Forbidden Zone -- Finally on DVD!

Cafe Society
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One of my all-time favourite films is Forbidden Zone. I first saw it at the Los Angeles Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Society (‘las-fus’) as a replacement film for the one that was supposed to be shown. Dr. Donald Reed, the presenter, said it was a film you’ll either love, or hate. Needless to say, I loved it!

I bootlegged a copy when it was shown on HBO in the '80s. I bought a copy from Revok several years ago. I tried to get one from Richard Elfman’s company (Elfo?) but they were rather uncommunicative. I finally bought a couple of legit copies off of eBay a couple of years ago. And Now. Finally. Ladies and gentlemen… It’s on DVD! w00t!

The commentary is by Richard Elfman (director/writer/‘Masseuse’/‘Prisoner’) and Matthew Bright (writer/‘Squeezit & Rene Henderson’, credited as Toshiro Baloney). There is a ‘documentary’ with interviews of some of the cast (What a shock to see Marie-Pascale Elfman 25 years on!) and clips from Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo stage shows. Susan Tyrrell (‘Queen Doris’/‘Ruth Henderson’) has aged (obviously), but is still a fine-looking woman. She seemed a little tipsy in the interview, though. Was she? Or is she just like that?

One interesting thing on the commentary is that Viva (‘Ex-Queen’) had a habit of ‘needling’ people. Since the film was (as is normal) shot out of sequence, the Queen Doris/Ex-Queen death scene was filmed before the fight that preceeded it. Susan Tyrrell had to lie on top of Viva, who complained her ribs were breaking. When the fight was shot Susan Tyrrell, who was sensitive about her weight, started whaling on Viva. Now that’s realism!

Marie-Pascale Elfman’s minimalistic sets are brilliant. Danny Elfman’s music is brilliant. The whole thing is brilliant!

Susan Bridges, wife of Jeff Bridges, is a featured dancer. I could swear I’d seen Phil Gordon (‘Flash Hercules’) in other things, but IMDB only lists one other film that, made after FZ. Gisele Lindley (‘The Princess’), who I totally had the hots for, did S.O.B. and that looks like it. Hilary Beane (‘Sexy Student’ – the cat-like one) had a few more roles. Of the cast, it looks like only Hervé Villechaize and Danny Elfman really had careers that took off.

Great music, wacky story, absurd characters. I wish I could see it again for the first time! :slight_smile:

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Whatchoo mean, Finally? I rented it last month from Netflix. It’d been in my queue for a couple months before that.

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Because I’d been looking for it for years, and I’ve only just found it on DVD.

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Yeah i have yet to buy it but i went to a cinema revival of it in honor of the DVD release.

The friend I took with me told me to never invite him to another movie. :slight_smile:

“Say honey, when’s that mentally retarded swedish husband of your due home anyhow?”

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I showed this several years ago (on VHS) at my annual Bad Film Festival*. After the first two minutes, my wife, Pepper Mill, begged me to turn it off. She was voted down by all the guests. But five minutes later, the vote to turn it off was unanimous. Until I joined this Board, I was the only person I knew who’d sat through the whole thing.

*The theme was Failed Cult Movies. I also showed Buckaroo Banzai and Lisztomania. Regardless of what you think of all three flicks personally, I argue that all three were commercial failures. Buckaroo might actually not be a complete failure, but they never did make that sequel.

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Thanks for that Johnny, I’ll be looking for it. Was the soundtrack ever released?

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Yes. I picked up a copy a few years ago. Varèse Sarabande Records # VSD-5268.

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Erm… Or you could just order it from Amazon. (They have the DVD too, but I only just found out about it a few weeks ago.)

By the way, if anyone knows the lyrics to Bim Bam Boom I’d sure like to have them (and a translation). (If copyrighted, my e-mail is in my profile. Use SDMB in the title.) I tried to get a guy at my old job to write out the lyrics for me and to translate them but he said, ‘Oh, it’s just nonsense.’ I think he thought I was asking him to translate ‘Bim bam boom’ and not the lyrics to it.

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Pardon me, I gotta go change a Tampax.

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I swear to God, last night at work, when contemplating my recent purchases of ERASERHEAD and ZARDOZ on DVD, I thought “Gee, when is FORBIDDEN ZONE going to be released on DVD?”

Danny Elfman’s song as Satan is both a ripoff/homage of old jazz songs like Minnie the Moocher & St. James Infirmary and a precursor of the Oogie Boogie Man song from NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS.
“Do I have a plan? I have a plan that will bring Jesus back!”

-that said by a stereotypical old Askenazi

And was Buzz-Rod the name of the humping frog?

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Did my last post sound snarky? I can’t tell. Haven’t had coffee yet. Anyway, if it was, it wasn’t meant to be.

Johnny just shot Billy!

That’s it! You’re going to Mr. Yodelbean’s office!

I ain’t going nowhere with you, you honky bitch!

So I was watching the deleted scenes. There’s one where Sqeezit is walking the Princess through a passage (on the way to Satan’s hangout). It might be considered slightly offensive, so I’ll put it in a spoiler box:

Squeezit: I’ll give you cock! I’ll give you the severed cock of your cunting Jesus and throw it at your god damned feet!

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I like (and have) all three. :smiley:

I wouldn’t call it a rip-off. Performance of old songs was a major part of the Mystic Knights act. According to Richard Elfman, they wanted to present songs that people ‘could no longer see performed’. Definitely an homage. By the way: Satan is dressed in white, as Cab Calloway was when he performed Minnie the Moocher.

Richard Elfman said he took a lot of heat for that. People said he was anti-Semetic. Actually the money-changing guy was Elfman’s grandfather, who really did talk like that.

Bust Rod.

Here’s a quarter. Go get me a pack of cigarettes. Camels.

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Direct decendant of God? You just want to slip her the pork!

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Can you say : sequel?