Secret Cinema - The Lost Boys - First review
Secret Cinema have a reputation for hosting unique cinema events in unique places. Fancy One Flew Over the Cuckoos’ Nest dressed as a mental patient?, or a screening of Aliens with Colonial Marines and Aliens around every corner? Then look no further! All have been done in the past and the imaginative minds at Secret Cinema always know how to make a classic film more interactive and fun (and sometimes just a little bit scary!)
For their latest project, they have collaborated with the California tourist board, for two special screenings of The Lost Boys and Top Gun. Both held in a massive themed venue to represent elements of each film.
Long term ScareTOUR friend and owner of Space Monkeys, Phil Snipe – went along last weekend to tell us all about his experience with The Lost Boys.
For their latest project, they have collaborated with the California tourist board, for two special screenings of The Lost Boys and Top Gun. Both held in a massive themed venue to represent elements of each film.
Long term ScareTOUR friend and owner of Space Monkeys, Phil Snipe – went along last weekend to tell us all about his experience with The Lost Boys.
As we approached the venue for the screening, we could see what looked like Santa Carla Boardwalk in the distance and once we got through the massive queue we weren't disappointed!
We were greeted by head vampire David who was hanging around the Carousel just like the Keifer Sutherland character from the movie). Soon he was joined by the rest of the vampire gang including Dwayne, Paul, Marco, Star and Laddie! All of these characters wandered around and interacted with visitors all day.
The sets around the venue were amazing and included many iconic scenes from the film. The two main Santa Carla Shops were both there....The Frog Brothers Comic Book Store & The Video Store owned by Max. We were even surprised to find, Max the head vampire alive and still working in the video shop. Unfortunately these shops did get slightly lost amongst other shops and food outlets.
As for the fairground, there were 3 main rides including the all important Carousel. We were dying to see the "Boys" recreate the opening of the film, walking around the ride as people rode but alas that didn’t happen.
We were greeted by head vampire David who was hanging around the Carousel just like the Keifer Sutherland character from the movie). Soon he was joined by the rest of the vampire gang including Dwayne, Paul, Marco, Star and Laddie! All of these characters wandered around and interacted with visitors all day.
The sets around the venue were amazing and included many iconic scenes from the film. The two main Santa Carla Shops were both there....The Frog Brothers Comic Book Store & The Video Store owned by Max. We were even surprised to find, Max the head vampire alive and still working in the video shop. Unfortunately these shops did get slightly lost amongst other shops and food outlets.
As for the fairground, there were 3 main rides including the all important Carousel. We were dying to see the "Boys" recreate the opening of the film, walking around the ride as people rode but alas that didn’t happen.
The other big set that was built was Grandpa's house which had a front yard (just like the movie) and entrance porch with a Grandpa character. Inside there was Sam’s bedroom, A bloodstained bathroom (where Nanook pushed Paul into the bath), Fireplace area and a Taxidermy corner (as Grandpa loved his stuffed creatures)
There was also a bar, ping pong tables and pinball machines so this area was buzzing all day and night. In fact, this is actually where we ended up watching the film and it was a pretty good position.
Of course The Lost Boys is such a classic 80s horror movie that we really don’t need to review that!
For us the best part of the experience was the discovery of the Lost Boys Cave which was waiting for to be discovered in one corner of the site. The atmosphere inside was brilliant with at least four Vampires playing and interacting with anyone who dared to enter. It was well designed and there was no mistaking that you had wandered into the Lost Boys lair! The actors inside looked great in Foam Prosthetics and teeth (all supplied by us) and played their parts perfectly....They posed for photographs if asked but other than that never broke character. It must be said that all the characters on the day played their parts well and tried to keep everyone entertained.
On a slightly negative side, there weren’t too many places to eat although the food stayed pretty authentic with Hot Dogs, Noodles, Burgers etc. Queuing for these took a massive chunk out of your day and we all agreed that bigger food outlets would have sorted that problem out straight away.
There was also a couple of bars on site but to be honest it would have been easier becoming a real vampire than buying a drink at these as again they seemed completely under staffed and almost surprised by the numbers of visitors. That said we did eat and drink during the day so everything was still good!
The other slight negative was the toilet queues! These were huge all day and night but that is to be expected with such large crowds.
All in all we had a great day in Sunny California (Canary Wharf) and did feel like we were right there in the middle of what is still one of the best Vampire Movies of all time. There were Vampires, Hunters, Tourists and even a mayor interacting and entertaining all day. Yes there were a few negatives but we had a great time and would recommend it to anyone wanting something more than just 2 hours in the cinema!
There was also a couple of bars on site but to be honest it would have been easier becoming a real vampire than buying a drink at these as again they seemed completely under staffed and almost surprised by the numbers of visitors. That said we did eat and drink during the day so everything was still good!
The other slight negative was the toilet queues! These were huge all day and night but that is to be expected with such large crowds.
All in all we had a great day in Sunny California (Canary Wharf) and did feel like we were right there in the middle of what is still one of the best Vampire Movies of all time. There were Vampires, Hunters, Tourists and even a mayor interacting and entertaining all day. Yes there were a few negatives but we had a great time and would recommend it to anyone wanting something more than just 2 hours in the cinema!
Phil Snipe is one of the owners of Spacemonkeys (alongside the deliciously twisted and beautiful Rosemary Snipe). Space Monkeys have been supplying special FX make up to the business for years and some of their prosthetics and false teeth were used by the Secret Cinema team. For more information about the SpaceMonkeys range , visit their website http://www.spacemonkeys.co.uk/
To find out more about the Secret Cinema Club at http://www.secretcinema.org/
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