Forbidden World Blu-ray offers solid video and poor audio in this mediocre Blu-ray release
On the remote planet of Xarbia, a scientific experiment has gone horrifically wrong. An experimental life-form known as Subject 20,” created by an elite group of scientists to prevent a major galactic food crisis, has instead mutated into a man-eating organism. It’s getting bigger, it has the ability to change its genetic structure at will and, worst of all, it’s hungry. Very, very hungry!
Could there be a movie better suited to playing the part of Poster Child for exploitation cinema?
Forbidden World -- also known as Mutant and Subject 20 -- is a
monument to the lowest rung of the cinematic ladder, a shining example of cheap thrills, excessive
gore, and pointless sex and nudity. A Sci-Fi/Horror movie built on a flimsy plot for what was
undoubtedly a microscopic budget, Forbidden World features a consistently dank and
unwelcoming atmosphere; it's the sort of movie that can almost give off a nasty stench just by
watching it, thanks in large part to some pretty grotesque visuals that include, but are not limited
to, holes in heads, slowly-decaying bodies, yanked-out organs, ripped-off limbs, and spraying blood.
That's all well and good -- Forbidden World is pretty effective in that area -- but it
otherwise plays out as a laughably bad smorgasbord of all things low rent, including some terrible
special effects, a lousy electronic score, middling acting, and a whole lot of nudity that serves no
real purpose other than as an added enticement to see the movie through some X-rated trailer.
Still, flaws and all, Forbidden World is in a way a fun little diversion for those that can
stomach its nastiness and don't mind that everything else is about as on-the-cheap as
moviemaking comes.
All Mutants now come with USB 2.0 ports, standard!
Space jock Mike Colby (Jesse Vint) and his robot companion SAM-104 are redirected to the planet
Xarbia to help contain a deadly creature.
Xarbia is a desolate world that's home to a high-priority, high-security genetic engineering research
facility, but as they tend to do in such places, something has gone terribly awry. The scientists'
noble
goal of creating a new source of food has yielded a creature known as "Subject 20," a violent
metamorphic beast with an empty belly and a compound full of scientists to eat. Opinions vary
on
whether the creature should be killed or not; Colby's vote is to exterminate with extreme prejudice,
and though he meets with some resistance, 20's rapidly-increasing body count leaves Xarbia's
holdouts without much choice. As 20's victims mount, their mangled and decaying bodies yield
some
clues as to what it is 20 has in store for the rest of the people, and it's going to take more than
some
well-placed laser blasts to eliminate the menace once and for all.
At least it's short. Forbidden World clocks in at a healthy 77 minutes, but it still manages
to cram in quite a few superfluous scenes that mostly involve sex, nudity, strange editing,
headache-inducing music, poor special effects, and some chitchat meant to build up the story.
Even in those scenes that add nothing to the plot (wait, there's a plot? Yes, barely.), Forbidden
World still moves along at a nice clip and does just enough to keep genre fans watching, if only
to see how low the movie can go next. Fortunately, Forbidden World sticks to its
bread-and-butter far more often than not. Scientific mumbo-jumbo is kept to a bare minimum,
and, yes, go ahead and gloss over those scenes. They don't make sense, and they don't need to.
Director Allan Holzman does just enough to establish the semblance of a story so there's something
to point to as a "reason" for all of the breasts and rotting bodies, but even then, some of it just
doesn't add up. No matter, Forbidden World is best enjoyed in short spurts when there's
naked bodies and gore up on the screen, certainly not when it's trying to play the part of a
legitimate movie.
Forbidden World is perhaps best described as Alien meets The Thing with some
two-bit soft-core erotica-type elements tossed in for good measure. Even though there's a nasty
murderous creature on the loose, there's always time for some copulation; nothing like
having one's priorities in order. In that vein, a collection mentally-challenged characters make
Forbidden World even worse than it needs to
be. Not only do they seem to forget what's going on in the
name of messing around and taking showers with one another, but they're all in some way
potential Darwin Award candidates. One character is charged with cleaning up the bloody
remnants of slaughtered animals that were recently killed by the creature. The creature's
"contained" in a clear plastic box with a loose-fitting cover that a hamster could shove its way out
of,
and what
does this guy do? He opens it and sticks his face up inside of it, right next to the monster. Genius.
Then there's the girl who tries to communicate with the alien, only to suddenly find a big hole torn
in her back while it thinks about whether it and the human can co-exist. Oops. Fortunately, the
stupidity pays off, and viewers are treated to some pretty hardcore gore. Indeed, Forbidden
World is some kind of gross; it's clear much of the budget went into some effects that
Re-Animator and Day of the Dead would
be proud of. It's the kind of stuff the requires an iron stomach, but fans of low-rent graphic cinema
will eat this one up like a delicious lump of deformed protein.
