"How does this guy look exactly the same 20 years ago? It's weird." Corey Feldman is referring to his bandana-wearing, vampire-killing, on-screen
Lost Boys counterpart Edgar Frog. Yet talking to the actor face-to-face, I want to express the same question about him. Because here he is, sitting before me, looking freshly hatched from some cryostasis tube. His visage as young as he appeared when I first spied him in Joel Schumacher's
The Lost Boys shoving a generic comic book into the paws of young pup Sam Emerson (Corey Haim). Of course, now he's got the goatee and manicured complexion to age things up a bit.
All eyes are on us. Literally. Feldman and I are sitting in a conference room with at least fifteen crew members from the reality program
The Two Coreys. There's the makeup girl, ennui settling over her face. The camera operators. The sound guy, attentive. The producers to my left, arms folded, eyes fixed on us. Someone's texting away in the corner. Outside of the door: Feldman's bodyguard, a bear waiting at the mouth of a den. He doesn't say hello. He's a nodder. (
"Is it time for me to go in?" Nod.) And he wears a blue-ish jogging suit. (Is that standard issue bodyguard attire? I wonder.) The circus has gathered inside here - on the third floor of one of Warner Bros.' buildings adjacent to the lot - to record footage of us press folk interviewing Feldman about his return as Edgar Frog in
Lost Boys: The Tribe, Warner Premiere's direct-to-DVD sequel arriving July 29th.
Feldman leaps into our introduction with zeal, showering some praise. Not a bad way to start.
"I gotta tell ya, [ShockTillYouDrop.com] has been awesome to us," he says, taking a sip of a freshened glass of Coke.
"I stay on top of everything and try to keep my fingers on the pulse of what's going on in America, abroad and on the Internet. You guys have been champions."
That's because it's been fun tracking the evolution of the long-mooted sequel. Talks of a
Lost Boys 2, entitled the
Lost Girls, sprang from the coffin years ago, pipedreams of Mr. Schumacher who would fan the rumor flames with his own talks of a follow-up for anyone around to listen. Ultimately,
The Tribe's producers went with a take by Hans Rodionoff (
interview) which picks up with Chris and Nicole Emerson (offspring of the first film's Michael and Star - Jason Patric and Jami Gertz, respectively) settling into the surf town of Luna Bay where the latter falls for a toothy stud and undergoes a vampiric transformation. Looking for help, Chris turns to none other than Edgar Frog.
"There was an original script which was given to my manager, my manager had read that script and said, 'Look, it's surfing vampires - it's a low budget thing and they're doing it direct-to-DVD for Warner Bros. There's a very small cameo for you,'" Feldman recounts, taking me through his early flirtations and hesitations with the sequel.
"I said, 'Look, is Corey in it?' No. 'Is Jamison [Newlander] in it?' No. 'Is anybody else in it?' No. No thanks. Pass."
The result of this conversation led to a
heartfelt exchange between Feldman and Haim during the first season of their A&E show.
"As we started to gear up for the last season, [executive producer] Mary Viola came on board, Hans [Rodionoff] had come on board. They increased the budget, they decided to throw in the possible option of a theatrical release. They said, 'Look, we're coming back to the table. Corey is now involved, you're part is going to be significant and we're willing to court the idea of Jamison being in the film.'"
Feldman was impressed by the new draft of the script, excited by its tone, and committed to the production with P.J. Pesce directing. Tad Hilgenbrink and Autumn Reeser came aboard to play Chris and Nicole; meanwhile, Angus Sutherland followed in his half-brother Keifer Sutherland's bloody footsteps starring as one of the film's vamps. And yes, Haim will encore as Sam Emerson and Newlander is back in some capacity. All of this is supposedly very hush-hush.
"[The sequel] has got to at least have the tonality from the first film that makes you feel like you could still be watching part of the story," says Feldman.
"I think P.J. Pesce has done a wonderful job from what I've seen. It's got the comedy, the scares, the music, the Frog Bros. and it's got Angus Sutherland who does an amazing job. So, I believe there's enough to give a nod to what the fans love so much about the original film."
"Is it going to be The Lost Boys? No. It's never going to be The Lost Boys - the original film. But I don't think we ever wanted to make the original film. As I said before, I think it's The Lost Boys on steroids for 2008. I mean that. It's scarier, gorier, sexier, edgier, I don't know about funnier - but I heard it gets some laughs," Feldman chuckles with a boyish grin.
