Forbidden World (USA, 1982) 77 min color DIR: Allan Holzman. PROD: Roger Corman. SCR: Tim Curnen. STY: R.J. Robertson, Jim Wynorski. MUSIC: Susan Justin. DOP: Tim Suhrstedt. CAST: Jesse Vint, Dawn Dunlap, June Chadwick, Linden Chiles, Fox Harris, Raymond Oliver, Scott Paulin. (New World Pictures)
Roger Corman really got more bang for his bucks, by using snippets from his hit science fiction adventure Battle Beyond the Stars to pad out several other movies, including Galaxy of Terror and Space Raiders. The story (with early contributions by Jim Wynorksi, later an important figure in Corman’s Concorde era) is essentially an Alien rip-off, but still relies on Battle Beyond the Stars outtakes to pad out its already sparse running time. Why else would we have this protracted opening with Mike Colby (Jesse Vint) awakening from suspended animation in his space ship, being pursued by hostile aliens, other than to show off some more miniatures from that movie? In any case, he lands on a space station outpost for inspection, and visits the scientists who are working on a brand new food source. (Evidently in this part of the galaxy, they haven’t seen Humanoids from the Deep.)
Director Allan Holzman (an editor on Battle) doesn’t do much with the eccentric characters on this vessel. Cal (Fox Harris) is a cut-rate Harry Dean Stanton clone who chain-smokes even while eating; Dr. Barbara Glaser (June Chadwick) is an icy blond in a white jumpsuit, looking like she just sang with ABBA; Tracy Baxter (cute starlet Dawn Dunlap) is the kind of stock character who locks lips with Colby about five minutes after her boyfriend is killed. And oh, did I mention the cute robot Sam (albeit not as funny as the sassy female computer voice in Battle Beyond the Stars)?
Alas, it really makes little difference, as all of these cardboard cutouts are set up for slaughter by this “food source” which oozes some little embryonic thing out one orifice, and before long becomes a giant-sized reptile that faintly resembles the one in the Ridley Scott movie. The film is also padded with weird flash forwards and flashbacks at the beginning and end, presumably for no other reason than to give some cyclical narrative to this already thin story.
For a space movie where survival of the fittest is key, this film has an unusual amount of nudity, as Colby gets it on with both the women (not simultaneously). (Sample dialogue: “I hear you’re the best troubleshooter in the federation” / “Want to see some trouble?”) There is even a ridiculous scene where both of the women are nude, glowing with perspiration, talking about trying to communicate with the alien, as there is no alternative. All of this flesh is tinted with seductive warm colours, as the ship seems to be only equipped with low-level stag party lighting. (In this context, the weird electronic “space age porn music” makes a lot of sense.) But what the hell, it’s a Roger Corman movie: and soon the even more plentiful nudity would be less defensible.
Trivia note: the production manager is Aaron Lipstadt, who in true Corman fashion, would soon graduate to director of the very enjoyable no-budget sci-fi effort Android, with Klaus Kinski, which also relies on footage from Battle Beyond the Stars.
Originally published in The Roger Corman Scrapbook.
Greg Woods
Greg Woods has been a film enthusiast since his teens, and began his writing "career" at the same time- prolific in capsule reviews of everything he had watched, first on index cards, then those hardcover dollar store black journals, then an old Mac IIsi. He founded The Eclectic Screening Room in 2001, as a portal to share his film love with the world, and find some like-minded enthusiasts along the way. In addition to having worked in the film industry for over two decades, he has been a co-programmer of films at Trash Palace, and a programmer/co-founder of the Toronto Film Noir Syndicate. He has also written for Broken Pencil, CU-Confidential, Micro-Film, and is currently working on his first novel. His secret desire is for someone to interview him for a podcast or a DVD extra.