Forbidden Zone (1980)

[Derf]

Having recently bought Forbidden Zone on DVD, I've gotten the opportunity to sit through it a couple of times now, and I figured I might as well post something on it here.

I was looking for the world's strangest movies, and I think this one is definitely up there; it is incredibly bizarre, but it is also very fun. Any movie that "boasts" Herve Villechaize as its star (and, incidentally, he is also the best actor in the cast) is likely to be a bit off kilter, and this one certainly is.

The story line (as much of one as there is) goes something like this: The Hercules family (Ma, Pa, Grampa, Flash and Frenchie) move into a house that contains a door in the basement that leads, via a set of animated intestines and a giant paper butt, into the Sixth Dimension, a kingdom ruled by King Fausto (Villechaize) and Queen Doris (Susan Tyrrell). Frenchie, intrigued by the notion of a "Forbidden Zone," decides to investigate the door but accidentally falls through it. Flash and Grampa go to try to rescue her, and pretty much the rest of the movie is just loosely-tied-together skits that involve really odd characters and cool Danny Elfman musical numbers. The movie was originally just intended to be recordings of comedy skits done by the Elfmans' troupe, but after filming some of them, they decided to string them together with a narrative and make a movie. While they did an astonishingly good job (with so few resources, anyway), the result is that some segments are totally unconnected to the plot. Not that that's a bad thing in this movie, however.

Some of the highlights include performances by the Kipper Brothers (who "sing" an entire song using only grunts and fart noises), animated sequences that, while done in a 1970s "Keep on Trucking" Poster style, at the same time seem to be something out of a Betty Boop nightmare, Queen Doris's number, "Witch's Egg," and a classroom scene that makes anything Bart Simpson ever thought of seem incredibly tame by comparison. None of these sequences are explainable in a review (indeed, most of the movie is inexplicable); the film is an experience that left me amused, amazed and baffled.

Some of the more bizarre images include a human chandelier ( a guy hanging from a rope around his waist with a candle in each hand and one for each foot), the teacher in the aforementioned classroom scene (played by the same man who plays the chandelier, minus the candles), Bust Rod (a tuxedo-wearing, frog-headed minion of Queen Doris), a scene where King Fausto runs and dives onto a reclining Queen Doris for a tender love scene, and a cage of horny Turks who ravish anyone (male or female) thrown into their cage and then throw their victim into a pit lined with spikes.

There is nothing politically correct about this movie (something I particularly like). It features a man in black face, a lot of naked or near naked women (the Princess of the Sixth Dimension's costume is a pair of granny panties and a crown), and a lot of gags involving drugs, sex, profanity and homosexuals, almost any of which, if it appeared in a movie today, would land the filmmakers in court with demands for public apologies. I have read rumors of a sequel in the works. I sincerely hope that they remain rumors, because it would be impossible to recapture this style of lunacy today.

Can I recommend this film? I'm not sure. I showed it to my brother, and he sat there, staring at the screen with a look of incredulity on his face through the entire movie. I can see where it would easily offend people, but the situations are silly enough that I easily laughed through the whole thing and will definitely watch it again. It's not what I could call a good movie, but it is also not a "bad" movie in the sense that it is poorly done. It is barely a movie at all, but it is definitely a cinematic experience. Again, I could only recommend it to a couple of people I know; most simply wouldn't appreciate it. Maybe some of you guys who regularly visit this site would be more likely to get it. Has anyone else seen it? Opinions?

[Scott]

A film starring Herve Villechaize might be worth looking into.

[blkrider]

Amazing movie....this one warped me for life when I caught it on cable back in 1983.

[peter johnson]

When the very first video store in Boulder opened up here in '82, I went in looking for something unusual -- this was back when nobody actually owned a VCR, so you'd rent the machine as well.
Well, I got this thing -- and I ended up getting it 6 more times.  I showed it to everyone I knew at the time.  Absolutely nobody but myself "got it".
Let us sing praises of the Cab Calloway songs that Elfman & Co. (The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo) chose to include.  The nose-blowing sequence in time to Calloway's "One of These Days" is beyond inspired.  I'm smiling as I type this just thinking about it.
I loved the incidental gorilla character.  Also, the human chandelier becomes a skeleton as the film progresses -- something I didn't catch the first few times I saw it.
I love how the character Squeezit is killed, yet returns as a flying head, powered by chicken wings.  Very 3-Stooges!  Remember all those haunted house shorts of theirs where the owl gets into a skull & then "flys" around with stiff wings?
Hell, yes, this is a great movie!!  In the tradition of Marcel Duchamp's "Anemic Cinema" and the aforementioned Stooges.  
I think I'm going to rent it again --
peter johnson/denny crane

[dean]

I've been looking for this movie! it just seems so wacky and off the wall that its just brilliant.  Last semester at Uni I was trying to find it so I could do one of my musicals essays on it, but alas I couldn't find it.  May have to look extra hard for it now.

