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Released by: Mill Creek Entertainment
Released on: March 15th, 2016.
Director: Bob Balaban
Cast: Andrew Lowery, Traci Lind, Danny Zorn, Edward Herrmann, Mary Beth Hurt
Year: 1993
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The Movie:
Bob Balaban, the man who brought us Parents, directs this quirky comedy made for Touchstone in 1993 wherein we meet a high school student named Johnny Dingle (Andrew Lowery) who quite obviously has a massive crush on Missy McCloud (Traci Lind). At least it's obvious to us, he has more or less kept quiet about this, having grown up with her and never really opted to make a move.
When Missy breaks up with Buck (Matthew Fox), he tries to get her attention but soon enough she and Buck are making doe eyes at one another again and Johnny's left in the dust. Then his pal Eddie (Danny Zorn) comes up with an idea he's positive will win Johnny Missy's heart for good. See, Missy works as a clerk at a convenience store. Eddie is going to put on a mask and stage a fake robbery while Johnny is inside shopping - when he saves her from the gun totting lunatic Eddie will pretend to be, she will melt in his arm and be his forever.
But of course, when Johnny's in there waiting for Eddie to show up, a real robber with a real gun shows up, but as his face is covered, Johnny figures it's Eddie. He tries to stop him and shot dead right in front of his dream girl. Shortly thereafter, Johnny is put six feet under but before you know it, he's back… as a flesh eating zombie hungry for love! Figuring he's been given another chance to win Missy's heart, this time Johnny shows no fear, even if he is decomposing.
Aside from the questionable title (Johnny was never really Missy's boyfriend before he came back) and the fact that Lowery's living skin is clearly visible most of the time under his unusually thin zombie makeup, this is a fun watch. It takes a pretty simple concept - boy loves girl, dies, comes back from the grave and needs to prove his feelings for her - and exploits it pretty effectively. There are quite a few basic but workable sight gags used throughout the movie, most of which stem from the fact that Johnny is a zombie and therefore starting to rot, but in addition to that the dialogue is well written and the production values typically pretty good. This wasn't a 'huge' film but it had enough of a budget behind it to ensure that it looked good and that it was nicely shot (making the crummy zombie makeup all the more questionable).
As to the acting, Andrew Lowery is likeable enough in both living and undead form. Before he gets killed he's easy enough to relate to in that most of us in our younger years probably had a crush on someone that we never did anything about for whatever reason. It's a fairly universal premise and as such, we can get behind him early enough in the film to want him to win the girl. Once he's come back from the dead, he's still 'that guy' that the film made us like in the first place as Lowery's performance doesn't' really change much, only his character's situations. Danny Zorn steals a few scenes as goofball Eddie while Matthew Fox is good enough as his 'too cool' jock character that you'd have to be a jerk to prefer him over Johnny. As to Traci Lind? She's a very pretty lady, that's for sure (those who remember her from Fright Night II won't forget her) and she too does fine work here. If the chemistry she and Lowery share on screen won't exactly set the world on fire, it's good enough to keep us invested in the picture and the end result is a fun mix of quirky humor and, for lack of a better way to put it, sweet romantic comedy.
Video/Audio/Extras:
My Boyfriend's Back debuts on Blu-ray from Mill Creek in an AVC encoded 1080p transfer framed at 1.78.1 that looks really nice. The 25GB disc has plenty of breathing room given that this is a barebones release with lossy audio, so there are no obvious compression issues. Typically detail looks quite strong, texture is also impressive. Very minor print damage shows up here but if you're not looking for it you probably won't even really notice it. Colors look great and are reproduced very nicely here, while black levels are strong and solid.
Audio chores are handled by a Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track, there's no lossless option here, and it sounds fine. It doesn't sound amazing, mind you, but it's workable if a bit flat and occasionally a little muddy. A lossless option is always ideal on Blu-ray and this hardly takes full advantage of the format but it works.
There are no extras on the disc, just a static menu offering chapter selection.
The Final Word:
My Boyfriend's Back gets a very nice looking, albeit barebones, Blu-ray debut from Mill Creek. Lossless audio would have been nice, but the transfer is strong, the movie is a lot of fun, and you can't really argue with the price.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
Enjoyable and likable zom rom com.
Great read about the making of the film.