"Hopefully that's true and they're not just blowing smoke. But from what I hear it's shaping up pretty well. As long as the fans feel that they're still in the same relationship, the same marriage, it doesn't mean that it has to be what it was like before therapy, but they're still in the same marriage. "
Feldman admits those fans will notice a significant change in the look of the vampires. He cites the design as a progression of the original's makeup FX by Greg Cannom.
"The good news is it's all being done with [practical] makeup, we're not doing CGI. It's not some computer-generated puff that you see so much these days where you take a smaller budget and computer animated special effects and chintz out on the budget or see if you could get away with something you shouldn't be getting away with. What ultimately ends up happening is that it looks like crap. I think they definitely took some bold moves in giving this film its own look and style and feel, visually, in regards to the vampire themselves."
As for Edgar...how has the intuitive vampire killer developed over the last twenty years?
"Aesthetically, it's not much, as I'm sure you've seen in the preliminary pictures that were leaked out. In fact, I know YOU have," Feldman laughs, not wrong in his statement.
"That's one of the things that makes it fun to watch. It's one of the connective tissues, if you will, the fact that Edgar Frog has remained pretty much unchanged. The only difference is real fans - fans who have studied the first film backwards and forwards - will notice there's a little bit more humanity about the guy because he's been through some really dark times. When we found him in The Lost Boys he was a fan of the vampire genre. He was a comic book reader, he was your average collector guy that's out at the conventions. It was more of a fantasy for him than anything. I don't think they had ever been in battle, they were just acting the part until they were confronted with it and you see that fear in them. The fear is gone. There's no more fear. This guy has been through the trenches, through the war zone for 20 odd years. And there have been some harsh realities in his world. So, you see a much more bruised, brazen and battered, confirmed soldier of a man. Who's confirmed in his beliefs. Unwavering in his purpose in life which is to stake vampires..."
Feldman pauses. His inner Frog is coming to the fore. The room grows quiet. You can hear the ice in his glass crackle in the remaining soda that's left. He cuts the silence with:
"Nah," waving a hand.
"That's probably just fluff."
With two cameras devotedly affixed on each of us, I'm compelled to turn
some of the questioning around to Feldman's longtime friend and scrounge a bit for details about their onscreen dynamic in
The Tribe.
"Corey as we know...we have spent a lot of time good, bad and ugly and all of the above," the actor admits.
"As far as Corey's involvement with the film I can't say too much. Corey's parts were shot and we're all excited to have him in the film." The same goes for Newlander whom Feldman tells me has grown into great friend over the years. Together they have formed, with pal Scott Carlson, a production company to generate projects.
Ah, but back to the d-r-a-m-a. Feldman says any friction with Haim was somewhat tempered during the scenes they share in the film.
"There's certainly an acknowledgement and a nod to the current real life drama that's going on within the balance between us. However, we're still characters, so when I'm onscreen, I'm Edgar Frog, there are no ways about that. Anything that happens on the 'Two Coreys' is certainly not the way I'm viewing things when I'm in Edgar Frog mode. I'm all about staking vampires and I don't really have time for Sam Emerson."
Comments
Posted by: ant on June 24, 2008 at 06:14:14
cant wait to get this movie
Posted by: mokotoshishio on June 24, 2008 at 07:09:18
this movie really looks like its gonna be awsome. Im happy that they are putting so much work into it and trying to stay true to the tone and feel of the original movie. Feldman is an awsome actor and what ive seen of the previews looks like this movie will rock.
Posted by: Romeo Garcia. on June 24, 2008 at 13:49:39
The first one is a CLASSIC...like SALEM'S LOT,FRIGHT NIGHT,VAMP,ETC...so i hope dont dissapoint this movie..like other 20 years later films...i mean JOHN RAMBO AND INDY 4 was a decent films...but DIE HARD 4.0 was a big dissapoinment for me...so dont screw up guys...please!!!...make the difference.
Posted by: Scribe on June 24, 2008 at 15:00:25
This is looking to shape up into a pretty good film, I wait in anticipation for it. Loved the first one, as many do.
Posted by: Yormomsayshi on June 24, 2008 at 15:06:32
Romeo Garcia, Die Hard 4 was a disappointment but Indy 4 was on the mark? That was the worst movie of the year. They say the Love Guru was, but we all knew that movie was going to suck.
Indy 4 was reason why you should never do a 20 years later movie.
Posted by: joe asylo on June 24, 2008 at 18:51:31
can't wait.
