Michael Emerson is the son of Lucy Emerson and the older brother to Sam. He is seen as being a relatively quiet teenager interested in fitness and motorcycles. He moves from his hometown of Phoenix, Arizona to Santa Carla, California after his mother's divorce. While there, Michael becomes infatuated with a girl named Star, who appears to be in a relationship with David Powers. David challenges Michael to a deadly motorcycle race, which Michael loses, and invites him back to their hangout. While at their hangout, David taunts Michael before eventually offering him wine, which was really blood, turning him into a half-vampire. David and his gang hang off of the underside of an elevated train before each individually falling off. Eventually, Michael loses his grip and falls, waking up in his own bed. Michael's newfound abilities eventually manifest themselves when he begins reacting negatively to sunlight, constantly wearing sunglasses and one night begins flying around the house. He confides in his brother Sam to help him, as Sam had recently befriended self-proclaimed vampire hunters, Edgar and Alan Frog. Michael has another encounter with David where David attempts to persuade Michael into killing. Michael instead watches in horror and fear as David and his gang massacre a group of Surf Nazis. Michael returns home where he comes across Star, who reveals that she too is a half-vampire and Michael was intended to be her first victim, turning her into a fully-fledged vampire. After this, Michael leads Sam, Edgar and Alan to David's lair, where they rescue Star and another half-vampire Laddie, and end up successfully killing one vampire in Marko. The group barely escape with their lives and only do so due to David's hand coming into contact with sunlight. That evening, Michael, Sam, Edgar and Alan prepare to defend themselves, Star and Laddie from David and the other two remaining vampires. This results in the deaths of the other two vampires leading to a final confrontation between Michael and David, which ends with Michael implanting David on a set of deer antlers. After seemingly killing David, Michael and Star notice that their vampiric abilities are still present. It is then revealed that Max, a seemingly innocent video store owner who was romantically interested in Lucy, is the true head vampire who had David turn Michael in hopes of getting Lucy to become a mother to the vampires. Michael's grandfather then stakes Max with his tractor, freeing Michael, Star and Laddie from their vampirism.
Development
In the original screenplay of the film, written by James Jeremias and Janice Fischer, the story was originally meant to be modelled after initial director Richard Donner's recent hit, The Goonies. This was later changed when Joel Schumacher and Jeffrey Boam came aboard. According to Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric had a hand in changing the film's tone. Sutherland elaborated on this at a convention stating: "Jason had a large part to do with that, was really instrumental in kind of, changing, working with Joel on the script, sometimes in a nice way, sometimes not so nice." Ben Stiller had also auditioned for a role in the movie, but while Stiller hasn't explicitly stated which role, many fans have been led to believe that Stiller was up for the role of Michael, before it went to Jason Patric, who had initially turned the role down. Patric was cast early on in production, and eventually convinced Schumacher to cast Jami Gertz as Star, having worked together previously in Solarbabies.
Reception
While not much is known about his personality, Michael's encounters with David and the character's restrained and vulnerable portrayal by Jason Patric were highly praised. The dynamic and tension between actors Jason Patric and Kiefer Sutherland were also a point of critical acclaim. The character has also been interpreted to have carried homoerotic themes throughout the screenplay, due to the attraction he carried toward David and the vampire gang. Kiefer Sutherland, who played David, has commented on the possible homoeroticism in the film, describing an encounter between David and Michael as "sensual". Cat LaFuente from The List commented on the undertones stating, "Then there are the vampire boys, who all sleep in the same room and do everything together. Could it be, perhaps, that their leather-forward outfits hint at an interest in the underground gay culture of the 1980s? They all drank David's bodily fluids, after all, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. And why are none of them hooking up with Star, the only woman who's ever around? That would certainly explain the dramatic tension between David and Michael." Some viewers have interpreted that the undertones included in the film were a result of director Joel Schumacher, who is an openly gay man in real life. The character is set to be featured in an upcoming television series reboot on The CW portrayed by Tyler Posey. However, Posey was replaced by Branden Cook, with the character renamed as Garrett.
The character has been referenced multiple times in popular culture. The scene in the film featuring the character's initiation by David where he turns noodles into worms was parodied in the Taika Waititi's 2014 parody film What We Do In The Shadows. The character has also gotten a "Funko Pop!" figurine based on the character, as well as an action figure by the National Entertainment Collectables Association. The character's notability has also been recognised as one of the most memorable things from the film, with some fans even mocking the fact that the character's name is said a grand total of 114 times throughout the film's 98 minute runtime. Michael also re-appears in the 2016 The Lost Boys sequel comic series of the same name published by Vertigo Comics.
There are many references and homages to Michael Emerson throughout the hit Netflix streaming show Stranger Things through the character of Billy Hargrove, played by Australian actor Dacre Montgomery. The character was modelled after Jason Patric's look in the film, to the extent of adopting the lone earring Michael wore in the film. Hargrove has also been noted for the similarity between him and Michael, both being new punk kids in a small town, as well as Billy's struggle not to become consumed by The Mind Flayer, noting similarities between Michael's fight against his newly-discovered vampirism. Ironically, Billy Hargrove has also been compared to that of Kiefer Sutherland as well, notably the characters of David and Ace Merrill from Stand by Me. In the comparisons to David, the character of Steve Harrington is instead used as the example of Michael, due in parts to Billy's attitude and Steve's reluctance to give in to Billy. The adversary relationship between Billy and Steve played a prominent role in the show's second season, which led to many fans noticing the similarities between the relationship of David and Michael to that of Billy and Steve.
