FORBIDDEN WORLD

U.S.A. | 1982 Directed by Allan Holzman Starring Jesse Vint Dawn Dunlap June Chadwick Color | 77 Minutes | R Format: DVD (R1 - NTSC | 2-disc set) Shout! Factory

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		Review by Brian Lindsey Film:6 DVD:10

Space marshal Mike Colby (Jesse Vint, Macon County Line) is awakened from cryogenic sleep during a long voyage back to Earth. He's ordered to make a detour to the planet Xarbia, where a scientific research station is located. It seems there has been an incident of some sort at the station involving one of the bio-specimens. With no more to go on than that, Colby — reputedly the "best troubleshooter in the Federation" — lands his ship on Xarbia, a barren desert world. Accompanied by his humanoid robot assistant (Don Olivera, in a face-obscuring Star Wars stormtrooper-like suit), he meets with station personnel to get briefed on what's been happening.

Whatever it is it ain't good. A manmade organism called Subject 20 — capable of rapid, unpredictable mutation — broke out of its cage and slaughtered all the test animals in the lab. Now it has cocooned itself and seems to be dormant. Colby is supposed to determine the next step: re-contain or destroy it? Dr. Hauser (Linden Chiles), head of the small science team, argues for preserving the creature for invaluable further study. Colby leans toward killing it, driven by a hunch. The scientists seem to be holding information back. But no matter. The decision can wait; the situation can first be discussed over dinner. And after a long stretch of space duty the presence on the bio-team of two impossibly hot females (Dawn Dunlap, June Chadwick) is a welcome distraction — especially with one of them already making it quite clear she wants to shag. (These ladies don't let isolation on the edge of the galaxy dampen their style, going braless and wearing high heels with their skintight jumpsuits.) Reassured that the creature is secure enough for now in the lab, Colby breaks bread with the staff in the cafeteria — all except the poor bastard ordered by Hauser to stay behind and clean up the place. He's attacked by a parasitic outgrowth of the critter, which immediately begins turning him into a liquefying pile of bloody goo. By the time the others rush back to the lab Subject 20 has vanished...

From the description above it should be evident that Forbidden World — entitled Mutant in some foreign markets — is an unapologetic rip-off of Ridley Scott's Alien. (Comparisons to 1982's The Thing would also seem appropriate, except that Forbidden World was released in theaters first.) Running a lean 77 minutes, the film is boiled down to its exploitation elements: monster attacks, bucket-loads of gore and completely gratuitous female nudity. Anyone seeking interesting characters or more science with their fiction will be mightily disappointed. Those accepting it for what it is — an entertaining monster movie made quickly and very cheaply — will dig it for one simple reason: It's fun.

The film was helmed and edited by first-time director Allan Holzman using a leftover set and props from another Roger Corman production, 1981's Galaxy of Terror. The Xarbia research station's corridors were famously constructed of Styrofoam fast-food containers raided from a local burger joint. It's a testament to Holzman and crew that the movie looks as good as it does. Taking advantage of the claustrophobic nature of the small sets and wisely keeping the fully-grown creature mostly in darkness and shadow, Holzman uses rapid-fire editing to give Forbidden World a relentless pace and even generate a few old-fashioned horror shocks. What was achieved on such a minuscule budget is to my mind fairly impressive. If a confusing, retina-searing pre-titles sequence (a pointless space battle mandated by Corman) and a brief excursion into the desert outside the station (the film's only outdoors scene*) don't work nearly as well, all is forgiven whenever the gore is spurting and the ladies strip for action.

Performances are in tune with the B-movie/exploitation spirit of the thing, with Vint proving a rather laid back, likable hero. 20-year old Dawn Dunlap (Barbarian Queen) isn't exactly convincing as a scientist/technician but that counts for absolutely jack squat when she's got such a hot young body. (She can scream her tawny little head off, too.) Sure, the characters sometimes do nonsensical things — relaxing nude in the sauna while a potentially dangerous creature is on the loose, for instance, but in the yummy Ms. Dunlap's case I'm more than willing to forgive. The gooey, squishy gore effects are quite effective considering the low budget and are practically slathered on with a trowel during the film's second half. If a bit too much is shown of the (animatronic puppet) creature near the end, well, I suppose that’s preferable to not revealing enough. A faux Carpenter synth score merely accentuates the film’s 'enjoyable rip-off' milieu.

* The striking formations of southern California's Vasquez Rocks will be very familiar to Star Trek fans as the site of Capt. Kirk's duel with the Gorn commander in the classic episode Arena.

Shout! Factory's recently launched Roger Corman Cult Classics line of DVD/Blu-ray titles has so far proven a bountiful feast for lovers of psychotronic genre cinema… It's as if the Golden Age of Home Video never ended! Released late last month, the company’s 2-disc edition of Forbidden World is no exception — loaded with extras, the set actually contains two different versions of the film.

On Disc 1 is the 77-minute theatrical cut, presented via 1.78 anamorphic widescreen transfer mastered from original vault elements. I'd never seen the movie before screening this DVD but the consensus of those who have is unanimous — it's a massive improvement over what were reportedly dark, shitty-looking North American VHS editions back in the day. Colors look great; instances of dirt and print damage are so minor as to be inconsequential. The digital mono audio track can't match the visuals in terms of quality — there's a bit of scratchiness here and there, a few pops — but it gets the job done satisfactorily enough. Disc 2 of the set features the 82-minute director's cut of the film under the alternate title Mutant. Holzman wanted to give the film a comedic, tongue-in-cheek sensibility to balance out the carnage but Corman disagreed; consequently some five minutes of footage was then snipped out. (In this case I have to agree with Corman, preferring as I do the leaner, meaner edit.) This Director's Cut was taken from a fullframe tape source and is therefore of markedly inferior A/V quality compared to the theatrical edition.

Disc 1 bonus materials are extensive. A half-hour making-of documentary compiles interviews of director Allan Holzman, DP Dennis Skotak, actor Jesse Vint, composer Susan Justin and a number of special effects technicians; their recollections are illustrative of just how cheap and rushed the film's production truly was. Roger Corman himself weighs in during a solo featurette (6 min.), while the contributions of makeup effects artist John Carl Beuchler are highlighted in a separate 14-minute piece. Two image galleries (one comprised of behind-the-scenes photos and design sketches, the other of posters and production stills) and a slate of Corman/Shout! Factory trailers are also included.

As mentioned above, Disc 2 contains the Mutant cut of the film, which is really a bonus supplement unto itself. It's accompanied by an audio commentary with Holzman, moderated by Mondo Digital's Nathaniel Thompson. Between this and the Disc 1 featurettes, virtually nothing of Forbidden World is left unexplored. Add to all this an illustrated booklet of liner notes and reversible cover art and you have what may well be one of the coolest releases of the year. 8/09/10

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