair that just so happens to have lots of point stuff hanging around for vampires to be spiked on. It's also where they attempt to sling a bunch of blood at the screen since the rest of the movie was filled with lots of padding (such as people walking around) and a lame extreme sports-like police chase.

The main problem with Lost Boys: The Tribe is that it never tries to be anything more than a carbon copy of its older brother. It tries way to hard to have the humorous vibe that film did, which just don't feel natural, and they throw in way too many references to the first movie. Rodionoff hasn't even bothered to put out any effort to define the characters and this just completely lacks the spirit and charm, which has made Joel Schumacher's original so well loved over the years. It's hard to believe he once made a decent low-budget vampire movie with the Troma released, Sucker: The Vampire.

When casting Sutherland to play Angus, I sense the makers were going for some form or irony since his half-brother, Kiefer, played the head vampire in the original. It's just too bad he lacks the acting chops to pull it off. Even Hilgenbrinck and Reeser are pretty disposable in the lead roles and don't get me started on the presence of Feldman.

Lost Boys: The Tribe is nothing more than a cash-in insult to fans. Warner have taken their good nature and promptly ground it under foot. I'm not going to blame director P.J. Pesce for this, even if he's helmed numerous direct-to-video sequels (From Dusk Till Dawn 3, Sniper 3, and the upcoming prequel to Smoking Aces), I'm more apt to call out the production company for not knowing when to leave well enough alone. This is just miserable.

Review based on unrated version. (Chris Hartley, 1/11/09)

Directed By: P.J. Pesce.
Written By: Hans Rodionoff.

Starring: Tad Hilgenbrinck, Angus Sutherland, Autumn Reeser, Gabrielle Rose.