Fright Night (1985) and The Lost Boys (1987)

Watched these movies for the first time recently; In the late 80s, I guess I just wasn't interested in vampires or vampire movies all that much. 

In Fright Night, a teen discovers that his suave new neighbor (Chris Sarandon - maybe his most famous role) is a vampire, but no one believes him. When the vampire starts to stalk the kid, he turns to a has-been horror actor and late-night horror TV host "Peter Vincent" (Roddy McDowell) to help him slay the vampire. The movie has alot of grisly makeup and visual effects which - at the time - were no doubt pretty impressive. 

I liked the story element where the old has-been actor gets involved, and that his name is an amalgamation of Vincent Price and Peter Cushing. Vincent has a funny line where he says (paraphrasing) "the only horror your generation is interested in has to do with a guy in a ski mask slaughtering virgins". I suppose it was kind of true at the time, but ironically, I think movies like Fright Night helped to revive the vampire movie.

The Lost Boys was something of a cult vampire hit but I was never interested in it.  Watching it in 2021, I can see how appealing it could have been, with a cast that includes Cory Haim, Cory Feldman, Keifer Sutherland, Jami Gertz, and Jason Patric, who plays the older brother in a family that just moved into town. 

The marketing buzz I remember about this movie showcased the vampires hanging out and flying about in the night with their new "recruit", and that was my impression of the movie for years.  However I didn't realize that there was more to this movie, including a few other rather entraining subplots that add to the suspense. The first one involves the two Coreys getting together to become vampire busters, and it's pretty interesting to see them get close to and eventually break into the vampire's lair. 

The other subplot involves the single-mom character (Diane Weist) who dates a mild-mannered gentleman in town played by Edward Hermann who steals the movie at the end in a twist I did not see coming. You have to see it to believe it.