A few weeks ago, I decided to revisit some of the movies and television shows on heavy cable TV rotation in the 1990s. Armed with a stack of TV Guides, a highlighter, and a bag of Bugles, I embarked on this trip down memory lane with a mix of nostalgia and wonder. In addition to learning that Rain Man was always on between 1991-1999, I also rediscovered a blast from the past I’d completely forgotten about: the zombie rom-com My Boyfriend’s Back (Disc/Download).
If you watched a lot of television in the nineties, you probably saw this movie’s trailer, featuring the hit song by The Angels (“My boyfriend’s back, and you’re gonna be in trouble…”). You might also recall a scene where a teenage couple is necking in a car, and suddenly the guy’s ear comes off. After watching this again, I can confirm: it’s even stranger than I remember. First of all, the “high school” students all seem to be in their late-twenties/early-thirties. When lead character Johnny Dingle—that name!!!!!!—wakes up in his parents’ house the morning after his funeral, the weirdest thing isn’t that he woke up, but rather, that he still lives with his parents. This guy should have a mortgage and 401K by now! Alas, Johnny is now a zombie, and if he wants to stay “alive” long enough to take his dream girl to the high school prom, he has to start eating his classmates. This isn’t a hard choice when it comes to the school bullies (Matthew Fox and Philip Seymour Hoffman in very early roles), but when his mom serves him an afternoon snack in the form of a small child, he balks. He’s not a monster; he’s just horny.
If you’re going to make it through this movie, you’re going to need alcohol. You could go all-in and mix up an original Zombie (that recipe is posted here); however, I decided to try my hand at Martin Cate’s simplified version, published in the Smuggler’s Cove book. While watching My Boyfriend’s Back, I recommend drinking an Undead Gentleman.
Undead Gentleman
1 ½ oz blended aged rum
1 oz overproof rum
½ oz Velvet Falernum
½ oz cinnamon syrup
½ oz grapefruit juice
½ oz lime juice
1 dash angostura bitters
1 dash absinthe (for rinsing glass only)
To prepare chilled glass, swirl absinthe inside, then discard. Add remaining ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake to chill, then strain into prepared glass. Garnish with a dried lime slice.
After a few of these cocktails, you may think you’re hallucinating Matthew McConaughey in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-him part, but this actually was his film debut. Imagine: all this star power and talent in one movie, and the thing I remembered most is that rotting piece of an ear. Cheers!