Who Wants a Vampire Bad Boy Put Up Your Hand?

Whether Joel Schumacher knew it at the time or not, The Lost Boys  influenced and spawned an entire generation of “vampire bad boy” obsessed women.

Hollywood execs and networks should give him a star on the walk of fame for his contribution to the target market for vampire pop culture of women age 18 to 49. Hell most women that watched this movie when they were younger currently make up a large percentage of this desired demographic.

A rebellious bunch of motorcycle riding teenage vampires terrorizing a small town, headed by the antagonist Kiefer Sutherland sporting some facial stubble, bleached spiked hair, black trench coat, piercings, and an attitude; what more could you ask for?

Next protagonist Jason Patric moves to town, a mama’s boy gone bad when he is seduced by Sutherland and his band of delinquent bloodsuckers to drink some sacred blood in a fancy wine bottle.

Fast forward to 2008 for the release of the sequel Lost Boys: The Tribe. I can honestly say it doesn’t live up to the reputation of the original film, but it is entertaining and worth a watch.

Before you pose the question, you guessed it, they kept up the tradition with another bad boy vampire antagonist. This one is played by Angus Sutherland. (Keifer’s half brother) He is a former pro surfer with long messy locks, sunglasses, leather motorcycle jacket and that oh so suave ominous way about him that could seduce any woman accented by a hint of danger and intimidation.

The final instalment of the series, The Lost Boys: The Thirst was released in 2010. It had some bad boys as well, but the movie was so horrible it doesn’t warrant discussing.

If you can find me a woman who can truthfully admit she doesn’t like bad boys or for that matter ever dated one, I would be amazed. The untameable bad boy represents rebellion and all things a parent dreads, and to a teenage girl he is the ultimate “slap in the face” for a set of controlling parents.

What better way to piss them off than date someone undesirable. You know the type I am referring to; every school had one or two. He drove a cool car, smoked cigarettes out back of the school, skipped classes, and was a usually a mysterious loner.

Bad boys usually grow up to be bad guys; just because they finish school doesn’t mean they vanish into the social abyss. They transcend into adulthood keeping all their redeeming qualities in tack and the bonus is they can live by their own rules, dress better than high school and not have to worry about having sex with random woman in their parent’s house.

I can say from personal experience I was intrigued by this species when I was younger. I was a good kid growing up and finally reached a point where I decided one day to be bad and toss the rules out the window. What better way to climb out of your inner shell, than with the help of someone who is totally off the rails? My mum wasn’t controlling at all, if anything very lenient with me so I wasn’t intentionally trying to piss her off. So why did I do it? Looking back I would say it was simply curiosity.

My philosophy in life is if you are going to do something, do it right or not at all! I skipped school for the first time in my graduating year and went out with a few guy friends and met up with some of their bad boy buddies that had recently just gotten out of jail.

I know what you are thinking, this can’t end well. We hung out for the afternoon at a park with a flat of Triple- X beer and its close friend Jack Daniels. I was the only girl and needless to say I kept up with the boys drink for drink.

I was fine until we went to leave and I couldn’t stand up. I had to be carried back to the car. I remember thinking this was so much more fun than English or Math class and realized what I had been missing out on. It felt good to be bad ass so I can totally understand the attraction.

From a psychological aspect bad boys are ideal if you fear commitment in relationships and want a quick fling; you have low self-esteem and like to play games or don’t mind being strung along; you want to throw all your logic and reasoning out the window; or if you simply want to strive for an unattainable man, which let’s face it people usually want what they can’t have. It all goes back to our basic human instincts, needing versus wanting.

So if you take your typical bad guy, mix it up with the vampire element and cast a really hot actor you have a producer and marketing exec’s wet dream, the vampire bad boy. It is a winning combination that has been proven time and time again, to dominate ratings and line the networks pockets with obscene amounts of cash, thanks to the precedence set back in 1987.