The film was made as an attempt to capture the essence of The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo's live performances in a cinematic sense, and also as a means for both director Elfman to retire from music to work on film projects, and to serve as a transition between the group's former cabaret style and a new wave-based style.[2][4] Amid negative reactions to content in the film that had been perceived as being offensive, Forbidden Zone was screened as a midnight movie, where it was met with positive notices, and developed a large and eventually worldwide cult following.[2][4] In 2004, the film was digitally restored and released on DVD, and in 2008, the film was colorized.[5]
Said Elfman, "Doing anything original is taking a chance. Financially it bankrupted me and we lost our house. But I'm still glad I did it (although I'd change a few things if I had a time machine, of course)."[6]
A prospective sequel, entitled Forbidden Zone 2: The Forbidden Galaxy, has long been in development by Elfman, who launched a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2014 to raise an initial sum. As of 2019, the sequel is still in the stages of development but regularly updated and discussed by Elfman.[7] Elfman has also licensed Forbidden Zone as an intellectual property for manufacturers to produce collectibles based on the film's characters.[8]
Plot
On "Friday, April 17" at 4 p.m. in Venice, California, Huckleberry P. Jones (pimp, narcotics peddler, and slumlord) enters a vacant house that he owns. While stashing heroin in the basement, he stumbles upon a mysterious door and enters it, falling into the Sixth Dimension, from which he promptly escapes. After retrieving the heroin, he sells the house to the Hercules family. On their way to school, Frenchy Hercules and her brother Flash talk with Squeezit Henderson, who says that, while being beaten by his mother, he has a vision of his transgender sister René, who had fallen into the Sixth Dimension through the door in the Hercules' basement.
Frenchy returns home to confide in her mother, and decides to take a "little peek" behind the basement's forbidden door. There, she is captured by the perpetually topless Princess, who brings Frenchy to the rulers of the Sixth Dimension, the midget King Fausto and his queen, Doris. When the king falls for Frenchy, Doris orders their frog servant, Bust Rod, to lock her up. To make sure that Frenchy is not harmed, Fausto tells Bust Rod to take Frenchy to Cell 63, where the king keeps his favorite concubines (as well as René).
The next day at school, Flash tries to convince Squeezit to help him rescue René and Frenchy. When Squeezit refuses, Flash enlists the help of Gramps instead. In the Sixth Dimension, they speak to an old Jewish man who reveals how to help Frenchy escape, but they soon are captured by Bust Rod. Doris interrogates Flash and Gramps before lowering them into a septic tank. She then plots her revenge against Frenchy, relocating all the denizens of Cell 63 to a torture chamber. She leaves the Princess to oversee Frenchy's torture and execution. However, when a fuse is blown, the torture is put on hold and the prisoners from Cell 63 are relocated to keep the King from finding them.
After escaping the tank, Flash and Gramps come across a woman who says that she was once happily married to the king, until Doris stole the throne by seducing her. The ex-queen has been sitting in her cell for 1,000 years, and has been writing a screenplay to keep her sanity. Meanwhile, Pa Hercules is blasted through the stratosphere by an explosion caused by improperly extinguishing his cigarette in a vat of flammable tar during his work break at the La Brea Tar Pit Factory. After re-entry, Pa falls through the basement and into the Sixth Dimension, where he is imprisoned.
Finding a phone, Flash calls Squeezit and again asks for his help. Squeezit agrees to help rescue Frenchy and René. In the Sixth Dimension, he is captured by Satan, with whom he makes a deal to bring him the Princess in exchange for Satan's help freeing René and Frenchy. Squeezit accomplishes this task, but failed to include himself in the deal to rescue his friends, and the devil has him decapitated. Queen Doris sends Bust Rod to keep an eye on the king, and to ensure he does not find out where she has hidden Frenchy.
Fausto catches Bust Rod and forces him to lead him to Frenchy and René, whom he orders to leave the Sixth Dimension to avoid the Queen's wrath. However, en route to safety, René is stricken with pseudo-menstrual cramps, and they are again captured by the frog. Squeezit's head, which has now sprouted chicken wings, finds the king and reveals what has happened.
While preparing to kill Frenchy, Doris is confronted by the ex-queen, and the two engage in a cat-fight; Doris eventually coming out as the victor. Just as she is about to kill Frenchy, Fausto stops her, explaining that Satan's Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo are holding the Princess hostage, and will kill her should anything befall Frenchy. Flash and Gramps arrive, and Flash is knocked down by Gramps. Ma Hercules enters and, seeing a seemingly dead Flash, shoots Doris. Fausto mourns Doris, then marries Frenchy.
