My Boyfriend's Back (film)

Last updated
My Boyfriend's Back
Boyfriend'sback.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Bob Balaban
Written by Dean Lorey
Produced by Sean S. Cunningham
Starring
Cinematography Mac Ahlberg
Edited byMichael Jablow
Music by Harry Manfredini
Production
company
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution [1]
Release date
  • August 6, 1993 (1993-08-06)
Running time
84 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States [1]
LanguageEnglish
BudgetLess than $10 million [1]
Box office$3.3 million (US) [2]

My Boyfriend's Back is a 1993 American zombie horror comedy film directed by Bob Balaban which tells the story of Johnny Dingle (Andrew Lowery), a teenage boy who returns from the dead as a zombie to meet Missy McCloud (Traci Lind), the girl he's in love with, for a date. The film received negative reviews.

Contents

The film's title is a reference to the 1963 song of the same name by The Angels (which is used in the promotional trailers, but not featured in the film itself). The original title of the film, Johnny Zombie, was changed shortly before the film's theatrical release. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Matthew McConaughey, and Matthew Fox appear in small roles in the film.

Plot

Johnny Dingle has been in love with Missy McCloud since they were kids. In his senior year of high school, he decides to fake a robbery at Missy's job with his best friend, Eddie. He hopes that by stopping the "robbery" he will impress her and she will go to the prom with him.

During the "robbery" a real robber holds Johnny and Missy at gunpoint. Thinking that the robber is Eddie, Johnny dies taking a bullet meant for Missy. After the funeral, Johnny rises from the grave. He is greeted by Murray the gravedigger, who warns him that he can't leave the cemetery. Johnny ignores him and goes back to his home.

Missy is hesitant to be around Johnny, but changes her mind when her boyfriend Buck and his dim-witted friend Chuck discriminate against him for being a Zombie. They go on a date, which goes well until Missy accidentally rips Johnny's ear off.

Johnny goes to the town doctor, Dr. Bronson, who refers him to a woman named Maggie, the widow of a zombie. She tells Johnny that he needs to eat the flesh of the living to stop decaying.

Johnny and Missy meet up at the library, where he's attacked by Buck and Chuck. Chuck accidentally hits himself in the head with an ax and dies. Johnny eats Chuck's body, invoking the wrath of Chuck's father, Big Chuck.

Missy's father, the town sheriff, tells Johnny to leave town for his own safety. Johnny doesn't listen and returns to Missy at night, but leaves when he bites her arm. He's captured by Dr.Bronson, who attempts to dissect Johnny and create a youth formula from his zombie cells. Johnny escapes when Big Chuck leads a mob to kill him, with Missy and Eddie helping him. He flees to the cemetery, where Murray, his parents, Eddie, and Missy defend him, earning him the town and the sheriff's acceptance. Johnny and Missy dance, but Johnny begins to decay and dies.

In Heaven, he's told by the gatekeeper that he was not meant to die in the robbery, and he is sent back to the moment before the robber entered. The events replay but Johnny survives this time due to the bullet hitting Missy's locket. Johnny and Missy go to the prom as a couple.

Cast

Production

A script, initially consisting mainly of comic sketches about a teenage boy transforming into a zombie, was presented to writer Dean Lorey by a friend, who asked him to develop a cohesive story. In September 1992, Touchstone Pictures initiated development on the project, then titled Johnny Zombie. Actor-director Bob Balaban became involved in October 1992 after receiving the script in August 1992, giving him only a few weeks to prepare for production. Balaban enlisted several actors from his previous collaborations, including Austin Pendleton, Mary Beth Hurt, Cloris Leachman, and Jules Feiffer. The film marked the cinematic debuts of Matthew Fox and Matthew McConaughey. Renée Zellweger's only scene was cut from the film. [1]

Principal photography commenced on November 2, 1992, in the Hill Country region of central Texas, encompassing locations such as Austin, the Georgetown town square, and the C. D. Fulkes Middle School in Round Rock. The eight-week shoot used a budget of less than $10 million. Shortly before its theatrical release, the title was altered to My Boyfriend’s Back, contributing to a trend of recent films adopting titles from popular songs. [1]

Reception

Critical reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 13% of 23 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 3.4/10. [3] Variety called it "an idiotic offbeat comedy" that "repeats ideas and jokes more effectively used in his 1989 Parents ." [4] Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote, "If My Boyfriend's Back is an irredeemably silly movie, it has an engaging lightness of tone and uniformly impeccable performances by a cast that maintains just the right attitude of deadpan parody." [5] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called it "an awful teen horror comedy" and said it "has a disastrous tone of sunny sitcom jauntiness" when it should have focused on dark satire. [6] Mark Caro of the Chicago Tribune wrote, "The movie is full of nonsensical plot twists, embarrassingly broad performances and unappealing characters." Caro criticized the casting of Lowery, calling his character "perhaps the least interesting movie zombie ever". [7] Jeff Shannon of the Seattle Times wrote, "Simply put, absolutely none of it works. The movie utterly fails to set a foundation for its dark fantasy, effectively turning every character into a moron." [8] Ty Burr of Entertainment Weekly rated it "D" and compared it negatively to Heathers . [9] Academic Peter Dendle called it the best of the zombie romantic comedy films of the late 1980s and early 1990s but criticized its use of family-friendly themes as "cheesy" and "saccharine". [10]

