13 Facts About Forbidden Zone

Forbidden Zone is an American absurdist musical fantasy comedy film produced and directed by Richard Elfman, and co-written by Elfman and Matthew Bright.

Originally shot on black-and-white film, Forbidden Zone is based upon the stage performances of the Los Angeles theater troupe The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, of which Elfman, Bright and many of the cast and crew were a part, and revolves around an alternate universe accessed through a door in the house of the Hercules family.

Amid negative reactions to content in the film that had been perceived as being offensive, Forbidden Zone was screened as a midnight movie, where it was met with positive notices, and developed a large and eventually worldwide cult following.

Forbidden Zone's designed the film's expressionistic sets and starred in the film.

Elfman ultimately went bankrupt during the production of Forbidden Zone and had to assign the rights away in order to finish the film; in 2015, Elfman regained the full rights to Forbidden Zone.

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Forbidden Zone featured Bright's first work on film, and his only work as an actor .

Forbidden Zone was the first film scored by Danny Elfman, who would eventually score, among other films, Batman, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Forbidden Zone premiered at the Los Angeles Filmex film festival in 1980, later receiving a limited theatrical distribution as a midnight movie through The Samuel Goldwyn Company in 1982.

In 2008, with Elfman's blessing and input, a colorized version of Forbidden Zone was issued on DVD by Legend Films, and was later screened in exhibition at the New York Museum of Modern Art in 2010.

In particular, Forbidden Zone has been criticized for its brief use of surreal blackface.

In 2010, Forbidden Zone was performed as a live stage show with the support of Richard Elfman.

Forbidden Zone enters in a clown suit and beats a big bass drum that is accompanied by a Brazilian percussion ensemble—reminiscent of his former group, the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo.

Elfman opens the Forbidden Zone shadow cast shows with Erin Holt singing Princess Polly live in front of her screened “monster” image on stage.