After the death of their parents ex-surfer Chris and his sister Nicole arrive in a new town. But all is not what it seems, for there are vampires stalking the streets.
The 80s saw a vampire movie revival with many given a contemporary spin evoking contemporary themes. The Lost Boys is rightly remembered, and still admired, as one of the best of the bunch rivalled by Near Dark which also saw the light of day in 1987. So it was inevitable that the lure of a sequel would be hard to resist - indeed director Joel Schumacher was working on such a project, entitled Lost Girls. Whether that aborted movie would have been any good we'll never know, but one things for sure it couldn't be as bad as The Tribe.
From the off there's a distinct whiff of déjà vu; a pair of siblings arrive in a rundown coastal resort town, one falling prey to a vampire while the other has to put an end to the bloodsuckers with a little help from a local Van Helsing wannabe. But in a shock twist it's a sister that needs her brother's help. How's that for originality! Seriously, that's practically the only difference this time around. The gang of vampires, led by Shane (Kiefer Sutherland's wooden half-brother Angus Sutherland) are basically identical to the original brood and Corey Feldman returns as Edgar Frog, which wouldn't be so bad if he didn't spend most of the time repeating dialogue from the first film. There's even a rubbish cover version of the anthemic Cry Little Sister, which pretty much sums up The Tribe. It's basically a poor remake of the original right down to its 80s rock video aesthetic, which was cool two decades ago but hardly cutting edge in the 21st century.
A bland fright free low budget direct to DVD sequel The Tribe attempts to inject some excitement with more boobs 'n' blood than its predecessor but apart from a fun cameo by Tom Savini in the opening few minutes its not really worth anyone's time. Fans of the original may want to stick with it though for a brief appearance by another star of the original in an extra scene during the end credits, which hints at a possible Lost Boys 3. On second thoughts don’t bother, just head over to Youtube and watch it there.