Forbidden World blasts onto Blu-ray with a 1080p transfer that, all things considered, isn't too
bad. Some scenes are awash in speckles, scratches, and other forms of print damage, but most of the
elements are in decent enough shape. Colors are mostly drab, but acceptable. Fine details don't
impress, but the transfer remains suitably sharp but somewhat flat. The 1080p resolution does reveal
some of the haphazardly-constructed set pieces; paint is clearly thin and chipped here and there,
scratches and dents visible in places, and costumes look rather cheap. Fortunately, the gore effects
look
great; there's some nasty stuff here, and the Blu-ray captures every last ounce of rotting flesh,
gelatinous goo, and sinew very well. A fairly thick layer of grain is retained over the image, but there's
also
some distracting banding and pixelation in low-light scenes. Blacks vary between stable and
overpowering, but flesh tones retain an honest hue. There's not much here to get excited about, but
for a low-budget Sci-Fi/Horror title from the early 80s, Forbidden World looks about as good as
one should reasonably expect.
Forbidden World arrives on Blu-ray with a paltry and problematic DTS-HD MA 2.0 lossless
soundtrack. The picture's budget is the biggest obstacle facing this track; there's virtually nothing that
extends beyond the center channel, and what's here often sounds like it was recorded on a Fisher Price
tape recorder. Dialogue is plenty harsh, coming across as unbalanced but never lacking to the point
that words become unintelligible. Sound effects are loud but absent clarity; for instance, explosions
and laser blasts
sound jumbled but not wholly indistinct. There's plenty of screaming in the movie, and honestly, it
sounds
like one scream was recorded and played back every time it was needed. The picture's annoying
electronic score, like the sound effects, plays as clunky and unrefined. There's also an audible hiss
accompanying parts of the track. Basically, Forbidden World sounds just good enough so that
it's possible to make out what's going on, but as for a more engaging, yea even pleasant, experience,
forget it.
Forbidden World scares up a strong collection of bonus materials for this Blu-ray release.
The
package is headlined by a documentary entitled The Making of 'Forbidden World' (1080p,
34:14). This is a slow-paced but highly informative piece that features Editor/Director Allan
Holzman,
Special
Visual Effects/Production Designer Robert Skotak, Special Visual Effects/Director of Photography
Dennis
Skotak, Special Makeup Effects Artist R. Christopher Biggs, Production Manager/2nd Unit Director
Aaron
Lipstadt, Optical Effects Technician Tony Randal, Lead Actor Jesse Vint, and Music Composer Susan
Justin speaking on the origins of the picture, set and creature designs, anecdotes from the shoot,
the
qualities of the cast, the picture's budget and pace of the shoot, and more. Next is Interview
With
Roger Corman (1080p, 6:25), a short piece that features the famed B-movie producer speaking
on various elements surrounding Forbidden World, including the idea for the film, the cast,
the change in title, shooting locales, James Cameron's involvement, post-production work, and
more.
Interview With Special Makeup FX Artist: John Carl Beuchler (1080p, 14:20) is a strong
piece thanks to Beuchler's enthusiasm for sharing his thoughts on Forbidden World. He
begins by speaking on how he came to be attached to Roger Corman and, of course, continues on to
discuss the creation of the various nasty special effects. The Skotek Gallery (1080p, 1:20)
contains a series of drawings and still behind-the-scenes photos from Forbidden World.
Poster
& Still Gallery (1080p, 3:40) showcases a series of film-related promotional items and
photographs from the set. Also included is a trailer for Forbidden World (1080p, 2:33) and
additional trailers for Battle Beyond the
Stars, Galaxy of Terror, and
Humanoids From the
Deep. Disc two is a DVD that contains an alternate cut of Forbidden World (480p,
4:3, Dolby Digital 2.0, 1:22:03, entitled Mutant) and an audio commentary track with
Director Allan Holzman moderated by Nathaniel Thompson. Also included in the Blu-ray case is a full
color 12-page booklet that contains photos and the essay
"How to Make an Alien in 20 Days" as well as reversible cover art.
Three cheers for Shout! Factory for bringing a movie like Forbidden World to Blu-ray. Sure, it's
nice to have Gone With the Wind and
all that in high definition, but there's something to be said for the vitality of the format when it sees a
movie like this come out. Make no mistake, though,
Forbidden
World is a niche film that's not going to appeal to too many mainstream viewers whose collections
include
movies like The Hangover, Star Trek, and Pirates of the Caribbean.
This is cheap filmmaking
at its finest, a pristine example of celluloid trash that's little more than a collection of sex scenes, bare
breasts, and gore-a-plenty. For those that dare give it a spin, Shout! Factory's Blu-ray release isn't half
bad. Though the transfer has its faults, it's still a solid effort, and supplements aplenty are included.
The
audio track is definitely the weak spot here, but it's not enough to keep Forbidden World from
earning a recommendation to the right audience.
Shout! Factory has provided a series of clips for two upcoming releases from the Roger Corman Cult Classics collection, the "science-fiction shockers" Forbidden World and Galaxy of Terror, both of which are due out on Blu-ray on July 20.
Shout! Factory has officially announced two "science-fiction shockers" on July 20 as part of its Roger Corman's Cult Classics collection: Forbidden World (in a 2-disc BD/DVD edition) and Galaxy of Terror. Forbidden World will include the R-rated theatrical cut ...
Loud rock 'n roll! Scandalous women! Extreme violence! Gory monsters! Hardcore action! It's all in the proudly exploitative promo reel that Shout! Factory has put together to offer a sneak peek into its Roger Corman Cult Classics collection, soon to start releasing ...
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