DVD Review: "The Lost Boys 2: The Tribe"
Since I was completely opposed to the whole idea of a sequel, I had no intention of watching “Lost Boys 2: The Tribe.”
But then came my obsession with “The Two Coreys” and curiosity got the best of me.
Now I know why curiosity killed the cat…
YIKES!
“Tribe” follows the same initial premise of “The Lost Boys” as two siblings, Chris and Nicole Emerson (Tad Hilgenbrink and Autumn Reeser), move to a new town and get sucked in by the wrong crowd. But this time, the wrong crowd (i.e. the vampires) are surfers. In fact, Chris knows most of them since he was a top surfer himself, but quit the sport after his parents died.
I should point out here for the die-hard fans that Chris and Nicole’s parents are never identified, but the last name of Emerson does imply they are related to the original’s Sam and Michael Emerson.
It’s only a matter of time before Nicole is seduced by Shane (Angus Sutherland), the head vampire. And Chris has to seek the help of Edgar Frog (Corey Feldman) to save his sister.
One of the great things about the original is its subtlety. But there is nothing subtle about this one as there is lots of nudity and plenty of blood (In fact, the vampires like to stab each other just for the fun of it.). I have to admit that I fast-forwarded through several of the gory scenes without losing any story.
Actually, I could have fast-forwarded through the whole movie without missing any story…
However, I expected the story to be bad. What I did not expect was just how awful Angus Sutherland was.
There’s no doubt after watching this that Angus was only cast to exploit the Sutherland name (He’s Kiefer’s half-brother.), because it certainly wasn’t for his acting. Although he has the perfect look for the part, he’s never even remotely convincing. And the strange slightly Scottish accent he uses doesn’t help.
Wait. I take that back. He was pretty convincing during his love scene with Reeser. Maybe that’s because he doesn’t talk…
Speaking of Reeser, you guys know that I’m a big fan, thanks to “The O.C.” and she’s good in this—up until the aforementioned sex scene when apparently Sutherland’s bad acting germs rub off on her.
And it’s a little hard to get over the decidedly un-sibling vibe that Nicole and Chris throw off…
So now, you’re probably wondering about the two Coreys. Since I thought it was ridiculous that Feldman was playing the character exactly the same way 20 years later (even with the same clothes), I was actually shocked to discover that Feldman was the best part of the movie (although that’s not saying much). He had several good lines (though most of the others were just repeats from the original) and his storyline was by far the most interesting.
But if you’re looking for a big Coreys reunion, you’re going to be disappointed. Haim only appears in a tacked-on scene during the closing credits that’s sure to anger many “Lost Boys” die-hards (although I found it intriguing, if somewhat confusing) and in two alternate endings that add even more intrigue to Edgar’s story.
Quite frankly, the story alluded to in the alternate endings is way better than the story we got. You can’t help but wonder if they were setting things up for another movie starring the Coreys or if they planned to expand the story in the movie, but couldn’t because of Haim’s meltdown on the set.
My fiancé just asked me if watching this atrocity would ruin my love for the original, and I told him no way. These two movies are nowhere near the same league with each other. I’ll just pretend that “Tribe” never existed.
Gosh knows it never should have…
But then came my obsession with “The Two Coreys” and curiosity got the best of me.
Now I know why curiosity killed the cat…
YIKES!
“Tribe” follows the same initial premise of “The Lost Boys” as two siblings, Chris and Nicole Emerson (Tad Hilgenbrink and Autumn Reeser), move to a new town and get sucked in by the wrong crowd. But this time, the wrong crowd (i.e. the vampires) are surfers. In fact, Chris knows most of them since he was a top surfer himself, but quit the sport after his parents died.
I should point out here for the die-hard fans that Chris and Nicole’s parents are never identified, but the last name of Emerson does imply they are related to the original’s Sam and Michael Emerson.
It’s only a matter of time before Nicole is seduced by Shane (Angus Sutherland), the head vampire. And Chris has to seek the help of Edgar Frog (Corey Feldman) to save his sister.
One of the great things about the original is its subtlety. But there is nothing subtle about this one as there is lots of nudity and plenty of blood (In fact, the vampires like to stab each other just for the fun of it.). I have to admit that I fast-forwarded through several of the gory scenes without losing any story.
Actually, I could have fast-forwarded through the whole movie without missing any story…
However, I expected the story to be bad. What I did not expect was just how awful Angus Sutherland was.
There’s no doubt after watching this that Angus was only cast to exploit the Sutherland name (He’s Kiefer’s half-brother.), because it certainly wasn’t for his acting. Although he has the perfect look for the part, he’s never even remotely convincing. And the strange slightly Scottish accent he uses doesn’t help.
Wait. I take that back. He was pretty convincing during his love scene with Reeser. Maybe that’s because he doesn’t talk…
Speaking of Reeser, you guys know that I’m a big fan, thanks to “The O.C.” and she’s good in this—up until the aforementioned sex scene when apparently Sutherland’s bad acting germs rub off on her.
And it’s a little hard to get over the decidedly un-sibling vibe that Nicole and Chris throw off…
So now, you’re probably wondering about the two Coreys. Since I thought it was ridiculous that Feldman was playing the character exactly the same way 20 years later (even with the same clothes), I was actually shocked to discover that Feldman was the best part of the movie (although that’s not saying much). He had several good lines (though most of the others were just repeats from the original) and his storyline was by far the most interesting.
But if you’re looking for a big Coreys reunion, you’re going to be disappointed. Haim only appears in a tacked-on scene during the closing credits that’s sure to anger many “Lost Boys” die-hards (although I found it intriguing, if somewhat confusing) and in two alternate endings that add even more intrigue to Edgar’s story.
Quite frankly, the story alluded to in the alternate endings is way better than the story we got. You can’t help but wonder if they were setting things up for another movie starring the Coreys or if they planned to expand the story in the movie, but couldn’t because of Haim’s meltdown on the set.
My fiancé just asked me if watching this atrocity would ruin my love for the original, and I told him no way. These two movies are nowhere near the same league with each other. I’ll just pretend that “Tribe” never existed.
Gosh knows it never should have…
Photo courtesy of Amazon.com
