Forbidden World — Forbidden World (UHD & Blu Ray)
Forbidden World (Mutant) is an early 80’s shot of camp, gooey, gory, and sleazy Sci-fi horror. It’s largely set within the confines of a science facility on a desert alien planet. The film has a great breakneck pace, with moments of jerky/ jarring visual collage- flashing back & forth through the picture's timeline. From 88 Films, here’s a new dual UHD and Blu-Ray release of the movie. It features two versions of the film, three commentary tracks, and a good selection of extras.
Forbidden World is from 1982; it’s a US production directed by Baltimore-born Allan Holzman. Between the early 80’s and late 2010’s, he has thirteen features to this mock-doc/ farce Grunt! The Wrestling Movie (1985), action sci-fi Programmed to Kill(1987), and documentary Old Man River (1999). The film was released on Roger Corman’s New World Pictures, and it was Holzman's first film.
It’s fair to say the film rather liberally grabs/ steals from other more well-known/ classic sci-fi- so, for example, we open riffing on a blend of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Battlestar Galactica. As we see humanoid robot Sam 104 moving through a spaceship to classical music, and our heroic lead Federation Marshal Mike Colby( Jess Vint) has a zooming & laser shooting space battle with rogue ships.
As Mike sets down on a desert planet, he makes his way into the scientific base, and we get a blend of Carpenter's The Thing, the first Alien, and The Blob. On the base- we have a decent selection of characters- bespeckled, manic, and bloody lab-coated Dr Cal Tinbergen(Fox Harris). More serious, grey-haired Dr Gordon Hauser( Linden Chiles), and the very flirty, white jump-suited, and blond, feathered haired Dr. Barbara Glaser(June Chadwick).
The ‘creature’ nicely morphs over the film's length- going from a deformed-faced cross of flesh lump, onto a raw tuna stake face-sucking thing, though a barely-seen twitching tentacle thing, before shifting into a big black snapping teethed monster.
We get a good selection of bloody & gooey effects, as well as a fair bit of full frontal female nudity/ sleaze. With some effective creep POV’s and stalking’s. As mentioned earlier, the pace of the film is rapid, as we move between camp interactions, blood & slime, flesh and hamming it up acting.
The film features a great, largely electronic score by June Chadwick, who also scored 1983 backwoods slasher The Final Terror. Her score moves between more purring & sinister synth tones, mid-paced/ lightly pulsing fare, to all-out beat beat/ whooshing synth-toned electronica.
I was aware of Forbidden World, but this release is a first watch. And I must say it’s a most entertaining sci-fi horror ride. Sure, it steals from all over the place, but that doesn't matter as it’s all done with such sleazy & camp charm.
The release features two versions of the film- 77 Minutes Theatrical Version and the 82 Minute Director’s Cut (aka Mutant). I watched the first of these, and the 4k scan looks wonderful- with great punchy colours and keen clarity depth.
On the extras side, we get a great selection of new things. There are three commentary tracks- one with Kim Newman and Sean Hogan (Theatrical Version), one with Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth (Theatrical Version), and one with Allan Holzman and Nathaniel Thompson (Director's cut). I played the first of these, and as usual, Newman & Hogan do a great job, with a mix of observations & facts. They start off talking about the film's dual title and how it’s caused confusion. They touch on the other Alien rip-offs, and when they first saw the film. They discuss the reasoning behind its short runtime. They talk about some of the differences between the two cuts of the film. They chat about the film's cast, before briefly touching on the more sexy elements. Later on, they talk about how the film got theatrical releases across the world- been shown in the UK as a double bill with Lucio Fulci’s Conquest. Touch on how useless the female characters are in the film, Roger Corman's legacy, and more.
Otherwise, on the new extras side, we have the following: Confessions of a Teenage Mutant:(45.22) Interview with Allan Holzman. Don’t Laugh at Mutant: (17.25) Another interview with Allan Holzman. Newer Horizons ( 20.30) A video essay by Mike Foster looking at Roger Corman's sci-fi films.
On the archive side, we have: The Making Of Forbidden World ( 34.09). Interview with Roger Corman ( 6.26). Interview with John Carl Buechler(14.29). Image Gallery. Radio Spot. TV Spots.Trailers.
The finished release comes with an o-ring packaging with new artwork by Joel Robinson. And a booklet with notes by James Whittington.
Forbidden World is a hell of a lot of schlocky, camp, and sleazy sci-fi horror fun. This new 88 Films release serves up a wonderful 4k scan and a great selection of interesting extras.