[Retro Bunker] Forbidden Zone

Life in the 6th Dimension is not for the faint of heart. It is not for those who ask questions. It is not for those who care whether they live chained to a wall in Mickey Mouse ears or die at the hands of a frog in a tuxedo before an audience of demons in blackface.

Danny Elfman as Satan

The first few times I saw Forbidden Zone, it was in black and white. Recently, I saw the colorized version, and each one is a spectacle in its own right. I actually think I went about it the right way. Starting with the black and white version, it kind of allowed me to ease into this insanity that Richard Elfman’s brain (which I imagine is composed of something like napalm-soaked cotton candy) bore forth in collaboration with more lethally confectionary artists than should be able to exist in the same place at the same time without a singularity forming around them. Make no mistake about it – this movie, especially when colorized, is a no-holds-barred fusillade of sensory stimulation. The only way to survive it is to just sit back, shut up, and enjoy the ride.

Your eyes will feast on deceptively simple scenery, outrageous costumes, cartoons, and all manner of behavior you never thought you’d encounter outside of your most embarrassing what-the-hell-did-I-eat-before-bed dreams. For your ears, the fledgling Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. Yes, that Oingo Boingo. You’re welcome.

Hervé Villachaize as King Fausto

What’s it about though, you ask? Well, with no further ado, please allow me to present your host, King Fausto (Hervé Villechaize), ruler of the 6th Dimension and eventually the rest of the universe, once he manages to control his hormones long enough to raise his Army of Zombie. Said hormones, as well as said delusions of grandeur, are the bane of Queen Doris’s (Susan Tyrrell) existence. Doris could probably put up with the plots of world domination, if only Fausto wouldn’t chase quite so much tail. Since there’s no stopping him, however, she settles for torturing her rivals, especially Frenchy (Marie Pascale-Elfman). Frenchy’s not afraid of Doris though, or of the Princess (Gisele Lindley), who delights in joining her mother’s violent catharsis. That is, at least until Squeezit Henderson (Matthew Bright) sells her out to Satan (Danny Elfman) to help Frenchy’s brother Flash (Phil Gordon) and their Grandpa (Hyman Diamond) rescue Frenchy and bring her back to the real world. Level up if you kept all that straight. By the way, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. For the rest, you’ll just have to see for yourself.

The answers to some of the questions you’re going to ask despite my advice are:

Yes, he said that.

Yes, she is wearing that.

Yes, that’s what that is.

Yes, you heard that right.

Boobs.

Chickens.

Lots and lots of dice.

Think you can handle that?

By the way, if you answered yes to that last question and can be in Los Angeles come May of 2010, you’re in for a particular treat. Thanks to a recent labor of love by our friend Michael Holmes and more ridiculously talented people, the Sacred Fools theater will bring Holmes’ adaptation to the stage, with surprises to thrill newcomers to the 6th Dimension and those of us who have already been scarred for life alike.

For more info about the stage production, visit http://www.fz6d.com and follow @FZ6D on Twitter.

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