You haven't lived until you have seen Richard Elfman's FORBIDDEN ZONE, a 1980 bizarre mix of ALICE IN WONDERLAND and Fleischer Brothers' cartoons, especially the early Betty Boop ones. A young woman falls into the sixth dimension where she is imprisoned by a rather sadistic king and queen. Some of her relatives go looking for her. Along the way, she and they meet all sorts of odd people and creatures, even odder than they themselves are, and almost everyone breaks out into old songs at one point or another, some of them performed in tongues other than English. My favorite involves two pug-ugly boxers in a ring and a dullish young man singing with someone else's superimposed mouth in the front of the ring. I am yet to make it all the way through this sometimes hallucinatory movie, but I shall someday. I understand Elfman's brother, Danny, plays Satan, which I can't wait to see. Interesingly, the sets are right out of a bad high school production, consisting of handpainted cardboard, some cushions and little else. Some sequences are animated in a herky-jerky style. Susan Tyrell is the sixth dimension's angry queen, and Herve Villachaize is the randy king. I don't know who's worse. In fact, the acting by all is abominable, but I suspect this was done on purpose. Why, I have no idea. For the faint of heart, be aware there are naked breasts on display as well as lots of ethnic humor mixed in with a very gay sensibility. Also lots of vulgarities are expressed. Seems to me ZONE would not have been out of place as a stage play in the old East Village days. Not for mainstream audiences.
Review of Forbidden Zone
