Forbidden Zone
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Giselle Lindley, Hervé Villechaize, Jan Stewart Schwartz, Marie-Pascale Elfman, Susan TyrrellDVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Black & White, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 74 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-08-31
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Fantoma
Movie Reviews of Forbidden Zone
Movie Review: The Underworld Hallucination Comedy Nightmare Sex Musical
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is weird, period. It's got an Eraserhead vibe (probably from the black/white), and I pick up Un Chien Andalou, probably from having no idea what's coming next. The dark frame corners of the B/W stock also evoke the early parts of The Wizard of Oz, conjuring dread and foreboding. Other than that, leave your film references behind, and set your mind for new experience.
You've got to watch this film at least twice, ideally a couple weeks apart, before you decide that it's the worst film you've ever seen (a typical first reaction). Now, the weirdest movie you've ever seen--yeah, that's a spot-on description-but it's not the worst, by far. Save that crucial tag for Madonna's desecration of Swept Away, John Wayne in The Conqueror, Caddyshack 2.
I saw this B/W classic for the first time in a 1984 university film class. The prof warned us that it was racist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic, violent, vulgar and scatological (her words). And she was and remains exactly right. I sat through the 73-odd minutes of this thing (shown on film, no less), and when it was over I wasn't quite sure what I'd seen. I remember a strange and heavy feeling of dread and confusion that hung with me for a few days, like I'd seen something deeply disturbing but couldn't yet make sense of it. But I'd also laughed, hard, at a number of the scenes in the film.
It wasn't until a good ten years later I got my hands on a bootleg VHS copy, and I bought my own copy (signed!) from the Richard Elfman web site two years ago. It was only on second and subsequent viewings that I figured out exactly what the story was, and then really started to see the subtlety of the film, to appreciate and enjoy it more.
It opens in the kitchen at breakfast, with the family in intentionally awful stage makeup, sitting in mismatched chairs on a set with ultra low-budge hand-painted elementary school play backdrops. The psychotic mom gets knocked cold by dad when she talks too much. Then they have to tie up Grandpa before the kids go to school. And that's in the first couple of minutes.
Then school, where the scenes are pure nightmare, just chaos, with the grotesque images of the teacher and students, hideous caricatures of kids that I knew, and you'll recognize as well. Then in the middle of this highly disorienting scene comes the "Alphabet Song/Swinging the Alphabet," with the "F" and "G" verses corrupted thoroughly and hilariously.
Then we descend to the underworld and by way of introduction to the Sixth Dimension, watch two guys in jock straps sing a goofy song in a boxing ring, followed by a frog-headed guy doing some soft-shoe, and a seriously creepy version of "Bim Bam Boom."
The crass racial and ethnic stereotypes flit in and out, amateurish, really, in their insertion, and having little relation to the movie itself. Right at the beginning there's a black-face guy, described as local pimp Huckleberry P. Jones, with his bad suit and boxing gloves, no less. The Hercules patriarch has a horribly dubbed Yiddish accent, and we even run across Jewish money lenders down in the Sixth Dimension. I don't really get their placement or function in the film, other than visual distraction, or misfiring attempts at comedy.
And some violence. A guy gets shot at school, although it's pantomime-corny. There is some serious fisticuffs, but it's also hammy. A knife goes right through a thigh, but it's a cheezy effect. But when Grandpa Hercules fights the gorilla he ends up literally bashing its head into ground meat, and that's a pretty disturbing close-up, even in B/W. The queen gets shot, somewhat graphically, with a little bit of blood. The two queens end up at the bottom of the pit, their bodies run through with steel blades. And Squeezit loses his head, although he doesn't really die, and the head even sprouts wings to flit around as a cheezy Sixth Dimension mascot.
And some nudity. The excruciatingly nubile Princess wears nothing but tight high-rise briefs, pumps, and gloves for the entire film. There's a wacky kind of topless cattle drive of young ladies, comical and erotic in its own strange way. There's a lot of comically strange/strangely comical frottage going on, mostly Flash and Gramps grabbing various Sixth Dimension denizens. Nothing graphic at all, but the MPAA would call it sexual content.
And fun with trivia: 1) Uber-nerds will recognize the Forbidden Zone theme as that from the short-lived Dilbert TV show from a few years back; 2) Music nerds also will recognize an original recording of "Pico and Sepulveda," which was for many decades the backing/theme song of the Doctor Demento radio show (The Very Best of Dr. Demento).
Lastly, get that soundtrack (Forbidden Zone). If you like a good mix of music, you'll love the CD. If you're expecting raw Oingo Boingo, you'll be disappointed. Sure, they're there, but not in the kind of depth and orchestration you're probably looking for. There's a couple old-timey tunes ("Bim Bam Boom," "Some of These Days"), lots of Danny Elfman's original score, and the sorrowfully too-short "Squeezit The Moocher." For whatever sad reason, "Pico and Sepulveda" is not included in this release.
Bottom line: This is just one of those cult films you have to be able to say you've seen. If you're looking for slick production and deep, deep artistic symbolism and staging, you'll be hugely disappointed. You may not like it at first, it being more confusing than anything, but if you've got an open mind and tend toward black humor, and if you watch it more than once, you'll enjoy it. If you're looking for something seriously off the wall, a film like none other you've ever seen, then this is the one you've been waiting for.
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