FORBIDDEN ZONE (OST AS DANNY ELFMAN AND THE MYSTIC KNIGHTS OF THE OINGO BOINGO)

Off kilter movies that expand beyond the bizarre are the stuff cult classics are made of and the 1980 musical fantasy comedy film FORBIDDEN ZONE is perhaps one of the most out there of them all. The film was conceived by elder brother Richard Elfman in an attempt to convey the stage performances of his theatrical troupe THE MYSTIC KNIGHTS OF THE OINGO BOINGO which revolves around an alternate universe or the sixth dimension that is accessible only through a door in the house of the Hercules family. Obviously an extraordinarily bizarre film needs an equally mondo bizarro soundtrack and that's where baby bro Danny Elfman came into the picture.

Once Danny agreed to conjure up the appropriate concoctions of sound for this convoluted "no budget" film, he was told that he needed to mix and meld a dozen or so differing styles with new sounds being constructed around more classic ones. Not only that, but the soundtrack had to be cranked out in a two week period completely around the clock so being young and ambitious and anxious to take the reins of the OINGO BOINGO artistic brand, Danny set forth to compose, arrange and record on a freak fueled marathon which resulted in one of the most bizarre soundtracks ever to have been recorded.

THE FORBIDDEN ZONE soundtrack is very much a transitional period between Richard's cabaret based theatrical troupe and the more new wave ska fueled early leanings of the OINGO BOINGO most of us have come to know. This soundtrack is what psychedelic dreams are made of and it is almost a certainty that some of the craziest and most experimental rock acts of the 90s such as Mr. Bungle and the indie pop freaks Ween surely had to spend some time getting to know this wickedly brilliant slice of insanity. My only question is, how has this remained so occulted from the OINGO BOINGO lexicon for so long? Another weird thing is that it was recorded for the 1980 film but wasn't released as a soundtrack until 1983.

An odd release in every way. The score was officially composed entirely by Danny Elfman but appears under THE MYSTIC KNIGHTS OF OINGO BOINGO moniker which consists of many of the musicians who would carry through to the early 80s albums such as "Only A Lad," "Nothing To Fear" and "Good For Your Soul." While some of the classic BOINGO style can be found here on tracks like the opening title track, "Queen's Revenge" and "Battle Of The Queens," the rest of the tracks and snippets will be utterly unrecognizable. However where they perform in classic fashion, it's a clue as to where they would end up in an albeit very stylized way with various vocalists in a musical format but that instantly recognizable ska guitar syncopation with that crazy horn section is smokin'.

THE FORBIDDEN ZONE is an extremely eclectic mix of sounds that range from Louis Armstrong based 30s jazz such as "Some Of These Days," "Yiddishe Charleston" and "Bim Bam Boom" along with short freaky synthesized instrumentals in the form of "Chamber Music," "Journey Through The Intestines" and "Factory." Other bouts of insanity come in the form of the outlandish "Witch's Egg" (love the lyrics on this one), "Squeezit The Moocher" and "Cell 63." The tracks meander all over the place but the one thing that binds them is the extremely wild and experimental approaches. Music rarely gets so anarchic but yet exudes some of the catchiest melodic hooks possible. Two 30s jazz tracks "Pico And Sepulveda" and "La Petite Tonkinoise" only appeared on the original LP and have been removed on future copies for copyright purposes.

This is some of the most brilliant music i've ever heard. I rarely come across something startling original especially by a band that i thought i had thoroughly explored to exhaustion. This bizarre little specimen of music only makes me want to track down the 1980 film that it was written to supplement. If it's only half of good as the music that is on the soundtrack then i'm a fan for life and cower in the shadow of sheer genius. Needless to say, this is one of the most entertaining soundtracks i've ever heard and this is without a doubt one of the most occulted masterpieces of all time. Did i mention Herve Villecahize of the 70s series Fantasy Island stars as the king of the sixth dimension in the film? Ha. Now you're interested :D