Themes

Peter Dendle identifies the themes of the film as being standard teen film tropes. Dingle's urges to eat his date are a metaphor for teenage sexual activity, and his fear of decomposition is teenage anxiety over acne. As a zombie, Dingle is discriminated against and ostracized, which is meant to show zombies as outsiders. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Dazed and Confused</i> (film) 1993 film by Richard Linklater

Dazed and Confused is a 1993 American coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by Richard Linklater. The film follows a variety of teenagers on the last day of school in Austin, Texas in 1976. The film has no single protagonist or central conflict, rather following interconnected plot threads among different social groups and characters, such as rising ninth graders undergoing hazing rituals, a football star's refusal to sign a clean living pledge for his coach, and various characters hanging out at a pool hall. The film features a large ensemble cast of actors who would later become stars, including Jason London, Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, Cole Hauser, Parker Posey, Adam Goldberg, Matthew McConaughey, Nicky Katt, Joey Lauren Adams, and Rory Cochrane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John 5 (guitarist)</span> American guitarist

John William Lowery, best known by the stage name John 5, is an American guitarist. His stage name was bestowed on him in 1998 when he left David Lee Roth's solo band and joined the rock band Marilyn Manson as their guitarist, taking over for Zim Zum. Still going by the name John 5, Lowery became the guitarist for Rob Zombie in addition to his continued collaborations with musical artists across many genres. In 2022, John 5 left Rob Zombie and became the touring lead guitarist for Mötley Crüe, being promoted to a full member the following year.

<i>Shock Waves</i> (film) 1977 horror movie directed by Ken Wiederhorn

Shock Waves is a 1977 American horror film written and directed by Ken Wiederhorn. The film is about a group of tourists who encounter aquatic Nazi zombies when they become shipwrecked. It stars Peter Cushing as a former SS commander, Brooke Adams as a tourist, and John Carradine as the captain of the tourists' boat.

<i>Zombie High</i> 1987 film by Ron Link

Zombie High is a 1987 American comedy horror film directed by Ron Link. The film was released theatrically on October 2, 1987, and stars Virginia Madsen as a beautiful young teenager who must fight against a boarding school that is intent on turning everyone into a Stepford-esque "perfect" student.

<i>Dead & Breakfast</i> 2004 American film

Dead & Breakfast is a 2004 musical zombie comedy film directed by Matthew Leutwyler starring Ever Carradine, Gina Philips, Erik Palladino, Bianca Lawson, Jeremy Sisto and Oz Perkins. The film premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival and went on to win over a dozen awards. It was also nominated for a Saturn Award.

<i>Flesheater</i> 1988 film by Bill Hinzman

Flesheater is 1988 horror film directed, written, produced, and co–edited by Bill Hinzman. An independent production, the film also stars Hinzman, best known for playing the cemetery ghoul in George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968).

<i>Sugar Hill</i> (1974 film) 1974 film by Paul Maslansky

Sugar Hill is a 1974 American horror blaxploitation zombie film, directed by Paul Maslansky and starring Marki Bey as the title character who uses voodoo to get revenge on the people responsible for her boyfriend's death. It was released by American International Pictures. According to the film, the zombies are the preserved bodies of slaves brought to the United States from Guinea. AIP had previously combined the horror and blaxploitation genres with Blacula (1972) and its sequel Scream Blacula Scream (1973).

<i>King of the Zombies</i> 1941 film

King of the Zombies is a 1941 American zombie comedy film directed by Jean Yarbrough and starring Dick Purcell, Joan Woodbury, and Mantan Moreland. The film was produced by Monogram Pictures, and was typical of its B films produced by the Pine-Thomas team. Along with flying scenes, the use of zany characters and slapstick efforts were juxtaposed with a spy and zombie story.

<i>I Was a Teenage Zombie</i> 1987 film

I Was a Teenage Zombie is a 1987 American comedy horror film.

<i>Surfer, Dude</i> 2008 American film

Surfer, Dude is a 2008 American comedy film directed by S.R. Bindler and starring Matthew McConaughey.

<i>Night Life</i> (1989 film) 1989 American film

Night Life is a 1989 American zombie comedy film directed by David Acomba and starring Scott Grimes, John Astin, and Cheryl Pollak. It centers around a high school nerd named Archie Melville who is harassed from beyond the grave by the zombie corpses of his former high school bullies after they are brought back to life by a freak lightning storm. It is also known as Grave Misdemeanors.

