HELP! Review

"Jeweler, you've failed!" John Lennon announced when the elderly jeweler couldn't remove the gaudy red ring from Ringo Star's finger. This was just one of the hilarious quotes in The Beatles movie Help! I expected the movie to be similar in nature to The Who's Tommy. But I was pleasantly surprised. Throughout the movie The Beatles and other actors in the film cracked funny little jokes and did ridiculous things. It was nothing like Tommy, which was a more serious film. Help! had a silly and fun vibe that just flowed throughout the entire film. All of The Beatles had clever lines and they all seemed to enjoy what they were doing in the movie.
I enjoyed the plot of Help! quite a bit as well. Ringo is constantly being chased because of his ring. There are several different groups trying to acquire the ring. One is a group of tribal leaders that needs the ring for sacrifices. The other is a scientist and his assistance that wants the ring for power. There are dozens of attempts to take the ring, some even threatening Ringo's life. John, Paul, and George help Ringo throughout the film, though at one point they suggest that he cut his finger off. The best part of the film to me was the music video style songs that played every 10 or 15 minutes of the movie. They were set up very nicely and weren't just thrown in. There was even an intermission in Help! Every part of this movie made me feel good. I laughed throughout and got caught up in what would happen to Ringo. I give The Beatles' Help! a 9/10 for having such a happy mood. There is no reason not to watch this film, it will leave you in a good mood and happy that you watched.

-Nicholas

The Lost Boys Review

The Lost Boys, directed by Joel Schumacher is a wonderful mixture of comedy and horror. The film is not too funny, an its not very scary either. But the too together work well and make this movie quite enjoyable. Schumacher did an excellent job choosing the setting for this film. The contained the perfect amount of exciting youthful energy as well as dark and scary mystery. I think that the comedic side of The Lost Boys was necessary to ensure a positive reaction from viewers. Vampire movies in the 1980's were more of bash fest, twisting vampire lure into comedies. Schumacher did this, but only half way, he incorporated enough comedy into his film that the audience accepted the movie as one of many in the time period. But what Schumacher did differently from other vampire films of the 80's was that he added a sinister plot line into the movie. The story was about killer vampires, but it was interwoven with comedy. That's what mad the difference, the spit of these two genres is what brought The Lost Boys to the next level. Without the comedy, the movie would have simply been a vampire film with killings, and blood. This still would have been an okay movie. The same goes for the comedy side, if the story was simply filled with comedy and not enough vampires then it still would have been a funny okay movie. It would have in no way been as good as it is with the two genres mixed so well.

The story follows Michael, played by Jason Patric, as he is lured by vampires, to drink blood, which turns him into a vampire himself. I liked Michael very much, he behaved exactly how I think a normal teenager would react to becoming a vampire. He was freaking out and had no idea what to do. After discovering that he has become a vampire, Michael and his brother Sam, played by Corey Haim, try to change him back. Sam's two friends Edgar and Alan Frog, played by Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander, assist them, since they are apparently the city's vampire hunters. These three roles always provided comedic relief of sorts. Whenever I saw Sam, or either of the Frog brothers on screen I knew there was a good chance they'd make me chuckle. David, played by Kiefer Sutherland, was the main vampire in the teenage gang. He was the one who convinced Michael to drink the blood, which turned him into a vampire. I thought that seeing Kiefer Sutherland play the role of a teenage vampire was very interesting. When you look at the actor today, he just doesn't seem like someone who would have played a part like this, but he did have to start somewhere. The Lost Boys was defiantly not a bad choice. The final character I'd like to mention was Max, played by Edward Herrmann. Max was the head vampire, which really surprised when it was first revealed. Max didn't seem like he could have possibly been a vampire. The way that the boys doing vampire tests on Max tricked the audience into believing that Max was just an ordinary guy was brilliant. All of the characters worked well together and made the telling of the story just that much more interesting.

The Lost Boys was worth the watch. I got a lot out of this movie, I didn't know exactly what to expect. That said, I don't think I would care too much to watch it again. It was great, but I'm not going to go out and buy the movie. What worked well in this movie worked very well because in a small way the movie was just designed that way. I give The Lost Boys a 7/10.

The Lost Boys Beat Sheet
Opening Image: The sign that says Santa Carla the home of happiness and on the back of the sign is written the murder capital of the United States.
Theme Stated: When they show the city and how many missing persons signs are around town.

Set-Up: Michael and Sam decide to go around town at night and have fun while there mother looks at the shops.
Catalyst: When Michael sees Star at the concert he begins to become fascinated with her and follows her until he sees David and his group of vampires.

Debate: After Michael has a race with David he takes him to there hang out which is an old hotel and tells him to drink a mysterious liquid.

Break Into Two: Michael does not want to let go of a bar that was keeping him from falling down and dying but when he does he wakes up in his bed alive and perfectly fine.

B Story: Sam had been having a suspicion that Santa Carla was a place that seemed to nice to be perfectly normal but he revisits the comic book story he is told the truth. So Sam learns more about the vampires and finds out that his brother Michael is a vampire.

