Forbidden Zone

The Hercules family moves into a house in California and discovers a door in the basement that opens onto the Sixth Dimension, a strange world reached through a giant set of intestines. The family's daughter, an exchange student known as Frenchy, goes through the door and attracts the attention of King Fausto, who takes an interest in her as a possible new concubine. His wife, Queen Doris, becomes jealous and has Frenchy imprisoned. Rescuing her falls to the Hercules family and their friend Squeezit Henderson.

Forbidden Zone was released in 1982 and runs 74 minutes. Richard Elfman directed and produced it and co-wrote the screenplay with Matthew Bright and Nick L. Martinson. Bright appears on screen as Squeezit Henderson and René Henderson, while Hervé Villechaize plays King Fausto and Susan Tyrrell plays Queen Doris. Gene Cunningham and Virginia Rose play the parents, and Marie-Pascale Elfman plays Frenchy. The film mixes comedy, fantasy and music.

Audience response has been moderate and steady: on IMDb it holds 6.5 out of 10 from roughly 5,900 votes, and on TMDB 6.2 out of 10 from a much smaller pool of 113 votes. A critics' rating of 6.4 out of 10 from 12 reviews places critical opinion close to the audience scores. Its enduring vote count on IMDb, relative to the small audience sample on TMDB, reflects a cult following built over the decades since its release.