''Forbidden World'', originally titled ''Mutant'', is a 1982 American
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
-
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
. The screenplay was written by Tim Curnen, from a screenstory by R.J. Robertson and Jim Wynorski. It was co-edited and directed by Allan Holzman, who had edited ''
Battle Beyond the Stars
''Battle Beyond the Stars'' is a 1980 American space opera film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Jimmy T. Murakami, and starring Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, George Peppard, John Saxon, Sybil Danning and Darlanne Fluegel. Intended as ...
'' two years earlier. The cast includes
Jesse Vint
Jesse Lee Vint III (born 21 September 1940) is an American actor, film director and screenwriter. He acted in the films ''Silent Running'' (1972), '' Macon County Line'' (1974), '' Black Oak Conspiracy'' (1977) and ''Forbidden World'' (1982).
L ...
,
Dawn Dunlap
Dawn Dunlap is an American former actress best known for her appearance as Laura in David Hamilton's '' Laura''. She quit the film industry in 1985. She later married British advertising agent Frank Lowe, taking the name "Lady Dawn Lowe". The coup ...
,
June Chadwick
June Chadwick (born 30 November 1951, Warwickshire) is an English film and television actress. Her best-known television roles are as Lydia in the science fiction TV series '' V: The Series'', and as Lt. Joanna Parisi on the third season of the s ...
,
Linden Chiles
Truman Linden Chiles (March 22, 1933 – May 15, 2013) was an American character actor.
Early years
Chiles was born in St. Louis, Missouri but grew up in Barrington, Illinois. He graduated from Northwestern University with a bachelor of arts ...
, Fox Harris and
Michael Bowen. ''Forbidden World'' has also been released under the titles ''Mutant'' and ''Subject 20''.
The film received three nominations for the 1983
Saturn Award
The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...
s: Best Low Budget Film, Best Make-up and Best Special Effects. It was generally panned by critics as a cheap, exploitative imitation of the movie ''
Alien
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
'', with sex, nudity, uneven editing, cheap special effects, and a sound design which some moviegoers found unpleasant, although the electronic music score produced by Susan Justin received mostly positive attention. It is frequently paired with and compared to the previous year's Corman-produced ''
Alien
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
'' rip-off ''
Galaxy of Terror
''Galaxy of Terror'' is a 1981 science fiction horror film produced by Roger Corman through New World Pictures and directed by Bruce D. Clark. It was distributed by United Artists. It stars Edward Albert, Erin Moran, Ray Walston and Taaffe O'C ...
'', with which ''Forbidden World'' shares some of the same sets (designed by
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...
). The movie also makes use of footage recycled from the 1980 movie ''
Battle Beyond the Stars
''Battle Beyond the Stars'' is a 1980 American space opera film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Jimmy T. Murakami, and starring Richard Thomas, Robert Vaughn, George Peppard, John Saxon, Sybil Danning and Darlanne Fluegel. Intended as ...
'', which was also produced by Corman.
The film was remade in 1991 under the title ''
Dead Space
''Dead Space'' is a science fiction/horror fiction, horror media franchise created by Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, developed by Visceral Games, and published and owned by Electronic Arts. The franchise's chronology is not presented in a lin ...
'', on which Corman served as executive producer. The remake has minor variations but still retains the plot and character stylings of the original, also referring to the mutated virus as a "metamorph" as the original did.
Plot
In the distant future, at a genetic research station located on the remote desert planet of Xarbia, a research team has created an experimental lifeform they have designated "Subject 20". This lifeform was built out of the synthetic
DNA strain, "Proto B", and was intended to stave off a galaxy-wide food crisis. However, Subject 20 mutates rapidly and uncontrollably and kills all of the laboratory subject animals before cocooning itself within an examination booth.
Military officer Mike Colby, accompanied by his robot assistant SAM-104, is called in to investigate the problem. After Colby settles in, his decision to terminate Subject 20 to prevent further deaths is met with research-minded secrecy and resistance. The staff of the station includes the head of research, Gordon Hauser, his assistant Barbara Glaser, lab assistant Tracy Baxter, lab technician Jimmy Swift, electrician Brian Beale, the station's head of security, Earl Richards and Cal Timbergen, the medical doctor.