Fun and Games: As Sam and the Vampire hunters try to find who the head vampire is they attempt to confront Max, Sam’s mothers boyfriend.

Midpoint: After a failed attempt to determine the identity of the head vampire they decide to ask Michael if he has any idea who the head vampire is and he says that David probably was.

Bad Guys Close In: Following the arrival at the vampire’s hideout the vampire hunters, Sam, and Michael go into the depths and kill one of the four vampires but don’t kill the presumed head vampire.

All Is Lost: They failed to kill the head vampire but night would soon fall and the vampires would arrive to kill Michael, Sam, and Vampire hunters.

Dark Night Of The Soul: The group has to kill the vampires as they come in and attempt to kill them.

Break Into Three: David is killed but the curse of the vampire on Michael is not broken which leads Sam to rethink who the head vampire was.

Finale: Max tells them that he was the head vampire and try’s to turn Lucy into a vampire but is ultimately killed by Sam’s Grandfather who drives into the house and kills max.

Final Image: Grandpa had known that the vampires had been living in Santa Carla the whole time.

-Nicholas

The Lost Boys Review

The Lost Boys is a quintessential 80’s film in all regards and shows that in the style of music and clothing that the characters where. It can be said that this film made vampires cool again in pop culture but also showed that vampires could be more than just creepy they could be hip. David the leader of the gang of vampires played by Kiefer Sutherland is a prime example of how a young vampire would be a radical and extreme dare devil. The special effects for the time were very good and showed off the innovation of film making at the time around the end of the 80's. The fangs of the vampires and the effects of making there eyes appear cat like was done beautifully showing off the ferocity in there faces. On a side note this was the first film I saw that had a child as a vampire and it was kind of creep it made me want to laugh and at the same time made me want to run away from it.

However the film does have more than just characters that are vampires it also has the hero's such as Michael the older brother played by Jason Patric, Sam the younger brother played by Corey Haim, and the Frog brothers played by Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander. Michael shows the deep termoail that teens of his age go through with hormone changes. This is later amplified by his transformation into a vampire and his mother Lucy's attempt to understand what he is going through. The Lost Boys is defenatle a film that has to be watched with popcorn on hand because it is a summer film that has a small cheese factor in that you can take some of it seriously but other parts are just silly.

The story of the film is quite odd in that the family moves to the area because of the grandfather but he does nothing to tell them that Santa Carla is infested with vampires. It is no suprise at the end that he already knew about the vampires and that is why he had built his home on a hill with dozens of stake like objects around his home and in it. Humor is an underlying factor in this film making less horrifying as it could have been but that's not a bad thing because it makes the movie feel like a horror comedy. Dated clothing gives the movie a nostalgic feel to those who went to see the film originally and if you are seeing it for the first time you will be sure to notice that it is entertaining. Final rating on this movie is a 9/10 because even though I've seen this film only twice I can still remember enough of it to know that it was a good movie. If you like vampires and 80's movies than this movie is the marriage made just for you.

Opening Image: The sign that says Santa Carla the home of happiness and on the back of the sign is written the murder capital of the United States.
Theme Stated: When they show the city and how many missing persons signs are around town.
Set-Up: Michael and Sam decide to go around town at night and have fun while there mother looks at the shops.
Catalyst: When Michael sees Star at the concert he begins to become fascinated with her and follows her until he sees David and his group of vampires.
Debate: After Michael has a race with David he takes him to there hang out which is an old hotel and tells him to drink a mysterious liquid.
Break Into Two: Michael does not want to let go of a bar that was keeping him from falling down and dying but when he does he wakes up in his bed alive and perfectly fine.
B Story: Sam had been having a suspicion that Santa Carla was a place that seemed to nice to be perfectly normal but he revisits the comic book story he is told the truth. So Sam learns more about the vampires and finds out that his brother Michael is a vampire.
Fun and Games: As Sam and the Vampire hunters try to find who the head vampire is they attempt to confront Max, Sam’s mothers boyfriend.
Midpoint: After a failed attempt to determine the identity of the head vampire they decide to ask Michael if he has any idea who the head vampire is and he says that David probably was.
Bad Guys Close In: Following the arrival at the vampire’s hideout the vampire hunters, Sam, and Michael go into the depths and kill one of the four vampires but don’t kill the presumed head vampire.
All Is Lost: They failed to kill the head vampire but night would soon fall and the vampires would arrive to kill Michael, Sam, and Vampire hunters.
Dark Night Of The Soul: The group has to kill the vampires as they come in and attempt to kill them.
Break Into Three: David is killed but the curse of the vampire on Michael is not broken which leads Sam to rethink who the head vampire was.
Finale: Max tells them that he was the head vampire and try’s to turn Lucy into a vampire but is ultimately killed by Sam’s Grandfather who drives into the house and kills max.
Final Image: Grandpa had known that the vampires had been living in Santa Carla the whole time.

-Ryan