The surviving characters later plan to take over everyone and everything in the Galaxy.
"Finale" (D. Elfman, R. Elfman, Nicholas James) – Frenchy, Fausto, Princess, Doris, Ex-Queen, The Kipper Kids, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, Flash, Gramps, René, Squeezit, Huckleberry and Company
Production
Development
The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo were formed in late 1972 by Richard Elfman, as a musical theatre troupe.[3] As Richard's interest shifted to filmmaking, he passed leadership of the band to younger brother Danny Elfman. Danny, who had begun to lose interest in musical theatre, had gained interest in other musical styles such as ska, and had become "sick of lugging around so much stuff with the theatre troupe. Towards the end", he remembers, "it was a big production... there was, like a semi full of stuff. And that was becoming burdensome. So, for me, the idea of being a band that can fit all their gear into a van and set up in a club, and an hour later be playing, became a goal."[3] Production began during a transitional period when the group was moving from its cabaret style towards a more pop/rock format; by the time the film was completed, the band had shortened its name to Oingo Boingo.[3]
The film was originally conceived as The Hercules Family, a 16mm musical that consisted of twelve musical numbers and a story loosely constructed around them. But as the project grew to 35mm and the storyline evolved, Richard Elfman found himself re-shooting many of the original scenes to fit the new film.[9] Two sequences from the original 16mm footage were featured on the 2004 DVD release: one of Danny Elfman, as Satan, performing "Minnie the Moocher" (later reshot with visual elements borrowed from the original 16mm sequence and alternate lyrics), and another of Marie-Pascale Elfman, singing "Johnny". The sequence with Elfman as Satan, and members of the Oingo Boingo as his minions, came from live shows, in which the band would perform Cab Calloway tunes like "St. James Infirmary Blues" in the same costumes.[3]
Marie-Pascale Elfman, at the time of shooting, was married to director Richard Elfman. She designed the film's expressionistic sets and starred in the film. Actor and former Mystic Knight Gene Cunningham helped fund the film. When Cunningham and Elfman ran out of money during production, Richard and Marie-Pascale Elfman helped finance by selling houses, before Carl Borack put money into the production in order for Elfman to complete the film.[3] According to Elfman, he had originally intended the film to be screened in color, stating that the original plan was to ship the film to China, where each frame would be hand-tinted, but that this plan was not practical within the production costs.[10] Elfman ultimately went bankrupt during the production of Forbidden Zone and had to assign the rights away in order to finish the film; in 2015, Elfman regained the full rights to Forbidden Zone.[11]
Casting
Actor Hervé Villechaize was a former roommate of co-writer and co-star Matthew Bright;[4][9] Villechaize had previously dated co-star Susan Tyrrell.[2] The Elfmans' grandfather, Herman Bernstein, also appeared in the film, and Richard Elfman's accountant appeared under the name "Hyman Diamond" because Elfman had no idea whether or not he wanted to be credited.[9] Others who worked on the film include The Kipper Kids (Brian Routh and Martin von Haselberg), Joe Spinell, and former Warhol superstarViva.
Writing
Forbidden Zone featured Bright's first work on film, and his only work as an actor (under the name "Toshiro Baloney"). A founding member of the Mystic Knights, Bright later became a screenwriter and director in his own right. Bright's credits include Freeway, Ted Bundy, and Tiptoes. Bright and director Richard Elfman's only dispute during the screenwriting process was over a scene in which his character, Squeezit, was originally to have been beaten up for eight minutes and having the walls wiped with his blood.[3] Another scene cut from the script would have had Squeezit being castrated.[9] According to Bright, "I didn't have any sense of limits or balance then, at the time, I... you know, I was just, didn't know what I was doing. I needed reining in."[3] During filming, Bright was sitting on the set in costume when a lighting stand fell onto his head, cracking his skull, and he had to be rushed to the hospital. When Bright returned to work the next day, he had a mild concussion and whiplash, but he continued with filming.[9]
Directing
Richard Elfman had never gone to film school when production started, and "I didn't know what I was getting into."[3] The production, from its original 16mm roots to its finish, took three years. Cast and crew members would sleep on the film's stage, wearing spare gorilla suits to stay warm.[3] Among the film's artistic influences included 1940s big band and jazz music and Max Fleischer cartoons of the 1930s (such as Betty Boop).[3] Some of the film's cast was made up of non-professionals cast off the street. In one scene, Richard Elfman brought in a young man to mouth the words of "Bim Bam Boom", but when he was put in front of the camera, he stood there as the scene was shot. Elfman left the scene in the film by editing in Bright's lips over the actor's face.[9] Another scene featured homeless men.[9]
Animation
The film's animation was created by then-unknown animator John Muto. Because of the film's low budget, Muto created all of the film's animation sequences himself.[3] Muto made frequent use of airbrush techniques to establish for himself a distinctive style.[3] For sequences in which live-action and animation were combined, the actors were photographed in tight head-on and profile shots, and the photos were cut out and pasted into the animation in a style recalling Terry Gilliam's work on Monty Python's Flying Circus.[3] Muto also credits the Fleischer Brothers as another inspiration.[3]
For the "Yiddishe Charleston" scene, Richard Elfman had shot the sequence with him lip-syncing to an old recording of the song, but was later unable to acquire the rights to the recording, and had to record a new version of the song while attempting to sync the new recording with the footage.[9]
The film's soundtrack has also become popular, and its theme song was eventually reused by Danny Elfman, who rearranged it as The Dilbert Zone for use as the theme for the television series Dilbert.