<i>Colin</i> (film) 2008 British film

Colin is a 2008 British zombie film written and directed by Marc Price. After a successful run in a number of film festivals, it went on to be shown at Cannes in 2009. Applauded for its success despite its low budget, the total cost of production was reportedly £45. The director, actor and comedian Marc Price, shot Colin on a standard definition Panasonic mini-dv camcorder that he had owned for 10 years and edited the film on his home PC using Adobe Premiere 6 software which had come bundled with a video capture card he'd purchased a few years earlier. Facebook and Myspace were used to gather actors to play the zombies.

Peter Dendle is a professor of English at Penn State Mont Alto, teaching classes on folklore, 20th and 21st century representations of the Middle Ages, Old and Middle English, and the monstrous. Dendle has written books and articles on a number of topics, including cryptozoology, philology, the demonic in literature, zombie movies, and Medieval plants and medicine. His work on zombies was featured by NPR.

Revenge of the Zombies is a 1943 comedy horror film, directed by Steve Sekely, starring John Carradine and Gale Storm. Dr. Max Heinrich von Altermann, is a mad scientist working to create a race of living dead warriors for the Third Reich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew McConaughey</span> American actor (born 1969)

Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor. He achieved his breakthrough with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy Dazed and Confused (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first success as a leading man came in the legal drama A Time to Kill (1996). His career progressed with lead roles in the science fiction film Contact (1997), the historical drama Amistad (1997), and the war film U-571 (2000).

<i>The Lincoln Lawyer</i> (film) 2011 U.S. film by Brad Furman

The Lincoln Lawyer is a 2011 American legal thriller film adapted from the 2005 novel of the same title by Michael Connelly. The film is directed by Brad Furman, with the screenplay written by John Romano, and stars Matthew McConaughey as the titular lawyer, Mickey Haller. The film also stars Ryan Phillippe, Marisa Tomei, Josh Lucas, William H. Macy, and Bryan Cranston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew McConaughey filmography</span>

Matthew McConaughey is an American actor who made his breakthrough by starring in the Richard Linklater-directed coming of age comedy Dazed and Confused in 1993. His first lead role was in the 1996 film adaptation of the John Grisham novel A Time to Kill. The following year, McConaughey played the lawyer Roger Sherman Baldwin opposite Morgan Freeman and Anthony Hopkins in the Steven Spielberg-directed historical drama Amistad, and also starred opposite Jodie Foster in the Robert Zemeckis-directed science fiction drama Contact. In 1998, he appeared in the Linklater-directed comedy-drama The Newton Boys. During the 2000s, McConaughey was typecast as a romantic comedy lead in the films The Wedding Planner (2001), How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), Failure to Launch (2006), and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009).

<i>Sing</i> (2016 American film) Illumination film

Sing is a 2016 American animated jukebox musical comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was written and directed by Garth Jennings, co-directed by Christophe Lourdelet, and produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy. Set in a world inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, the film focuses on a struggling theater owner who stages a singing competition in an effort to prevent his theater from entering foreclosure, as well as how the competition interferes with the personal lives of its contestants.

<i>White Boy Rick</i> 2018 film by Yann Demange

White Boy Rick is a 2018 American crime drama film directed by Yann Demange and written by Andy Weiss, Logan Miller, and Noah Miller. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Richie Merritt in his film debut, Bel Powley, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Brian Tyree Henry, Rory Cochrane, RJ Cyler, Jonathan Majors, Eddie Marsan, Bruce Dern, and Piper Laurie in her final film role. The film is loosely based on the story of Richard Wershe Jr., who in the 1980s became the youngest FBI informant ever at the age of 14.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "My Boyfriend's Back (1993)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . Retrieved November 14, 2022.
  2. ↑ "My Boyfriend's Back". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  3. ↑ "My Boyfriend's Back (1993)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Review: 'My Boyfriend's Back'". Variety . 1993. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  5. ↑ Holden, Stephen (August 6, 1993). "Review/Film; Prom Night Was Never Like This". The New York Times . Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  6. ↑ Thomas, Kevin (August 6, 1993). "MOVIE REVIEW : 'My Boyfriend's Back': Buried in Sunny Sitcom Jauntiness". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  7. ↑ Caro, Mark (August 8, 1993). "Grave Issue". Chicago Tribune . Archived from the original on February 6, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  8. ↑ Shannon, Jeff (August 6, 1993). "Putrid Humor Is Shameless In 'My Boyfriend's Back'". Seattle Times . Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  9. ↑ Burr, Ty (August 20, 1993). "My Boyfriend's Back". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on February 6, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
  10. 1 2 Dendle, Peter (2001). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia. McFarland & Company. pp. 113–114. ISBN   978-0-7864-9288-6.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.