David (The Lost Boys)

David is a fictional character from the 1987 film The Lost Boys portrayed by Kiefer Sutherland. In the film David is the head of a gang of vampires in the fictional town of Santa Carla.

The character and Sutherland's performance were well received upon the film's release, and David has gone on to become regarded as an iconic villain in popular culture, having inspired the depiction of vampires both in style as well as characterization since. Analysis of his personality and psychology range from focus on his status as an eternal youth, gang leader, and murderer, and his implied homoerotic tendencies.

Film
David is the head of a gang of vampires in the fictional town of Santa Carla. Max, the head vampire of Santa Carla, tries to find a "mother" for David and the rest of the gang in order to curb their wayward behavior.

Sutherland has stated that David's hairstyle was inspired by British punk rock icon Billy Idol.

Literature
David appears in the same role in the 1980s novelization of the film.

Comics
David appears in the comic Lost Boys: Reign of Frogs and in 2016's The Lost Boys.

Television
In 2020 it was announced that a television series based on the character and the rest of the vampire gang is in production at The CW, focusing on the gang of vampires at different points in history. Dakota Shapiro was cast in the role for the first pilot, but was replaced with Lincoln Younes and the character renamed "Benjamin" for the second pilot.

Fictional character biography
Not much is known about David's life before becoming a vampire. He was sired by Max and went on to create his own gang of subordinates (Paul, Dwayne, and Marko). They take up residence in the underground remnants of a long-destroyed luxury hotel. The audience is introduced to David through the eyes of Michael Emerson, and Michael's fascination with a half-vampire named Star, whom David appears to be in a relationship with. Michael is provoked by David into participating in a dangerous motorcycle race. Michael is then lured back to David's lair where he undergoes an initiation, unknowingly drinks blood, and becomes a vampire.

David takes Michael to a group of Surf Nazis at a bonfire, hoping to prompt him into killing. Michael however returns home to his brother, Sam, who has become friends with a pair of vampire hunters, Edgar and Alan Frog. Michael leads Sam, Edgar, and Alan to the vampire lair during the daytime while they are sleeping, and kill Marko. The group escapes.

The vampires attack the vampire hunters at Sam's house, leading to the deaths of Paul and Dwayne. David and Michael face off, which ends with David being impaled on deer antlers.

Reception
Kerrang! described David's appearance as stereotypical of late-1980s goth. Film critic Colin Houlson stated that Sutherland "is moody and seductively scary as David". Tori Danielle wrote in iHorror that David is both edgy and sympathetic, since the essential evils he commits are forced on him by his nature.

Analysis
Jeffrey Weinstock expressed in his book The Vampire Film: Undead Cinema that David (much like many male vampire characters) is a gender stereotype of a male, always performing and trying to "pass" as a human, and in David's case almost to the point of parody.

Homoerotic interpretation
David, and particularly his interactions with the character Michael, has been read as homoerotic. Sutherland has nodded to these themes, remarking that the "whole scene where I catch [Michael] in the fog coming off the bridge ... I mean, it's a very sensual moment!" Harry Benshoff in his book Monsters in the Closet: Homosexuality and the Horror Film states that with his bleach-blond hair, stubble, earrings and leather attire David appears as a gay pin-up model. He interprets the film as the story of the "normal" teen Michael being seduced by David's lifestyle. Psychoanalyst Trevor C. Pederson describes David's attempts at recruiting Michael as "obsessive", noting that David even requests that Michael join him even after Michael and his friends have killed all of David's fellow vampires.

Legacy
The image of David showing his fangs for the first time was used for the cover of John Kenneth Muir's Horror Films of the 1980s and The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead by J Gordon Melton.

Joss Whedon has expressed that the character Spike on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer was inspired by David.

The character became the eponymous vampire to people of the generation the film came out. This can be observed in a meme where he is seen killing the character Edward Cullen from the Twilight series, reflecting the resentment of vampire fans who feel characters like Edward have "ruined" what was once cool about vampires to audiences, which David stood for.

In popular culture
David's character was spoofed on the television show Bloopers after the release of the film.