Posted by: Justin Novak on June 24, 2008 at 20:31:21
Man, Corey certainly knows how to build this baby up. After reading this, more than ever, I cannot wait for its release. If only I had enough money, you better believe I'd be there representing at the SDCC next month. I know I talked some **** about horror movie directors recently, but you know what, Corey ****ing Feldman is gunna own this and Im going to represent! Thanks for doing this corey, and corey, and jason. You guys are the stars. Maybe I'll re-edit this once it finally comes out, cut out all the bull**** and just have a corey movie that kicks ass.
Posted by: Uwe Boll's Worst Nightmare on June 25, 2008 at 01:21:31
Good god this will be terrible. The first one was OK at best. How that crap became a cult classic is beyond me.
Posted by: EVIL DEAD SUPERHERO on June 25, 2008 at 03:51:14
The Lost Boys original was o.k. at best, this is gonna suck bad. Anything with Corey Feldman generally sucks anyway.
Posted by: Evan on June 30, 2008 at 20:45:27
Corey Feldman has probably spent the entire paycheck already keeping the charade going that he has a hot wife and that a female actually finds him attractive...Feldman please crawl in a hole and let your career die already.. your not going to get anywhere hyping up a (i have no doubt at all) horrible movie that will make me have to go back and watch the first to make sure you didnt dishonor it.**** you Corey Feldman..cant wait to read the post on who u have to blow to be involved in the new goonies you waste of space
Posted by: Jay on July 1, 2008 at 12:33:51
can't wait
Posted by: Red Dragon on July 1, 2008 at 22:26:57
I'm going to watch this flick, it's a shame that Haim doesn't have a bigger part. I'm going in with NO expectations. Grew up watching the Two Coreys stuff. Shame Feldmanis an insincere, manipulative cockhead these days.
I'll watch it for the small part I understand Haim has in it. Hope it's good and a third gets full budget Haim and theatrical release!
Posted by: Death dealer on July 3, 2008 at 00:40:16
If this movie vamp's out in a way, i'll stake it without thinking twice about it.
Posted by: Nicholas W. on July 3, 2008 at 15:49:07
Chill out, Edgar!
Posted by: michael morley on July 7, 2008 at 08:20:10
angus sutherland kills corey haim because what he did in the first movie with the frog brothers and also alan dies as well because these vampires herd about the frog brothers and what they did to the oringinal lost boys cast and now there is a reason why theres more vampires the devil spread more vampires in the wild to kill the frog brothers does that make sense and now sinse alan and sam are dead edgar is the highest prioririty to kill edgar aparently changed his cover as a surfboard shaper in a diffrent town so they wouldnt kill him and also he special locks and windows that will smih use in i am legend
Posted by: pooltop on July 13, 2008 at 17:17:52
Chill out, guys! This is another movie project! Building expectations and taking cheap shots at it don't mean a thing until the final film is released and we can check it out later on next month. I'm stoked that it has some potential and i'm interested to see what Haim will have in terms of acting for this project.
If it fails, it fails. Many good film projects have and a lot of it is the fault of the studio, not giving it the attention, funds and publicity it needs to gain an audience. I'll admit that straight to DVD is disheartening but there's a good chance this can stand on it's own.
Sequels are a tough sell to fans of the original. Expectations usually kill them before they get out of the gate. But let's see it for what it is on its own and see how it carries on the story.
Like a good band that's making its sophomore album, there's potential for good and bad. I can't wait to see it personally and I think just as a fan of the vampire genre, it will hold some interest for me.
And kudos to Haim for getting behind the project and holding up his end of the deal to help promote it in all the right venues. Maybe he isn't the best actor but he seems like a cool guy and that goes a long way.
Posted by: AUTUMN on July 29, 2008 at 05:47:21
corey feldmen your not a good actor. you were tolerated in movies so they could get haim. THE REAL ACTOR! you are showing the world what a true ass is in your reality show you wouldnt have if not for your bff haim. who by the way you are treating like crap to make yourself feel better! hes your buddy man whats your problem? married or not he was your bff threw good& hard times. now you get a chance to come back and you want to throw haim to wolves. tell suzie shell get more for the price of two. alone.. you just wount cut it.
Posted by: krystal on August 6, 2008 at 18:52:49
did they cut all the scenes with Haim?? because I just sat through that god-awful movie, and Feldman's bad acting and Haim isnt in it anywhere!! He's on the credits.. and it says he's in it on imdb.com.. but where is he??
Posted by: i BELIEVE on August 21, 2008 at 21:23:16
Haim has a small cameo at the very very end.... By the way the movie was terrible.
Posted by: rsetx on February 15, 2009 at 11:14:06
i perfer the 1st lost boys with both coreys
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