Description: Prepare to enter the Sixth Dimension, a deliriously insane world of frog butlers, topless princesses, machine-gun toting school teachers, chicken boys and the devil himself (Danny Elfman), all ruled by the lascivious midget King Fausto (Herve Villechaize - Tattoo on FANTASY ISLAND) and his deranged Queen (Susan Tyrrell). A feast of visual and aural delights, reaching new found heights of insanity, invention and questionable taste. Propelled by the incredible songs of the one and only Danny Elfman, FORBIDDEN ZONE is an experience like no other. The all time cult classic returns with an eye popping new high definition widescreen transfer and restored and remastered in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround.
Amazon.com: Words like "delirious" and "bizarre" simply don't suffice to describe Forbidden Zone, director Richard Elfman's 1980 musical fantasy that makes its DVD debut after two decades as a cult favorite. Conceived as an extension of the avant-garde theater troupe/music group the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo (later just Oingo Boingo, which counted Elfman, his brother Danny, and co-scripter Matthew Bright--later the director of Freeway--among its members), Forbidden Zone tells the story of Frenchy (production designer Marie-Pascal Elfman, Richard's then-wife), who accidentally enters the phantasmagorical Sixth Dimension through a door in her basement. There, her waifish good looks catch the eye of King Fausto (Herve Villechaize), much to the consternation of Queen Doris (the indomitable Susan Tyrell). A frantic, funny, and occasionally profane blend of Fleischer Brothers cartoons, German Expressionism, Depression-era musicals, and '60s underground movies, Forbidden Zone is definitely not for all viewers, but cult aficionados will be delighted by the sheer energy and imagination of this long-unavailable classic. Supplemental features include commentary by Elfman and Bright, interviews with Danny Elfman, Pascal, and Tyrell; deleted scenes and outtakes; clips from an aborted early attempt, The Hercules Family. (with Danny tearing up "Minnie the Moocher"), and Richard's video for Oingo Boingo's "Private Life." --Paul Gaita
Forbidden Zone - A Disturbing Yet Comforting Fairy Tale I just got done watching Forbidden Zone and It was quite the experience. First off, It's probably the most unique and original film I've ever seen in my life. It's got an identity all of its own and a lot of personality that just shines right through. The anti-PC'ness of the film, the blatant sexuality, nudity, anything that you could possibly find vulgar or offensive you just need to shrug off because once things happen in the Sixth Dimension, Your own natural logic does NOT apply. The Sixth Dimension is a living, breathing surreal nightmare of disturbing characters doing disturbing things and the animation and cinematography, the fact that the characters seem to be playing themselves just for you - It's all too much, It feels like you are in the audience watching your own nightmares come to life, but you can't take your eyes away and your mind and heart are completely consumed in this world.
The music has to be my favorite part of the film, The music is so unique and original and has a lot of class and soul. It's beautiful and I'm very eager to be hearing the soundtrack again soon.
The sets are amazing, the attention to detail is fantastic and sets the whole vibe of the film as being an intricate fantasy-land.
The Actors are very talented and very convincing as the characters they portray; My favorite being Susan Tyrrell, There's too much to be said about this woman; She's amazing, She's a true performer and gives so much energy and spirit in film it's hard not to keep your attention focused on her. The characters are all very great and have a very good chemistry with one another and work very well in the environment of the Sixth Dimension.
The story itself unfolds like a fairy-tale; Watching this movie I felt like I was being told a bed-time story by my shell-shocked senile aunt with absolutely no tact or awareness of the story itself having such disturbing elements, Because while the material can be offensive; It can come off very strongly and very intensely, The softness of the characters, The Beauty of the background and the Amazing music sets you off into a very deep and very lucid sleep and You don't want to be turning away from this world that has been unraveled for you.
With a deep appreciation for John Waters films, Fleischer animation, Contagious Music and Characters and Surreal things in general; I urge you to give this movie a chance, with an open mind and an open heart because it has truly given me a new found appreciation and enthusiasm for entertainment that is a harsh commodity with the pretentiousness and 'weird or obscure for the sake of it' going on.
