A couple years after the unnecessary and disappointing sequel hit DVD shelves, we're given Lost Boys: The Thirst another installment nobody asked for. Despite the previous effort being nothing more than a rehash of its predecessor, this film actually feels more like a true sequel to the original. The Tribe was nothing more than a build up to this flick, which brings back the Frog Brothers played by Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander. Corey Haim reportedly turned down the opportunity to return as Sam and unfortunately died.

Of course the Frog Brothers were in the previous movie, but nothing more than lame supporting roles, where-as Edgar is the lead here. However, once again we don't see much of his bro Alan, whom now is a vampire recluse that has given up hunting and spends all his free time stuffing dead animals as a taxidermist. In this pic Edgar has pretty much moved on from the life of a vampire hunter, after losing his friend Sam and now Alan, he's pretty much just a regular guy that lives in a broke-ass trailer and occasionally visits a local comic book store to chat-up his friend Zoe.

That is, until a popular author named Gwen (a pseudo Stephenie Meyer) drops by his trailer with a job to retrieve her younger brother from a group of bloodsuckers and be given the opportunity to kill the "head of all vampires". Reluctant at first but realizing he needed the cash, he takes on the job, which involves infiltrating a rave that's happening somewhere in town. Headed by an old vampire named DJ X, the rave is apparently just a means to pass around a new "drug" (vampire blood) to the ravers, with the intention of creating an army of bloodsuckers.

Armed with a new arsenal of weapons, and accompanied by his team consisting of his friend Zoe, a minor reality TV star (that wrestled a bear!) and his pointless camera man, Edgar and the remaining group of wannabe vampire hunters set off to find the brother and stop the rave... As noted above, the film feels more of a true sequel than the actual one ever was, referencing characters and events from the first, and even displaying a few clips in the form of flashbacks when Edgar thinks back to the good ol' days at Santa Carla.

The movie also attempts to bring back a little of the humor that was present in the original. There's a decent amount of blood, but not as much gore as it should've had. Aside from one scene where a dude gets his heart ripped out of his chest, I don't recall much more as far as gore goes. The look and overall tone of the flick also seems bigger and a vast improvement over the previous installment.

Unfortunately, the movie still has its share of faults. For instance a majority of the characters are just plain bad and obviously only existed for either a vampire meal or for some half-assed twist. Another big issue is the fact that the vampires in this film really aren't that menacing. Naturally there were scenes where they'd take a bite out of some hopeless victim, but aside from that all they did was show their fangs and dance at the rave. On a positive note, the bloodsuckers at least did have a more original look to them, and not so Buffy-esque like the ones presented in The Tribe.

Before the credits roll, the film ends with a really poorly-scripted setup for a potential fourth entry, which I seriously hope never happens. Regardless of the improvements presented here, these movies are still nothing more than pointless entries looking to cash-in on the Lost Boys name.

The Thirst is definitely an improvement over the previous sequel, boasting a better story, a bit more action, and the look and tone of a bigger budget. It also just feels more like a true sequel to the original, referencing past characters and events. Sadly, it's still a victim of a mediocre script, poor characters, and uninteresting vampire leads (who aren't as menacing as they should've been). Regardless of the films shortcomings and predictability, the movie kept my interest for the most part and proved to be a decent watch in the end.