Alright, fellow tapeheads, slide that worn cassette into the VCR, adjust the tracking just so, and let’s talk about a flick that perfectly embodies that strange, slightly off-kilter energy you could only find lurking on the "New Releases" shelf in 1993: My Boyfriend's Back. If you remember squinting at the box art – a goofy-looking zombie kid holding hands with a very much alive girl – and thinking, "What in the sweet name of Romero is this?", you're not alone. This movie wasn't just a title; it was a premise so bizarre, so brazenly weird, it practically dared you to rent it.
Love Never Dies... It Just Decomposes
The setup is pure high-school angst amplified to undead absurdity. Johnny Dingle (Andrew Lowery) is hopelessly smitten with the gorgeous Missy McCloud (Traci Lind). In a spectacularly ill-advised attempt to stage a heroic rescue during a fake convenience store robbery (because, hormones?), Johnny actually gets himself killed. End of story? Not quite. Fueled by an unbreakable promise to take Missy to the prom, Johnny digs himself out of his own grave, returning as a surprisingly articulate, albeit rapidly decaying, zombie.
Andrew Lowery really leans into the role, managing to be both sympathetic as the lovelorn teen and amusingly grotesque as the walking dead kid trying to navigate social anxieties and rigor mortis. He’s not just moaning for brains; he’s worried about his skin falling off before the big dance. Traci Lind, a familiar face from flicks like Fright Night Part 2 (1988), plays Missy with the right mix of bewilderment and eventual affection. Their chemistry is... unconventional, to say the least, but it sort of works within the film's goofy logic. Keep your eyes peeled too, because the supporting cast is a treasure trove of "before they were stars" moments – spot a young Philip Seymour Hoffman as a lunkheaded bully and an even younger Matthew McConaughey credited as "Guy #2" in the movie theater scene! Alright, alright, alright.
Resurrected, Recut, and Released
Now, here’s where things get really interesting, the kind of stuff we love digging into here at VHS Heaven. My Boyfriend's Back feels tonally… weird. It bounces between sweet teen romance, slapstick comedy, and moments that hint at something much darker and gorier. There's a reason for that. This film had a famously troubled production. Word is, director Bob Balaban (yes, the actor from Close Encounters and director of the wonderfully creepy Parents from 1989) and writers Dean Lorey and Adam Marcus (who later directed Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday) initially envisioned a much edgier, possibly R-rated horror-comedy.
Think darker satire, more visceral body horror reflecting Johnny's decay, maybe even playing up the townsfolks' pitchfork-mob mentality. But studio interference, reportedly from Touchstone Pictures (Disney's more adult-oriented label back then), led to significant reshoots and re-edits aimed at softening the film into a more palatable PG-13 offering. Rumor has it entire subplots and gorier sequences ended up on the cutting room floor, leaving us with the slightly disjointed but strangely endearing film we got on tape. Knowing this context suddenly makes the film's occasional tonal whiplash make a bizarre kind of sense. It cost around $10 million to make but barely clawed back $3.3 million at the box office – a certified flop that quickly shuffled off to video stores, where oddities like this could sometimes find a second life.
The Look and Feel of Undead 90s Charm
Watching it now, the film is a pure time capsule. The fashion, the high school dynamics, the earnestness mixed with attempted cynicism – it screams early 90s. And let's talk effects! In an era just before CGI really took over everything, Johnny's gradual decay relies entirely on practical makeup effects. Is it seamless by today's standards? Not really. Does it have that tangible, slightly rubbery charm we remember from countless hours watching monster movies on fuzzy CRT screens? Absolutely. There's a certain endearing quality to seeing the actual makeup, the physical thing happening on screen, rather than a digital overlay. Remember how impressive that stuff looked back then, even when you could sort of see the seams? The film doesn't shy away from the gross-out potential – Johnny has to literally keep himself together, sometimes with staples – but thanks to those studio cuts, it never quite tips over into truly graphic territory.
The humor often lands in that slightly awkward space between genuinely funny and "did they really just do that?". Johnny's supportive best friend Chuck (Danny Zorn) gets some good lines, and the whole town trying to grapple with a zombie classmate provides decent situational comedy. The central conceit – that Johnny and Missy might actually try to make this undead relationship work, despite his occasional craving for human flesh – is played surprisingly straight amidst the chaos.
So, Does This Romance Still Have a Pulse?
My Boyfriend's Back is undeniably flawed. The studio meddling likely robbed it of a clearer vision, leaving it feeling like a compromise between two different movies. The plot logic is… well, let's just say you don't watch it for its airtight narrative consistency. Yet, there's an undeniable B-movie charm here. It’s ambitious in its weirdness, features a likable lead performance from Lowery, and boasts those fun early appearances from future A-listers. It captures that specific early 90s attempt to blend John Hughesian teen angst with genre tropes, even if it doesn't entirely stick the landing. It’s the kind of movie you’d discover late at night on cable or pick up purely based on the wild cover art at Blockbuster, expecting one thing and getting something… else. Something stranger, sillier, and more memorable than you might have guessed.
VHS Heaven Rating: 6/10
Justification: The score reflects a film that's more curiosity than classic. It gets points for its unique premise, endearing lead, fun supporting cast cameos, and pure 90s nostalgic weirdness. It loses points for the uneven tone (likely due to studio cuts), some jokes that fall flat, and a generally messy execution. It’s a fun, flawed artifact.
Final Thought: Like Johnny Dingle himself, My Boyfriend's Back might be a bit shambolic and uneven, but there's a strange, goofy heart beating somewhere underneath the decay – a perfect specimen of the kind of wonderfully weird stuff that made browsing the video store aisles an adventure.