Forbidden World

The American movie Forbidden World is a beautiful example of the combination of horror and sci-fi B-movies. It could have been utter bullshit, however, it turned out to be a movie that is secretly classy and a very nice example for fans of beautiful B-movie trash from almost forty years ago. The camera does not jerk unnecessarily, it is not disturbing, so the viewer can just sit back and enjoy. (08.11.2019)

A Corman-like hybrid of Alien and The Thing with a softporn twist. Scientists have created a synthetic life form to give starving people something to eat in the future. But their experiment mutates into a cross between an alien and a critter with very large teeth, and instead of becoming food for humans, it makes food out of them. A seemingly traditional low-budget spaceploitation flick that borrows a few unused space battle shots from Battle Beyond the Stars, though they are in no way related to the plot. But why not have a nice kickass beginning? They also recycle sets and props from the weird sci-fi B-movie Galaxy of Terror (some of which by a then-unknown James Cameron). So even here the corridors of the spaceship are made of cardboard coasters and hamburger boxes, which is more evident on the Blu-ray. Not surprisingly, there's also plenty of gratuitous female nudity. The characters in the spaceship shower all the time (maybe because there's so much dirt, slime and pus everywhere) and have lots of sex (probably to keep themselves and the audience entertained). Classic. But Forbidden World is notable for its very strange, sped-up editing, characterised by crazy stroboscopic flashback and flashforward shots that the viewer perceives rather subliminally. The strangest moment is during the monster attack scene, which for some reason is intercut with hundredths of a second sections from the previous sex scene. WTF? It's like Tyler Durden edited the film after seeing the shower scene from Psycho. Maybe there's some hidden meaning in all this that escapes me, either way, the aggressive rapid-fire montages made me more sick than the ubiquitous gore effects. The soundtrack, which mixes disco synthesiser music with unpleasant electronic sounds, will also give you a headache for hours afterwards. Finally, it's worth mentioning the completely unprecedented way in which the heroes take out the main monster. I won't give it away, but you wouldn't dream of something like that. (25.01.2017)

Forbidden World is a cheap, exploitative imitation of the movie Alien, yet still relatively tolerable. Even though it came hot on the heels of Alien, any qualitative comparison is definitely out of the question. Despite the fact that I can remember very little two and a half years after watching it, I do recall a pretty good synth soundtrack by Susan Justin and a well-designed monster with big teeth who successfully eliminates completely the memories of an oversimplified screenplay and dull characters. With zero expectations, it's a pretty bearable horror B-movie. (10.03.2020)