''My Boyfriend's Back'' is a 1993 American
zombie
A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...
horror comedy film
Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...
directed by
Bob Balaban
Robert Elmer Balaban (born August 16, 1945) is an American actor, director, producer and writer. Aside from his acting career, Balaban has directed three feature films, in addition to numerous television episodes and films, and was one of the pro ...
which tells the story of Johnny Dingle (Andrew Lowery), a teenage boy who returns from the dead as a
zombie
A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...
to meet Missy McCloud (
Traci Lind), the girl he's in love with, for a date. The film received negative reviews.
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
Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor. Known for his distinctive supporting and character actor, character roles—eccentrics, underdogs, and misfits—he acted in many films and theatrical productio ...
,
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) 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 su ...
, and
Matthew Fox
Matthew Chandler Fox (born July 14, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Charlie Salinger on '' Party of Five'' (1994–2000) and Jack Shephard on the drama series '' Lost'' (2004–2010), the latter of which earned him G ...
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 (which is why he came back as a zombie), 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, with Johnny's voiceover explaining that the only thing he would have changed about the whole experience was that he would have eaten Buck.
Cast
* Andrew Lowery as Johnny Dingle
*
Traci Lind as Missy McCloud
* Danny Zorn as Eddie
*
Edward Herrmann
Edward Kirk Herrmann (July 21, 1943 – December 31, 2014) was an American actor, director, and writer. He was known for his portrayals of Franklin D. Roosevelt in both the miniseries '' Eleanor and Franklin'' (1976) and 1982 film musical '' An ...
as Mr. Dingle
*
Mary Beth Hurt
Mary Beth Hurt (''née'' Supinger; born September 25, 1946) is a retired American actress of stage and screen. She is a three-time Tony Award-nominated actress.
Notable films in which Hurt appears include ''Interiors'' (1978), '' The World Accor ...
as Mrs. Dingle
*
Jay O. Sanders as Sheriff McCloud
*
Libby Villari
Margaret Elizabeth "Libby" Villari (née Webb; born November 17, 1951) is an American actress. She is best known for her recurring role as Mayor Lucy Rodell on '' Friday Night Lights''. Her film appearances include '' Boyhood'', '' Infamous'', '' ...
as Camille McCloud
*
Matthew Fox
Matthew Chandler Fox (born July 14, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Charlie Salinger on '' Party of Five'' (1994–2000) and Jack Shephard on the drama series '' Lost'' (2004–2010), the latter of which earned him G ...
as Buck Van Patten
*
Philip Hoffman as Chuck Bronski
*
Paul Dooley
Paul Dooley (born Paul Brown; February 22, 1928) is an American character actor. He is known for his roles in '' Breaking Away'', ''Popeye'', '' Strange Brew'', '' Sixteen Candles'' and various Christopher Guest mockumentaries. He co-created the ...
as Big Chuck
*
Austin Pendleton
Austin Campbell Pendleton (born March 27, 1940) is an American actor, playwright, theatre director, and instructor.
Pendleton is known as a prolific character actor on the stage and screen, whose six-decade career has included roles in films i ...
as Dr. Bronson
*
Bob Dishy
Bob Dishy is an American actor of stage, film, and television.
Biography
Early life and education
Dishy grew up in the Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn. His father, a salesman, was born in Beirut and his mother in Jerus ...
as Murray the Gravedigger
*
Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She received many accolades including 22 Primetime Emmy nominations and won eight, tying Julia Louis-Dreyfus ...
as Maggie the Zombie Expert
*
Paxton Whitehead
Francis Edward Paxton Whitehead (17 October 1937 – 16 June 2023) was an English actor and theatre director. He was nominated for a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his performance as Pellinore in the 1980 revival of '' Camelot''. Whiteh ...
as Judge in Heaven
*
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) 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 su ...
as Guy #2
*
Renée Zellweger
Renée Kathleen Zellweger ( ; born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Renée Zellweger, various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four ...
