RipDelight
This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
CrawlerChunky
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Robert Joyner
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
tomgillespie2002
For anyone familiar with, or is a fan of, the Midnight Movie circuit that was most popular between the early 70's and mid-80's, will know doubt have seen Richard Elfman's warped black-and-white musical Forbidden Zone. Taking the natural step from theatre to film, Elfman took the playful and smutty performances of his musical troupe Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo (along with his brother Danny and co-writer Matthew Bright) and delivered a true head-f**k, and one that is filled with frog-headed butlers, machine-gun toting teachers, a scat-loving Satan, and an entrance into the sixth dimension that literally s***s you into its bizarre universe.Frenchy Hercules (Marie-Pascale Elfman) lives with her dysfunctional family in a house that happens to be hiding the entrance to the sixth dimension in it's basement. After being told by chicken-man Squeezit Henderson (Bright) that his transgender sister Rene (also Bright) has entered the sixth dimension, Frenchy decides to have a little peek but ends up falling in. There she discovers a world ruled by sex-mad dwarf King Fausto (Herve Villechaize) and his domineering Queen Doris (the wonderful Susan Tyrrell). Fausto takes a liking to Frenchy and takes her as his personal prisoner, much to the wrath of Doris. After being gone for days, Hercules family members Flash (Phil Gordon) and Grampa (Hyman Diamond) enter the sixth dimension to rescue her.The 'plot' is no more than a excuse for Elfman and Bright to put on some truly remarkable and deliciously twisted musical numbers. Their influences were always 1930's vaudeville and jazz, but here they also embrace the 80's with rock and ska, with the particular stand-out for me was Danny Elfman's rendition of Minnie the Moocher as Satan. They try to make the most of an obviously tight budget, but the film does look dirt- cheap. The walls and sets look like they've been drawn by a child, but some sequences evoke the work of Monty Python.But I doubt Elfman and Bright had in mind to make a professional-looking film, and preferred to just have their original vision out there for the world to see. Where the film lacks in budget it tries to make up for in smutty humour, and although the comedy and visuals here are often overly crass (I've never seen so much dry-humping), it has the cheeky playfulness of early John Waters. It's pointless to try and make sense of Forbidden Zone, I mean, why bother with a sixth dimension when the 'real world' is just as equally screwed up? Instead just enjoy this true one-of-a-kind, whether it be the breakneck pace, the farcical humour, Tyrrell's battle-axe performance, or the truly inspired musical numbers.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
lapelpinproductions_remo
First of all, this film will separate viewers into two groups: either you get it or you don't, love it or hate it. For me I got it, and think it's one of the more amazing films I've seen in recent years. It's unabashedly weird, obscene, hilarious, and a musical masterpiece... I just can't get enough of this film! I've had to limit the number of times I watch this just because I don't want the experience to stale.I'd recommend this musical to anyone with an off-kilter sense of humor who yearn to stretch the limits of what constitutes a "film". Every time I watch it I see something new.There really isn't another film I could compare it to and give it justice, so I won't... but I love camp, British humor, and musicals so if you have similar tastes give it a shot.And if you're one of the ones who love it, you'll be humming the tunes ("bim bam boom") and screening the "Forbidden Zone" with your friends!
Tommy Nelson
This black and white cult classic is genuinely amusing. It's so bizarre and stupid throughout, and one can assume that's all Richard Elfman could be going for.This is obviously low budget, but it looks great anyways. The sets look great, even though most of them are obviously cheap backdrops and made of paper. The cheapness in all the sets is not what Elfman was going for, however if one didn't know this was shot on such a small budget, you wouldn't notice. The acting is hilariously over the top, making this hilarious in a purposely bad way. The music, by Danny Elfman, is really great. Many of the songs are catchy, and the instrumentals written for them are very original, which can also be seen in Danny Elfman's later music.The negatives in the film, are how stupid it is throughout. The plot is so dumb, as are many of the pointless characters, and it's hard to sit and watch these characters for the mere time of 73 minutes. But if you can stand nonstop morbidity and stupidity, you will like this. For me, this was a usually amusing mixed bag.My rating: ** 1/2 out of ****. 73 mins. R for language, violence, nudity and sexual humor.
LCShackley
I thought that HEAD by the Monkees and 200 MOTELS by Frank Zappa were horrible, self-indulgent wastes of celluloid made by pop icons...but I may have to re-evaluate them after seeing something even worse, namely FORBIDDEN ZONE. Obviously, from the comments on this thread, there are lots of people who find this dreck entertaining, but it is hard to fathom.Sadism, racism, profanity, vulgarity, even bodily function jokes...yes, all the stuff that drunk or chemically-influenced college boys might find amusing...they're all here in profusion. About the only redeeming factors in this movie are the 30s music tracks, the clever animation, and the references to 30s films and musicians.This film is an example of what happens when an inbred group makes a movie without any accountability or quality control. Avoid it at all costs. (Trivia bit: this is Danny Elfman's first score, and even here he is using Steve Bartek to help with his arrangements. Bartek did orchestration duty on many of Elfman's later "legit" scores.)
