[2][3] Originally shot on black-and-white film, Forbidden Zone is based upon the stage performances of the Los Angeles theater troupe The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, of which Elfman, Bright and many of the cast and crew were a part, and revolves around an alternate universe accessed through a door in the house of the Hercules family.

[3] The composing debut of Danny Elfman, it stars Hervé Villechaize, Susan Tyrrell and members of the Mystic Knights, with appearances by Warhol superstar Viva, Joe Spinell and The Kipper Kids.

[2][4] Amid negative reactions to content in the film that had been perceived as being offensive, Forbidden Zone was screened as a midnight movie, where it was met with positive notices, and developed a large and eventually worldwide cult following.

[7] Elfman has also licensed Forbidden Zone as an intellectual property for manufacturers to produce collectibles based on the film's characters.

[8] On "Friday, April 17" at 4 p.m. in Venice, California, Huckleberry P. Jones (pimp, narcotics peddler, and slumlord) enters a vacant house that he owns.

While stashing heroin in the basement, he stumbles upon a mysterious door and enters it, falling into the Sixth Dimension, from which he promptly escapes.

There, she is captured by the perpetually topless Princess, who brings Frenchy to the rulers of the Sixth Dimension, the midget King Fausto and his queen, Doris.

After escaping the tank, Flash and Gramps come across a woman who says that she was once happily married to the king, until Doris stole the throne by seducing her.

Fausto catches Bust Rod and forces him to lead him to Frenchy and René, whom he orders to leave the Sixth Dimension to avoid the Queen's wrath.

"[3] Production began during a transitional period when the group was moving from its cabaret style towards a more pop/rock format; by the time the film was completed, the band had shortened its name to Oingo Boingo.

But as the project grew to 35mm and the storyline evolved, Richard Elfman found himself re-shooting many of the original scenes to fit the new film.

The sequence with Elfman as Satan, and members of the Oingo Boingo as his minions, came from live shows, in which the band would perform Cab Calloway tunes like "St. James Infirmary Blues" in the same costumes.

[9] Others who worked on the film include The Kipper Kids (Brian Routh and Martin von Haselberg), Joe Spinell, and former Warhol superstar Viva.

Bright and director Richard Elfman's only dispute during the screenwriting process was over a scene in which his character, Squeezit, was originally to have been beaten up for eight minutes and having the walls wiped with his blood.

"[3] During filming, Bright was sitting on the set in costume when a lighting stand fell onto his head, cracking his skull, and he had to be rushed to the hospital.

Cast and crew members would sleep on the film's stage, wearing spare gorilla suits to stay warm.

[3] Among the film's artistic influences included 1940s big band and jazz music and Max Fleischer cartoons of the 1930s (such as Betty Boop).

The film played at the New Beverly Cinema as a midnight movie beginning March 28,[12] and added three theatres in San Francisco, Seattle, and Columbus in May.

[14] In 2008, with Elfman's blessing and input, a colorized version of Forbidden Zone was issued on DVD by Legend Films,[17] and was later screened in exhibition at the New York Museum of Modern Art in 2010.

[19][20] Upon its original release, Forbidden Zone was singled out for criticism for its use of broadly-drawn racist, homophobic, antisemitic and anti-Christian visuals and characters.

[23] The prospective project was more formally detailed in March 2014 when Elfman launched a successful crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo to raise part of the film's financing.

As of the campaign's most recent update in May 2023, Elfman confirmed the project is "still alive" and noting that he "will not give up on FZ2", describing Forbidden Zone 2 as "number one on his bucket list."

[24] Richard Elfman entered into a licensing deal with the creative resource company, PANGEA, to provide licensees with the opportunity to create merchandise based on the cult film.

According to articles that appeared in the media on May 3, 2016, the arrangement calls for content to be created that will include a Storyboard Book of the original film, featuring commentary and anecdotal notes from director.

He enters in a clown suit and beats a big bass drum that is accompanied by a Brazilian percussion ensemble—reminiscent of his former group, the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo.

[28] Elfman opens the Forbidden Zone shadow cast shows (after the march in) with Erin Holt singing Princess Polly live in front of her screened “monster” image on stage.