Let Me Explain This Movie This movie has been described as bizarre, racist, sexist and pornographic, and there is a reason for all of that - it is based on cartoons and movies from the early, pre-Hayes Act, 1930s when such features were commonplace. The most obvious connections, of course, are to the old music, lip-synced to performances by Cab Calloway, Josephine Baker, and the Gilt Edged Four (Yiddisher Charleston), to name a few. In the early Betty Boop cartoons, Max Fleischer experimented around with a form of cartoon lip- (and body-)syncing, in which cartoon characters were drawn over actual film footage of performers such as Cab Calloway, a process called "rotoscoping." You can see this in such Betty Boop cartoons as "Minnie the Moocher," "Old Man of the Mountain," and "Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle." Also, the Fleischer brothers were the first animators to concentrate on making accurate mouth movements to coordinate with speech in their cartoons. The Elfman Brothers do the same thing, with live action instead of rotoscoping. The Elfman brothers have generally adopted the mood and many of the visuals from the Betty Boop cartoon "Bimbo's Initiation," one of the most bizarre cartoons ever made. In particular, the scene where characters have to select one of three doors comes straight out of this cartoon. The peculiar frog, the strange people, the cruel queen, the hideous children, the gruesome teacher, all have their parallels in the old cartoons. The weird old grandfather, a horny, mumbling, bearded fellow, is another early Betty-Boop stand-by. See, for example, the cartoon "Mask-A-Raid." Betty Boop spends a great deal of her pre-Hayes cartoon time being pawed by males. Sometimes this attention is welcome and sometimes not. The Elfman Brothers carry this behavior to an amusing extreme, but it is just an exaggeration of what is already in these cartoons. In the Betty Boop cartoons, one gets to see a lot of glimpses and hints of the nude Betty (see, for reference, "Red Hot Mamma.") Again, this is exaggerated for humorous effect by the Elfman brothers. The racism, too, is a take-off of the over-the-top stereotyping typical of cartoons of the 1930s. See, for example, the Betty Boop cartoon, "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead," in which Louis Armstrong is animated as an African cannibal. As for the "anti-Semitism," that is a tip of the hat to the genre of Yiddish humor and to the Jewish Fleischer brothers from the Jewish Elfman brothers. Another homage by the Elfman Brothers can be found in the name of Squeezit. This comes from an old Cary Grant movie called "When You're In Love," in which there is a dog named Squeezit. In this movie, Grace Moore (an opera singer) sings "Minnie the Moocher." Hence, "Squeezit the Moocher." For the hell scene, again refer to "Red Hot Mamma," in which Betty Boop visits hell and meets Satan.
Delightful Romp Through the Forbidden Zone The Forbidden Zone is a fabulous journey. The best way to describe it would be like falling into a Max Fleischer cartoon from the 1930's and hallucinating on the various edibles from Alice in Wonderland, set to some amazing music ranging from Cab Calloway and Josephine Baker to Oingo Boingo. This movie is fun. It frolics and pulls you in with the strange characters. Even the villains are extremely lovable.
My favorite part of this movie is the amazing Susan Tyrrell. She is a real Hollywood oddity. She did this movie just after being nominated for an Academy Award. The chemistry between Tyrrell and her then boyfriend, Herve Villachaize, is so sweet. Plus, she wrote the song "Witch's Egg" which she sings the heck out of. And don't miss the great performance by Danny Elfman as "Satan"!
This movie is not for the mainstream, close minded person. It is odd and out there and wonderful. I reccommend it for the daring person who enjoys an occasional journey to another dimension.
Hold On To Your Hats Coz This One's Strange! It's fairly easy to describe the plot to Forbidden Zone in general terms: The Hercules family have a portal in their basement to the Sixth Dimension, and daughter, Frenchy, falls through. She becomes the object of obsession for the king of the Sixth Dimension, Fausto. Frenchy's brother and uncle come to the Sixth Dimension to rescue her. That's the plot in a very general way, but what's not so easy is trying to describe practically anything else about the movie. It's such a constant bombardment of bizarre and zany characters and situations that it makes my head hurt just thinking of how to begin to describe it all. You remember those old cartoons from the 30s like Betty Boop or Bosco? Any of those old cartoons that feature a cast of odd characters doing musical numbers and a bunch of other nonsensical stuff? Forbidden Zone is like an R rated live action version of one of those cartoons. Folks have compared it to Eraserhead, and I suppose that's fair to a certain degree considering both are bizarre and in B&W, but that's where all comparisons end. It's really nothing like Eraserhead, maybe Eraserhead by way of Terry Gilliam at his craziest. The movie was directed by Richard Elfman and includes more or less the whole Mystic Knights of Oingo Boingo(a musical theater group that would evolve into the rock band, Oingo Boingo) as writers and performers. The songs were done by Danny Elfman and Danny turnes up himself in a small role as the Devil where he does a great job singing a Cab Calloway tune. Forbidden Zone is anything but mainstream material and will only appeal to us weirdos who get a kick out of this kind of stuff.
rediculous insane crazy movie This was, is, and probably will be the most insane, absurd, craziest movie i've ever seen. i really thought i was on drugs at first. its so nuts but i love it
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