[AndyC]

Just checked the site for my local 'alternative' video store, and they have this. Looks like I might have to settle the late fees that have been keeping me away from there lately.

[blkrider]

At least one critic [J. Hoberman] has sang this film's praises, comparing it to the Wizard of Oz in its ability to make a fantasy world come alive.  It's one of my favorite fantasy films of all time.

[Derf]

For those of you who know and love this movie, Deep Discount DVD does have it for only $14.98 with free shipping. That's where I got my copy.

[dean]

hehe, now that I have upgraded to ADSL, I just checked out the video clip from the review on this site [I never could be bothered before].  Very nutty indeed.  Love it! Especially the wierd vocals and quite odd mouth movements.

[Laura Alber]

For those of you in NY...

Elfman’s Cult Classic “Forbidden Zone” at the Chelsea Cinema in New York for a One Week Engagement

The Underground Classic will be showing April 8-14, 2005

March 23, 2005, Los Angeles, CA / EZPress -  Writer/Director Richard Elfman is bringing back a favorite in the underground film world. The 1980 Forbidden Zone, now a cult classic, will have a limited engagement for New York fans April 8-14, 2005 at the Chelsea Cinema. Forbidden Zone has been newly printed in 35mm and  the science-fiction musical will be seen in its original un-cut “R” Rated version. The re-release has been seen throughout the country since 2004 and continues its tour. The film is considered  one of the best loved and incredibly entertaining “cult” films, perhaps second only to Rocky Horror Picture Show in its following.

Richard Elfman, aside from his writing and directing talents, was the founding member of “Mystic Knights of the Oingo-Boingo” which included his brother, the hottest film composer in Hollywood today, Danny Elfman. Danny not only composed the original music to Forbidden Zone, but joined the cast as “Satan”. Forbidden Zone delves into the world of the Sixth Dimension with many bizarre twists and turns along the way. The film also stars Herve Villechaize, Susan Tyrrell, Marie-Pascale Elfman and features the music of Oingo-Boingo, Cab Calloway, Josephine Baker and many others.

Many critics and audiences have compared Forbidden Zone to the works of David Lynch, another creative and intense filmmaker. In previous reviews, The Los Angeles Times wrote: “It is hip and very campy, the sex is kinky, the music is loud and the humor broad and crass.” The L.A. Weekly called it “…an inventive, profane and chaotic put-on of a musical of unrelenting kinetic momentum.” And, most recently Film Threat called Forbidden Zone “The Citizen Kane of Underground Movies.”

The New York engagement is scheduled for Friday April 8, 2005 thru Thursday April 14, 2005 at Clearview’s Chelsea Cinemas, 260 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10011. 212-777-FILM #597. Check Clearview Cinemas’ website for showtimes. http://www.clearviewcinemas.com/cgi-bin/locations.cgi?id=034&flag=diplay_theatre

For more information on Forbidden Zone, Richard Elfman, Danny Elfman, DVD’s, Posters, information on the 35mm release, show dates, production notes, synopsis and photos, please see the Media section on the official website: www.forbiddenzonethemovie.com

About Chelsea Cinemas and Clearview Cinemas:

A subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation since 1998, Clearview Cinemas was formed in 1994 and currently operates 53 movie theaters with 264 screens in the New York metropolitan area, including the famous Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Clearview Cinemas operates theaters in New Jersey, Manhattan, Westchester, Rockland County, Long Island and Pennsylvania. http://www.clearviewcinemas.com/

Source: F Z Distribution, LLC
            12400 Ventura Blvd. #131
            Studio City, CA. 91604
            818-985-2021

For press information and interview requests, please contact:

Laura Alber
310-822-1627
press@ez-entertainment.net

[renegadefury]

I got my copy over at deepdiscountdvd too, amazing stuff, a lot of extras on that dvd worth checking out,  I put it on my top weirdest movies list http://www.haywired.com/megafury/weirdest/index.htm

[peter johnson]

. . . And the gigantic cardboard sets of the digestive tract that leads to Hell! . . . and the substitution of meatloaf for someone's head in that beating scene!!(This is PROFOUNDLY gross, in case you were wondering.) . . . and the climactic Buzby Berkeley-inspired ending! . . .  
I'd love to see it on the Big Screen, but LA ain't in de budget, mon --
peter johnson/denny crane