The LAPD is reporting that actor Corey Haim has been found dead of an accidental overdose. Haim was very familiar to genre fans, having starred in the popular vampire film The Lost Boys. Haim's struggles with substance abuse were well chronicled over the past decade and it is sad to hear he has lost his battle. Here is a brief look at his genre work over the years.
We first got to know Haim in Joel Schumacher's The Lost Boys. Haim played Sam, younger brother of Jason Patrick's Mike. After Mike gets himself involved with a local vampire "gang", Sam and a couple of young classmates turn themselves into vampire hunters complete with water guns filled with holy water. One of the actors playing his buddy was Corey Feldman who would become linked with Haim throughout their careers.
Haim also starred in two horror films based on works by two legends of the field. First, Silver Bullet, an adaptation of Stephen King's Cycle of the Werewolf. This is a highly underrated horror film that you should really check out if you haven't seen it. The film shares some similarities with The Lost Boys as Haim once again plays a young boy who feels like something supernatural is going on and has to fight to be believed. In this case, a small town is home to a number of unsolved killings. Haim, playing the paraplegic Marty, believes a werewolf is responsible. He is, of course, correct.
Haim continued his horror work in a less successful adaptation of Dean Koontz's Watchers. He plays a young boy who finds a genetically modified, super intelligent dog. It also isn't long before he discovers that the dog isn't the only genetically modified creature that is on the loose as they begin to be stalked by a fearsome (and cheesy) beast. It isn't the best horror film, but it is watchable and not in a so-bad-it-is-good way. It is actually a solid low budget horror film.
Haim had some other genre work that I'm not familiar with including a upcoming zombie movie called The Dead Sea. At first, I thought that The Dead Sea might be an adaptation of Brian Keene's Dead Sea which is also a zombie film set on a boat, but apparently it is a separate project. The Dead Sea had finished primary filming and was in post-production, so I expect we will get a chance to see it despite Haim's death.
It is always sad to lose someone who enriched our lives with their creative work. Our thoughts are with Haim's friends and family in this sad moment.