Forbidden Zone (1982)

"The Forbidden Zone" takes place in a world entirely unlike our own. From the bizarre recreation of California to the freaky-deaky "Forbidden Zone" of the title, nothing looks the way it should look and none of the characters act the way a normal person would act under any given circumstances.

   This is absolutely one of the weirdest movies I have seen in my life. If this intrigues you, this may be the movie for you. If not, maybe not. This bizarre surrealist musical follows Susan B. "Frenchy" Hercules (Marie-Pascale Elfman), a Californian with a pretentious French accent, who passes through a door in her parents' basement to the "Sixth Dimension" a bizarre world ruled by a jealous queen (Susan Tyrrell) and amorous dwarf king (Hervé Villechaize,)

   Frenchy quite willingly becomes the dwarf's sex slave, but the queen, Doris, becomes determined to destroy her. Meanwhile, Frenchy's dunderhead brother Flash and Grandpa enter the Sixth Dimension, hoping to rescue her.



   The acting ranges from okay (Hervé Villechaize, Susan Tyrrell) to poor (Matthew Bright, as twin brothers Rene & Squeezit). The music, however, was quite good. I especially liked the voices of Marie-Pascale Elfman and Susan Tyrrell, whose throaty tune "Witch's Egg" was strangely captivating.

   This movie is not for the easily offended. There are racist stereotypes (thought by many to be a satiric portrayal of bias in Hollywood) and out-there sexual content. As a comedy, it's a little weak (certainly not a laugh-out-loud movie). As a musical, it's quite strong (with songs composed by the director's brother, Danny Elfman, who later became a composing regular in Tim Burton films.)

   "Zone" will divide audiences. For die hard fans of surrealism and cult weirdness, the film will offer subversive pleasures; for the average person, it won't offer much. For people to whom "Inception" is hard-core weirdness, it will shock and repel. Regardless, it is a polarizing experience and a original picture, if not a particularly coherent one. I leave this one up to you.

rating-
                6.0/10