Forbidden World

Another Corman-produced knockoff of “Alien,” with softcore

In the distant future, a troubleshooting flying ace (Jesse Vint) is redirected to a remote desert planet in order to help a bio-engineering team deal with a mutating organism.

“Forbidden World” (1982) is the second “Alien” knockoff produced by Roger Corman and even uses some of the sets of the previous one from the year prior, “Galaxy of Terror” (as well as some space F/X from “Battle Beyond the Stars”). Other than that, the films aren’t connected.

While my title blurb is condescending, Ridley Scott’s iconic movie itself ripped-off every main aspect of the first half of “Planet of the Vampires” from 1965, aka “Terror in Space.” So it wasn't exactly original, although it was well-done and superior.

Like “Galaxy of Terror,” there’s a comic book flair to the proceedings that “Alien” lacked (because of its blockbuster budget). Still, if you like the grim adult-oriented science fiction of that film, you should appreciate this one (and “Galaxy”). The problem is that the monster in the last act looks cheesy in the manner of something borrowed from “Little Shop of Horrors,” although up to that point the various mutations are effective, particularly for a Corman-budgeted flick.

“Alien” featured statuesque but too-thin Sigourney Weaver in her underwear in the last act and so Corman upped the ante with the two females here, shown pretty much fully nude in some scenes, with 1-2 sex-oriented sequences. The joke is that the tagline was “In space no one can hear you get naked.” Obviously, you should stay away if that’s disagreeable to you. The aforementioned two females happen to be Dawn Dunlap (Tracy), who was only 17 during shooting in October, 1981, while blonde June Chadwick (Barbara) was a month shy of 30.

The nudity can be criticized as exploitive, of course, but there’s another way of looking at it. It drives home how people stuck on a remote station in the galaxy would still function like everyday people on Earth: sleeping in light clothing, walking around in their underwear or a robe, bathing, using a sauna, having sex and so forth. In other word, people are people, even 100-200 years in the future in outer space with the great technology thereof.

The movie runs 1 hour, 17 minutes, and was shot at Corman's studio in Venice, California, his “renowned lumberyard facility,” as well as Vasquez Rocks in Agua Dulce for the outside scenes.

GRADE: B-/C+