The Emerson family—teenager Michael, his younger brother Sam, and their recently divorced mother Lucy—move to the seaside town of Santa Carla, California, to live with Lucy's eccentric father ("Grandpa").

At the local comic book store, Sam meets the Frog brothers, Edgar and Alan, self-proclaimed vampire hunters, who claim the undead have infested the town.

He notices Star spending time with David, the charismatic leader of a local gang that includes Paul, Dwayne, and Marko.

Sensing Michael's interest in Star, David challenges him to keep up with them on their motorcycles, leading him to their hideout in a former luxury hotel buried during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

There, David seems to manipulate Michael's perception, making his food appear as maggots or worms, before offering him a bottle filled with red liquid.

David's gang then leads him to a railway bridge, where they hang suspended over a vast drop, each member eventually letting go and disappearing into the fog.

David and his gang attempt to push Michael into killing by revealing their true monstrous faces and demonstrating their ability to fly as they murder a group of partygoers.

Michael, Sam, and the Frog brothers prepare for the gang's impending assault, arming themselves with holy water, a longbow, and stakes.

Max explains that he sought a disciplined family and ordered David to turn Michael and Sam to compel Lucy into becoming a willing mother to his lost boys.

A March 5, 1985 Variety news item announced that the independent production company Producers Sales Organization (PSO) bought first-time screenwriters Janice Fischer and James Jeremias' Lost Boys script for $400,000 on February 20, 1985.

'"[2] According to academic William Patrick Day, the central theme of The Lost Boys, "organized around loose allusions to Peter Pan", is the tension surrounding the Emerson family and the world of contemporary adolescence.

He came up with the idea of making the film sexier and more adult, bringing on screenwriter Jeffrey Boam to retool the script and raise the ages of the characters.

Other locations included a cliffside on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County, used for the entrance to the vampire cave, and a valley in Santa Clarita near Magic Mountain where introductory shots were filmed for the scene where Michael and the Lost Boys hang from a railway bridge.

The website's critics consensus reads, "Flawed but eminently watchable, Joel Schumacher's teen vampire thriller blends horror, humor, and plenty of visual style with standout performances from a cast full of young 1980s stars.

[13] Roger Ebert gave the film two-and-a-half out of four stars, praising the cinematography and "a cast that's good right down the line", but ultimately describing Lost Boys as a triumph of style over substance and "an ambitious entertainment that starts out well but ends up selling its soul.

[15] Elaine Showalter commented that "the film brilliantly portrays vampirism as a metaphor for the kind of mythic male bonding that resists growing up, commitment, especially marriage.

"[16] Variety panned the film, calling it "a horrifically dreadful vampire teensploitation entry that daringly advances the theory that all those missing children pictured on garbage bags and milk cartons are actually the victims of bloodsucking bikers.

[24] Gunship's 2018 "Dark All Day" music video and lyrics reference the themes and practical effects, on top of collaborating with Tim Cappello, who appears on the soundtrack and in the film as the beach concert performer.

[25] The music video for "Into the Summer", a song released by American rock band Incubus on August 23, 2019, pays homage to the film.

[26] Event organizers Monopoly Events created "the biggest Lost Boys reunion ever" in 2019 at their annual horror fan convention, For the Love of Horror, which included Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric, Alex Winter, Jamison Newlander, and Billy Wirth along with musicians from the film, G Tom Mac, and Tim Cappello, who were reunited for the first time in over 30 years.

[27] The group reunited once again at the 2023 event and this time Jason Patric gave a live commentary during a closed screening of the film in the venue.

[29] On August 10, 2004, the film received a special edition two-disc release, which contained an audio commentary from Schumacher, deleted scenes, and making-of featurettes.

In October 2016, Vertigo released a comic book miniseries, The Lost Boys, where Michael, Sam, and the Frog brothers must protect Star from her sisters, the Blood Belles.

[42] In September 2021, a new film was announced, to be directed by Jonathan Entwistle, from a script by Randy McKinnon, starring Noah Jupe and Jaeden Martell.

The music soundtrack contains a number of notable songs and several covers, including "Good Times", a duet between INXS and former Cold Chisel lead singer Jimmy Barnes which reached No.

Cappello makes a cameo appearance in the film playing the song at the Santa Cruz boardwalk, with his saxophone and bodybuilder muscles on display.

Lou Gramm, lead singer of Foreigner, recorded "Lost in the Shadows" for the soundtrack, along with a video which featured clips from the film.