When Subject 20 hatches from its cocoon, it begins killing the personnel at the station, starting with Jimmy, who was charged with cleansing the subject lab of the dead animal test subjects. As Subject 20 continues to kill most of the station crew, the reason for the deception is revealed. Subject 20's genetic design incorporates human DNA, and its method of killing is to inject its prey with the Proto B DNA strain which then proceeds to remove all genetic differences within specific cells. The result is that the victim's living body slowly erodes into a gelatinous pile of pure protein which Subject 20 consumes for sustenance. After its final mutation, where the creature evolves into a huge insect-like being with a large mouth full of sharp teeth, the creature is slain when it eats Cal's cancer-ridden liver, its body genetically self-destructing from within. Mike and Tracy are left as the only survivors from Subject 20's rampage.
Cast
*
Jesse Vint
Jesse Lee Vint III (born 21 September 1940) is an American actor, film director and screenwriter. He acted in the films ''Silent Running'' (1972), '' Macon County Line'' (1974), '' Black Oak Conspiracy'' (1977) and ''Forbidden World'' (1982).
L ...
as Mike Colby
*
Dawn Dunlap
Dawn Dunlap is an American former actress best known for her appearance as Laura in David Hamilton's '' Laura''. She quit the film industry in 1985. She later married British advertising agent Frank Lowe, taking the name "Lady Dawn Lowe". The coup ...
as Tracy Baxter
*
June Chadwick
June Chadwick (born 30 November 1951, Warwickshire) is an English film and television actress. Her best-known television roles are as Lydia in the science fiction TV series '' V: The Series'', and as Lt. Joanna Parisi on the third season of the s ...
as Dr. Barbara Glaser
*
Linden Chiles
Truman Linden Chiles (March 22, 1933 – May 15, 2013) was an American character actor.
Early years
Chiles was born in St. Louis, Missouri but grew up in Barrington, Illinois. He graduated from Northwestern University with a bachelor of arts ...
as Dr. Gordon Hauser
*
Fox Harris
Fox Harris (May 3, 1936 – December 27, 1988) was an American actor known for such films as '' Repo Man'', '' Sid and Nancy'', '' Straight to Hell'', '' Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers'', ''The Underachievers'' and '' Dr. Caligari''.
Harris worked ...
as Dr. Cal Timbergen
*Raymond Oliver as Brian Beale
*
Scott Paulin
Robert Scott Paulin (born February 13, 1950) is an American actor and director. He is perhaps best known for playing Deke Slayton in the film '' The Right Stuff'' (1983). He has also acted in films including '' Cat People'' (1982), ''Teen Wolf'' ...
as Earl Richards
*
Michael Bowen as Jimmy Swift
*Don Olivera as SAM-104
Production
According to director Allan Holzman he began shooting without a script with these directions from Corman: "You have four days to write, produce and direct a seven- to eight-minute opening of a space movie… I'll give you an astronaut and a robot, and if you need any inspiration, I've always wanted to do a version of ''
Lawrence of Arabia
Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–191 ...
'' in outer space."
Reception
Review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
gives the film a rating of 60% based on reviews from 5 critics.
The ''Los Angeles Times'' called it "lively, amusingly gruesome."
[FOOD RUNS AMOK IN CORMAN 'WORLD'
Thomas, Kevin. Los Angeles Times 15 May 1982: d8.]
Home media
On July 20, 2010,
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
released ''Forbidden World'' on both
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
and
Blu-ray Disc
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and c ...
. The DVD is a 2-disc set. This set also includes the original Allan Holzman cut that was rejected by Roger Corman due to having humor, while Corman wanted the film to be done as a straight sci-fi/horror film. This is the first time this cut is available anywhere.
On August 13, 2019, Scream Factory released ''Forbidden World'' on a single disc Blu-ray collectors edition in a steelbook.
References
External links
*
*
{{Roger Corman
1982 films
1982 horror films
1980s monster movies
1980s science fiction horror films
American monster movies
American science fiction horror films
American splatter films
Films about genetic engineering
Films produced by Roger Corman
Films set on fictional planets
Mad scientist films
New World Pictures films
1980s English-language films
1980s American films