(scenes cut)
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
Touchstone Pictures was an American film distribution label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featured ...
initiated development on the project, then titled ''Johnny Zombie''. Actor-director
Bob Balaban
Robert Elmer Balaban (born August 16, 1945) is an American actor, director, producer and writer. Aside from his acting career, Balaban has directed three feature films, in addition to numerous television episodes and films, and was one of the pro ...
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
Austin Campbell Pendleton (born March 27, 1940) is an American actor, playwright, theatre director, and instructor.
Pendleton is known as a prolific character actor on the stage and screen, whose six-decade career has included roles in films i ...
,
Mary Beth Hurt
Mary Beth Hurt (''née'' Supinger; born September 25, 1946) is a retired American actress of stage and screen. She is a three-time Tony Award-nominated actress.
Notable films in which Hurt appears include ''Interiors'' (1978), '' The World Accor ...
,
Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She received many accolades including 22 Primetime Emmy nominations and won eight, tying Julia Louis-Dreyfus ...
, and
Jules Feiffer
Jules Ralph Feiffer ( ; January 26, 1929 – January 17, 2025) was an American cartoonist and author, who at one time was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for Pulitzer Prize for Editori ...
. The film marked the cinematic debuts of
Matthew Fox
Matthew Chandler Fox (born July 14, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Charlie Salinger on '' Party of Five'' (1994–2000) and Jack Shephard on the drama series '' Lost'' (2004–2010), the latter of which earned him G ...
and
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew David McConaughey ( ; born November 4, 1969) 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 su ...
.
Renée Zellweger
Renée Kathleen Zellweger ( ; born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Renée Zellweger, various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four ...
's only scene was cut from the film.
Principal photography commenced on November 2, 1992, in the
Hill Country
The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Ameri ...
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.
Reception
Critical reception
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, a
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
, reports that 13% of 23 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating was 3.4/10. ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' called it "an idiotic offbeat comedy" that "repeats ideas and jokes more effectively used in his 1989 ''
Parents
A parent is either the progenitor of a child or, in humans, it can refer to a caregiver or legal guardian, generally called an adoptive parent or step-parent. Parents who are progenitors are first-degree relatives and have 50% genetic meet. ...
''."
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic.
Biography
Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' 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." Kevin Thomas of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' 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. Mark Caro of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' 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".
Jeff Shannon of the ''
Seattle Times
''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...
'' 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."
Ty Burr
Ty Burr (born August 17, 1957) is an American film critic, columnist, and author who reviews films for ''The Washington Post'' and writes the film and popular culture newsletter "Ty Burr's Watchlist". Burr worked as a film critic at ''The Boston ...
of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' rated it "D" and compared it negatively to ''
Heathers
''Heathers'' is a 1988 American teen dark comedy crime film written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, in both of their respective film debuts. The film stars Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, K ...
''.
Academic
Peter Dendle
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 (language and literature), and the monstrous (in film, folklore, and ...
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".
[
]
Themes
Peter Dendle identifies the themes of the film as being standard teen film
Teen film is a film genre targeted at teenagers, preteens and/or young adults by the plot being based on their special interests, such as coming of age, attempting to fit in, bullying, peer pressure, first love, teen rebellion, conflict with pa ...
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.
See also
* List of zombie films
Zombies are fictional creatures usually portrayed as reanimated corpses or virally infected human beings. They are commonly portrayed as anthropophagous in nature—labeling them as cannibals would imply zombies are still members of the human sp ...
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Bob Balaban
1993 black comedy films
1993 comedy horror films
1993 romantic comedy films
1990s teen comedy films
1990s teen fantasy films
1990s teen romance films
1990s romantic fantasy films
1990s high school films
1993 films
American black comedy films
American comedy horror films
American romantic comedy films
American romantic fantasy films
American teen comedy films
American teen romance films
American zombie comedy films
Touchstone Pictures films
Films scored by Harry Manfredini
Films directed by Bob Balaban
Films about proms
Resurrection in film
1990s English-language films
1990s American films
Films produced by Sean S. Cunningham
Films with screenplays by Dean Lorey
English-language comedy horror films
English-language romantic comedy films
English-language romantic fantasy films