In 2022, 35 years after The Lost Boys opened in theaters, Entertainment Weekly revisited the film with actors Alex Winter, Corey Feldman, and Jamison Newlander. Winter remembered an overnight shoot he called “a f—ing madhouse”; Feldman recalled a more work-focused summer for the younger cast. Their differing memories help explain why the film still invites more than one reading: its vampire story is also a family drama, a style statement, and, for some viewers, a queer-coded coming-of-age tale.
What the 35th-anniversary oral history revisited
Entertainment Weekly published its oral history on November 1, 2022, marking 35 years since The Lost Boys’ 1987 release. The conversation brought together Winter, who played Marko; Feldman, who played Edgar Frog; and Newlander, who played Alan Frog. They discussed the film’s production, its enduring appeal, and interpretations that have shifted over time. Their comments are recollections and personal readings, not a single agreed account of what the film means.
The movie, directed by Joel Schumacher, opened July 31, 1987. The American Film Institute (AFI) lists it as an R-rated, 97-minute horror drama, written by Janice Fischer, James Jeremias, and Jeffrey Boam. AFI’s catalog entry also records filming in Santa Cruz and Los Angeles.
Why the film still resonates
Winter: style, music, and ambiguity
Winter credits Schumacher’s combination of fashion, music, performances, story, and style with the film’s lasting appeal. He also explicitly connected its energy to “homoeroticism and sexual ambiguity and sexual adventurousness,” saying that the subtext was apparent to him while he played Marko. For Winter, those elements were part of the film’s identity rather than an incidental layer.
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Feldman: a story rooted in family
Feldman offered a different emphasis: “The story is rooted in family.” He described the plot as involving three intertwined families. That perspective places the Frog brothers’ bond and the characters’ competing loyalties at the center of the story, alongside the vampires, music, and look that make the movie instantly recognizable.
Newlander: a reading that came later
Newlander recalled that he had not thought about the film’s queer subtext until someone raised the subject with him at a convention years later. The contrast with Winter’s memory matters: the actors did not share one uniform interpretation, and a viewer can recognize the film’s sexual ambiguity without assuming everyone involved consciously understood it the same way at the time.
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What filming in Santa Cruz was like
The movie’s atmosphere came partly from a real location. AFI identifies Santa Cruz and Los Angeles as filming locations, with the Santa Cruz boardwalk a major setting; interiors and the vampire lair were filmed on Warner Bros. stages in Burbank. The blend of recognizable seaside attractions and constructed interiors gave the story both a lived-in town and a heightened Gothic world.
Winter remembered being 19, working overnight, riding bikes, and encountering crowds who gathered to watch filming. He described the set’s energy as “a f—ing madhouse.” Feldman’s account of the younger actors was less rock-and-roll: he recalled them concentrating on work and their girlfriends, while older cast members were the ones reportedly partying. These are different memories of the same production, not proof that every cast member experienced the shoot alike.
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Feldman also remembered the younger actors spending time around the boardwalk, rides, and arcade during the summer shoot. AFI’s catalog, summarizing production notes, says 2,000 extras were signed for several nights’ work in Santa Cruz. That scale helps explain why filming could draw public attention, though it does not establish that every night or location was equally busy.
How the movie made its vampire world
Winter said the decision to keep the vampire makeup relatively light was practical: it let the crew apply and remove prosthetics more quickly. In his recollection, that approach also made the transformed characters easier for audiences to connect with. He remembered the 1980s contact lenses as painful and cumbersome. These details come from his account of the production rather than a separate technical record.
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AFI’s catalog preserves a more chaotic production anecdote: citing an August 18, 1986, Variety item, it reports that roughly 300,000 flies escaped during the filming of a scene and an exterminator was called. It is a vivid episode, but it is best understood as a reported incident from one part of the shoot—not a summary of the entire production.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Who is the saxophone player in The Lost Boys?
The shirtless saxophonist at the beach concert is musician Tim Cappello, often recognized by fans as “Sweaty Sax Guy.” He performs “I Still Believe” as Michael first sees Star. In a 2020 interview with Gizmodo, Cappello said he was cast after running into Schumacher at Warner Bros.; he recalled recording a guide vocal that was kept and filming the concert scene in Santa Cruz in a few hours.
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Cappello told reporter Germain Lussier that, despite spending 15 years playing with Tina Turner and recording other music, fans often wanted stills from The Lost Boys when they met him at conventions or gigs. He said the movie appearance had become a prominent part of how audiences recognized him. That is Cappello’s account of his public identity, not a claim that the scene erased his other work.
The film’s lasting reach in numbers
AFI gives a domestic gross of $32,222,567, attributing the box-office data to Box Office Mojo. The catalog also reports an opening weekend of $5,236,318 on 1,027 screens and a number-two debut. These are historical figures, not current earnings or an inflation-adjusted comparison. Entertainment Weekly’s 2022 oral history uses the less precise description “more than $32 million” and says the film inspired two sequels.
Those totals are only one measure of staying power. The film’s continuing cultural presence also shows up in the phrases fans repeat—the Frog Brothers, “Death by Stereo,” and the beach-concert saxophonist—and in the way audiences keep revisiting its mix of horror, humor, youth culture, and family ties.
Where to revisit the film
AFI documents the film’s home-video history, including DVD releases, but that history does not confirm which editions are currently in stock or where they are available. Streaming and current retail availability have not been established here, so check a current listing in your region before relying on a particular format or service.
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