The film was digitally restored and released on Region 1 DVD by Fantoma in 2004, receiving a Region 2 release by Arrow Film Distributors Ltd. in 2006.[14] In 2008, with Elfman's blessing and input, a colorized version of Forbidden Zone was issued on DVD by Legend Films,[17] and was later screened in exhibition at the New York Museum of Modern Art in 2010.[5][18] Arrow released a Blu-Ray edition in the UK in 2012, followed by "Ultimate Edition" North American Blu-Ray and DVD releases by MVD Entertainment Group in 2015; all contained both the black-and-white and color versions.[19][20]
Controversies
Upon its original release, Forbidden Zone was singled out for criticism for its use of broadly-drawn racist, homophobic, antisemitic and anti-Christian visuals and characters.[9][21] Elfman, himself of Jewish heritage, has disputed many of these accusations, noting that elements seen as homophobic were inspired by his time as a director and occasional performer in the San Francisco avant-garde drag troupe The Cockettes, while the character of "Mr. Bernstein", accused of being an exaggerated Jewish stereotype, was played by Elfman's Jewish grandfather Herman Bernstein, of whom Elfman wryly asserted "wasn't acting".[9][21]
In particular, Forbidden Zone has been criticized for its brief use of surreal blackface. In 2020, Elfman digitally removed the blackface images and replaced them with "clown-face". In an interview with Dread Central, he explained "Going back to our very first test screening in 1980, there were a few things that really bugged me. The film is an absurdist fever-dream with hundreds of crazy, cartoonish images. I regretted the few seconds of Max Fleischer-era black-face and wanted to change it to 'clown-face'. But the film had – literally – bankrupted me, I had lost control and couldn't complete it exactly the way I wanted. Well, forty years later, I fucking can!". Elfman's director's cut was released in early 2021.[22]
Legacy
Sequel
In June 2009, it was revealed through an entry on IMDb that Elfman had been developing a sequel to Forbidden Zone entitled Forbidden Zone 2: The Forbidden Galaxy.[23] The prospective project was more formally detailed in March 2014 when Elfman launched a successful crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo to raise part of the film's financing. As of the campaign's most recent update in May 2023, Elfman confirmed the project is "still alive" and noting that he "will not give up on FZ2", describing Forbidden Zone 2 as "number one on his bucket list." "As long as I am breathing, I will do Forbidden Zone 2!"[7]
Stage show
In 2010, Forbidden Zone was performed as a live stage show with the support of Richard Elfman. It is a production of the Sacred Fools Theater Company, and premiered there in Los Angeles on Friday, May 21, 2010.[24]
Mixed media
Richard Elfman entered into a licensing deal with the creative resource company, PANGEA, to provide licensees with the opportunity to create merchandise based on the cult film. According to articles that appeared in the media on May 3, 2016, the arrangement calls for content to be created that will include a Storyboard Book of the original film, featuring commentary and anecdotal notes from director. Shot glasses and sculpted pieces were among the list of immediate items that would be released. A fantasy novella series was also noted as being under development.[8]
Rocky Horror "shadow cast" companies have begun performing screenings of the film. Elfman sometimes participates in these live performances. He enters in a clown suit and beats a big bass drum that is accompanied by a Brazilian percussion ensemble—reminiscent of his former group, the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo.[25][26]
The Syfy Channel has run a teaser piece musical number,[27] "Princess Polly" from Forbidden Zone 2: The Forbidden Galaxy on its show The Monster Man, starring Cleve Hall.[28] Elfman opens the Forbidden Zone shadow cast shows (after the march in) with Erin Holt singing Princess Polly live in front of her screened “monster” image on stage.[29]
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