MY BOYFRIEND'S BACK (1993)
Label: Mill Creek Entertainment
Region Code: A
Rating: PG13
Duration: 85 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Bob Balaban
Cast: Andrew Lowery, Traci Lind, Danny Zorn, Edward Herrmann, Mary Beth Hurt, Jay O. Sanders, Matthew Fox, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Synopsis: Teenager Johnny Dingle will do anything to keep his date with the hottest girl in school - even come back from the grave! You see, Johnny had the perfect scheme to win the heart of Missy McCloud, the town beauty. Unfortunately, Johnny's scam goes sour and he winds up dead! Even so, Johnny's determined to keep his date - unaware of the hilarity waiting for him upon his return! See for yourself why everyone is dying to see this outlandishly funny comedy!
Mill Creek Entertainment bring another goofy comedy to HD with the release of My Boyfriend's Back from '93, starring Andrew Lowry (School Ties) as teenager Johnny Dingle, who beyond belief is not referred to as dingleberry even once throughout the movie. Anyway, Johnny has had a secret crush on classmate Missy McCloud (Traci Lind, Fright Night Part 2) since they were knee-high to fly, but has never had the testicular fortitude to do anything about it, that is until she breaks up with her longtime jock boyfriend Buck Van Patten (Mathew Fox, Lost). Just as Eddie's working up the nerve to ask her to the senior prom Buck and Missy make-up, but Johnny Dingle is not yet done, he and his best pal Eddie (Danny Zorn) hatch an ill-conceived staged robbery scheme to win Missy's heart, a scheme that ends with Johnny being shot in the chest and dying ...oops, bad plan.
However, Johnny's crush is so strong for Missy that it brings him back from dead, crawling up from out of his grave and returning home to the shock of his parents, sort of. No one seems to be too-shocked by the reanimated teenager, it is just sort of accepted by the community at large, with only a few taking exception to his new found craving for human flesh.
Now Johnny sets about winning the heart of Missy, while fighting the urge to feast on the flesh friends, though certain bullies are still on the menu. This is a fun one, part high school comedy, a sprinkle of horror, a lot of situational zombie humor, with tongue planted firmly in cheek where t belongs. The script is good and the cast do a great job with the material, particularly Lowery as the undead teen, plus a fun cast of side characters, including a doctor who wants to exploit Dingle for his own benefit, an undertaker who tries to warn Dingle about his undead condition, and Eddie's parent's played by Edward Herrmann (The Lost Boys) and Mary Beth Hurt (The World According to Garp). keep an eye out for a very young Philip Seymour Hoffman (Happiness) as a creepy bully, I almost didn't recognize the guy, sort of like a more testosterone-fueled version of Scotty J. from Boogie Nights.
I didn't expect to enjoy this one as much as I did, a '90s zombie-comedy with some nice twists and turns, the writers were definitely having fun with the genre mash-up, as did I. There are some nice nightmare sequences that lean more towards horror, and some fun typical high school scenarios that are kicked-up a notch with the zombie stuff, not every teen movie deals with body parts rotting off during make-out sessions, at least not back in '93.
My Boyfriend's Back arrives on Blu-ray from Mill Creek Entertainment look very nice, there's a pleasing amount of fine detail and clarity to the image. The only audio option is an English Dolby Digital stereo, dialogue and the Harry Manfredini (Friday the 13th) score come through clean and well-balanced, but not very robust. My Boyfriend's Back (1993) should be a welcome addition to any fan of zom-coms, and it can be had for cheap! This would make a fun double bill with he Steve Buscemi zom-com Ed and His Dead Mother from '92, another movie that could use a Blu-ray release. 3/5.
Mill Creek Entertainment bring another goofy comedy to HD with the release of My Boyfriend's Back from '93, starring Andrew Lowry (School Ties) as teenager Johnny Dingle, who beyond belief is not referred to as dingleberry even once throughout the movie. Anyway, Johnny has had a secret crush on classmate Missy McCloud (Traci Lind, Fright Night Part 2) since they were knee-high to fly, but has never had the testicular fortitude to do anything about it, that is until she breaks up with her longtime jock boyfriend Buck Van Patten (Mathew Fox, Lost). Just as Eddie's working up the nerve to ask her to the senior prom Buck and Missy make-up, but Johnny Dingle is not yet done, he and his best pal Eddie (Danny Zorn) hatch an ill-conceived staged robbery scheme to win Missy's heart, a scheme that ends with Johnny being shot in the chest and dying ...oops, bad plan.
However, Johnny's crush is so strong for Missy that it brings him back from dead, crawling up from out of his grave and returning home to the shock of his parents, sort of. No one seems to be too-shocked by the reanimated teenager, it is just sort of accepted by the community at large, with only a few taking exception to his new found craving for human flesh.
Now Johnny sets about winning the heart of Missy, while fighting the urge to feast on the flesh friends, though certain bullies are still on the menu. This is a fun one, part high school comedy, a sprinkle of horror, a lot of situational zombie humor, with tongue planted firmly in cheek where t belongs. The script is good and the cast do a great job with the material, particularly Lowery as the undead teen, plus a fun cast of side characters, including a doctor who wants to exploit Dingle for his own benefit, an undertaker who tries to warn Dingle about his undead condition, and Eddie's parent's played by Edward Herrmann (The Lost Boys) and Mary Beth Hurt (The World According to Garp). keep an eye out for a very young Philip Seymour Hoffman (Happiness) as a creepy bully, I almost didn't recognize the guy, sort of like a more testosterone-fueled version of Scotty J. from Boogie Nights.
I didn't expect to enjoy this one as much as I did, a '90s zombie-comedy with some nice twists and turns, the writers were definitely having fun with the genre mash-up, as did I. There are some nice nightmare sequences that lean more towards horror, and some fun typical high school scenarios that are kicked-up a notch with the zombie stuff, not every teen movie deals with body parts rotting off during make-out sessions, at least not back in '93.
My Boyfriend's Back arrives on Blu-ray from Mill Creek Entertainment look very nice, there's a pleasing amount of fine detail and clarity to the image. The only audio option is an English Dolby Digital stereo, dialogue and the Harry Manfredini (Friday the 13th) score come through clean and well-balanced, but not very robust. My Boyfriend's Back (1993) should be a welcome addition to any fan of zom-coms, and it can be had for cheap! This would make a fun double bill with he Steve Buscemi zom-com Ed and His Dead Mother from '92, another movie that could use a Blu-ray release. 3/5.
