The mythographer A. Asbjørn Jøn wrote that "The Lost Boys" helped shift popular culture depictions of vampires. The film is often credited with bringing a more youthful appeal to the vampire genre by making the vampires themselves sexy and young. This inspired subsequent films like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". The scene in which David transforms noodles into worms was directly referenced in the 2014 vampire mockumentary film "What We Do in the Shadows". The film inspired the song of the same name by the Finnish gothic rock band The 69 Eyes. Gunship's 2018 "Dark All Day" music video and lyrics reference the themes and practical effects, on top of collaborating with Tim Cappello.