As a young, disaffected child, riddled with neuroses and personality disorders, it should come as no surprise that I was drawn to the darkly comical, slightly morbid and otherwise gothic (as in the post-punk subculture and not the East Germanic tribes) films of Tim Burton. I was a weirdo who liked weird stuff, something that’s become even more true with age, and so I consumed movie and movie with reckless abandon like some great and terrible beast. Which is the best way to appreciate the works of Tim Burton, in my opinion; Quickly, deeply, and at a young enough age that it doesn’t register in your mind that the man is a magician with one trick. In some cases (looking at you Dark Shadows), it might be the only way.
A lot of the enjoyment that I get from those early Burton years has a lot to do with the music of those films, and in particular the work of composer Danny Elfman. Whether it’s Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman (still the iconic theme for the character, in my opinion), his work has this dynamic, vital energy that never fails to get me into a good mood. You know it’s a Danny Elfman joint the second you hear it (it’s probably the one that sounds like a bottom-heavy Chernobog polka), and that’s something of a rare thing in these modern times. Of course most of the movies I watch are about 30 years old minimum, so the relative diversity and quality of modern film soundtracks might be lost on me. Maybe.
Fury Road was pretty good though.
It was a few years later that I learned that Mr. Elfman had actually got his start in a band, Oingo Boingo, originally known as The Mystical Knights of Oingo Boingo and later known simply as Boingo. Born from the glam/art rock scene that was raging in Los Angeles in the early 70s, Oingo Boingo went from a staple figure in the local concert scene into a fully-fledged album releasing band of the 80s new wave. They put out a decent string of albums in that era, including my personal favorite, 1985’s Dead Man’s Party, which featured the title track of the popular sci-fi comedy Weird Science, but shifting musical tastes and Elfman’s other priorities led them to call it quits in the early 90’s. Not a bad run for a band that was likely cursed with the ‘One Hit Wonder’ label at some point, all things considered. Only A Lad is a pretty good song too.
It was a few years after I discovered Danny Elfman had a band that I learned that he had been in films, specifically Forbidden Zone, released in 1980. Directed by Richard Elfman, Danny’s brother and founder of the group, co-written by Matthew Bright (another member of the band) and starring several other bandmates, Forbidden Zone not only served as a replication of the unique experience the band brought to its live shows, but as a love letter to that era of the band’s history. Around the time of FZ’s release, Richard would quit the group permanently to focus on filmmaking, the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo would shorten its name to the still unique but easier to remember Oingo Boingo, and their bizarre, cabaret on LSD vision would get passed through the filter of new wave as it made its way onto record store shelves and MTV screens. The last bow, you could say, as one chapter of the band closes and a new one begins. Very dramatic, believe me.
Anyway, the story of Forbidden Zone revolves around the Hercules family: The Swedish Jed Clampett-looking Pa, the overburdened Ma, precocious son Flash, absentminded Gramps, and “Frenchy” (played by Marie-Pascale Elfman), the beautiful and demure daughter. The Hercules are your typical American family, living the typical American dream in your typical American town, who just so happen to have a portal to the 6th dimension in their basement. The 6th dimension, referred to as the Forbidden Zone, is a place of madness, rampant nudity and overt BDSM, populated by deviants and frogs of variable shapes and sizes and ruled over by the French nationalist King Fausto (Fantasy Island manservant Hervè Villechaize) and the megalomaniacal dominatrix Queen Doris (Susan Tyrell). In an act of youthful rebellion, and to help school nerd/outcast Squeezit’s transgender sister Renè (not as progressive as it sounds), Frenchy decides to enter the Forbidden Zone, and almost immediately becomes entangled in the chaotic mess that is interdimensional politics. It’s up to Flash, Gramps and Squeezit to brave the perils of the Forbidden Zone and the menacing Queen Doris and somehow rescue Frenchy, all the while singing cabaret songs and making raunchy sex jokes.
Given how much the band is involved with this movie, it should come as no surprise that a significant portion of the movie is centered around music, a couple by the band itself (the theme song to this movie would later be reworked by Elfman into the theme song for the Dilbert animated series) and more than couple interpretations of popular cabaret songs. These songs are far and above the highlight of the movie, each one featuring a level of choreography and performance that you’d expect from such a theatrically-minded group. If I had to choose just one, I’d have to go with Danny Elfman’s far too short cameo as Satan, as he serenades Squeezit with a rendition of Minnie the Moocher. It’s almost a throwaway scene, having very little to do with anything before or after it in the movie, but Danny gives such a delightfully sinister showing as the Prince of Darkness, possibly foreshadowing the macabre direction his music would take years later, that it hardly matters.
Therein lies the major issue with Forbidden Zone, which is the same issue that Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels, The Who’s Tommy, and the rest of these rock ‘n’ roll type movies: In order to get to the entertaining parts (i.e. the music), you have to sit through a bunch of crap (i.e. the actual movie). In that way Forbidden Zone has vastly outpaced its competitors, as it’s been a long time since I’ve sat through such an astoundingly shitty movie for so little payoff. Not since the days of Flesh for Frankenstein (not officially reviewed, but it’s an addendum on one of the lists) and The Seduction of Dr. Fugazzi have I been so thoroughly unimpressed by a movie, a feat which I thought and hoped would never be equaled. Coffee & Cigarettes had a more compelling narrative, and the original Mad Max thrilled me more than this flick. It’s that dull folks.
Perhaps it’s a question of demographics. I, as a modern kind of guy, have been immersed in wild & crazy stuff since I was a kid. I watched Nightmare Before Christmas enough times to memorize the songs, I perused Newgrounds back when celebrity torture porn videos were all the rage, I read Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol and Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen like a bible, and every night shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force and South Park lit up my television screen. So when I watch Forbidden Zone and a walking African-American stereotype in blackface waltzes on screen, it is any wonder that I roll my eyes? When it throws out racist jokes, homophobic jokes, misogynist jokes, rape jokes and other such things like a 14 year old with Tourette’s during his first Overwatch stream, is it all that surprising that I’m bored to tears? Nothing in this movie is really shocking anymore, I’m not sure it was ever funny, so why should I care? It’s weird and low budget and all that, yeah, which is enough to give anything at least a moderate cult following, but there has to be some element of goodness in there to counteract the flaws, so you have something to celebrate. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is weird, but it has amazing music, great set pieces, and Tim Curry in fishnets. Buckaroo Banzai is weird, but the world it creates is so vibrant and unique that you don’t want to leave. Young Einstein is weird, but it’s bizarre Aussiefied version of history and steampunk-inspired technology sets it apart from its peers. Forbidden Zone is weird, but it’s so busy trying to be edgy and cool that it never stops to consider that maybe it’s had its head up its own ass for so long that it can’t tell shit from maize. With a proper cult movie, I should be lamenting the fact that the general public overlooked this hidden gem, not wondering what the general public got right after all these years.
Obviously that’s just one king’s opinion though, and you’re free to watch to Forbidden Zone at your own discretion. There’s certainly some degree of enjoyment there, in the music interludes, and a good deal of animation that I hadn’t mentioned before, but it’s up to you whether you want to invest that time into it or not. If you’re just looking for a weird movie to watch this Halloween though, just something ‘far out’ to share with your pals down at the sock hop, there are plenty of other, more exciting fish in the sea.
Might I suggest the works of Tim Burton?
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