Forbidden Zone (1980)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Overrated

Crappy film

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

If you're new to Forbidden Zone, without spoilers, let me prep you.Don't look for plot. Or studio production values. If talent and originality matter, you can't do better. Why I love it? Years before Forbidden Zone, when they were still the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo (a door Squeezit enters in his quest to free Frenchie, Rick's real -- at that time – wife), the Knights did street theater in Venice, with huge painted backdrops, costumes (an 8-foot dinosaur, a rocket strapped around Rick's waist, tie-dyed blouses for the girls), and instruments from around the world, like the ballophone, a xylophone with gourds under the slats. Danny wrote songs and played half a dozen instruments (piano, guitar, violin, drums, tuba, ballophone...) I lived nearby & filmed this in 8 mm and stills.Some called them racist. They're not. Zone spoofs everyone in the neighborhood -- dopers, dealers, dropouts, welfare queens, gays, orthodox Jews, gang members, whites, blacks, you name it. All peeps they lived with and knew. Don't like 'em? Blame DNA! They didn't make the world. Just live in it. And in Zone, they report what they saw! Exaggerated for comic effect. And morphed through Rick's obsession with body functions and instant gratification. Once you accept that, dig the music. And art! Like Van Gogh who, forever broke, started painting what he saw in his room -- his shoes, bed, self-portraits, flowers in a vase. Subject didn't matter. What mattered was his passion. How he made colors and brush strokes speak. In ways they never had.Zone's the same. Creates a new art it alone occupies. Take it or leave it. An IMDb review says... I'll take more, please! (I'll have what he's having!)

Yeah,I like Forbidden Zone for all kinds of reasons. Number one reason.....well,because I do! Lol, it is entertaining as f**k. I first viewed the black and white version in 2011,and watched a second time 2016.It fun to watch with a friend but some movies are best when seen alone,late at night. I am sure to see it many times over.Thank You to my buddy Josh,who has turned me on to lots of hella good stuff. I recommend checking this movie out and giving it a chance. Whether you like it or not I doubt you easily forget it. I enjoyed the black and white release as well as the color version. The entire movie is visually stimulating. The musical aspect is lots of fun...lol,gotta love them musicals! The costumes are interesting! Over the top artsy,on a budget best describes that. Most interesting is the quirky cast. Tattoo! who knew..? Just watch the movie.

fans are right on target when they call this film a " Max Fleischer nightmare". it definitely seems inspired by the cartoons of the animation legend of the 1930's. certainly it's use of the music of Cab Calloway seems very Fleischer inspired.i've been following this movie since the early 80's after it's Filmex premier and i'm happy that it is getting the recognition it definitely has always deserved. the film was way ahead of it's time and anticipated the cutting edge lunacy of 'Adult Swim' comedy shows like 'Tim and Eric' and 'Space Ghost'. as a matter of fact it's far racier and more shocking than anything that is done for television or the movies today.i'm also always surprised as to how much confusion there is concerning the facts regarding this movie. people often confuse a Swedish erotica movie called 'Forbidden Zone:Alien Encounters' with the 'Oingo Boingo' film. there is also some erroneous info going around that Elfman intended this film to be colorized. he ALWAYS intended this film to be in B&W for effect. it always amazes me that there are so many people out there that really don't get older movies and B&W that they will say anything against B&W because they are so confused by it. Elfman intended 'Forbidden Zone' to be in B&W to resemble the Fleischer cartoons of the 1930's. he has said so in interviews so i don't know why IMDb is reporting erroneous facts to the contrary.this film is not for everybody and not for the easily offended that's for sure. but if you can overlook the shock/schlock value and content, it's a very funny comedy musical that's even more imaginative than 'Rocky Horror' and features a outstanding performance by 'Greaser's Palace' Herve Villechaize.this film is also a perfect example of low budget surrealism. the cardboard cut out sets by Marie-Pascale Elfman are brilliant and are some of the best B&W surrealism ever done for cinema period. rivaling the works of Cocteau and Welles. i'm completely serious. the sets here are brilliant. as is the music scoring and photography. i didn't give this film ten stars because it's so bad it's good, i gave it ten stars because it's superior craftsmanship.existence has proved to be somewhat hopeless for one and all, so abandon mundane hope and discover what it's all about when you ENTER THE FORBIDDEN ZONE. A is A A-A-A A E icky U, U-U-U icky A-E-I-O-U,icky I-O-U. maybe there'll be hope for you yet.

Huh? What? Somebody woke me. Wait... It was my father shaking me awake when I was watching this. Personally, as I have said a few times before, I don't know why I bother with this stuff. I lost six brain cells watching this piece of junk, and I couldn't remember why I started viewing this... *thing* in the process. Wait, memories are coming back, I only wanted to see this because I heard Danny Elfman had arranged the music and appeared as Satan (which had met my satisfactions quite well, actually), but as for the rest of the movie, I say: on a scale of 1 to 10; 10 being sophisticated, and 1 being bonkers; I say it's bonkers. It is filled with nothing but sex, obscene profanity, racist comments; and not to mention goofiest, silliest characters and scenes, that the story is lost in them. Most of my memories on this movie are still lost because my mind was asleep, even though my body was still awake. Next time, I'll think twice about movie elements before I rush to see something that stars one of my most favourite movie celebrities of all time. (No offence, though, Mr. Elfman; you're still my favourite movie composer.)