Forbidden Zone

Forbidden Zone (1980)

Runtime: 75 minutes

Directed by: Richard Elfman

Starring: Performers calling themselves names such as Ugh-Fudge Bwana, Hyman Diamond & Toshiro Baloney

From: Hercules Films Ltd.

This is a movie I've seen more than once before, both in its original black and white & colorized. My main impression of this always has been, “Lord, what a strange film!” That opinion has not changed after revisiting this last night, what with its performance artist-heavy cast and actors who go by such monikers as Ugh-Fudge Bwana, Hyman Diamond & Toshiro Baloney.

The basic plot is that a family has to rescue their teen girl Frenchy from the Sixth Dimension, led by Herve Villechaize... but it's a lot more than that. It is a lot of juvenile humor, offensive moments such as blackface and insults against a trans character, low-fi paper backdrop sets and as a heavy inspiration were the 1930's era for animator Max Fleischer, that set the tone for the movie in terms of the backdrops and some of the music, which included tunes from the '30s. This includes that Alphabet Song in one scene, which was taken from the Three Stooges short Violent is the Word for Curly... but definitely modified, as the version you hear here includes F-bombs.


I know some who violently rejected this movie and I cannot fault anyone who thought this was intolerable or a bunch of rubbish. Like I said, this is more bizarre and peculiar than anything else with its rough acting (for the most part) and many surreal touches. Its style definitely carries this, along with the presence of more experienced actors like Joe Spinell, Villechaize and Susan Tyrrell, who was once nominated for an Oscar. In addition, it was nice hearing a few songs from Oingo Boingo before the band had some big hits, and it was a gas seeing Danny Elfman as Satan. To me, that stuff has always helped me get through this oddity which is full of puerile, juvenile sexual humor and many moments which will make most go, “huh?”