Egyptian Theatre: Review of Richard Elfman In-Person Tribute 7/17 and 7/18
Review of Richard Elfman In-Person Tribute 7/17 and 7/18
Text and Photos by Lee Christian
“Why does it feel so good to be so bad?”
You don’t have to be stuck in The Forbidden Zone with a giant frog serving dinner at a table lit by a diapered man holding candles while suspended four feet above to ponder the feel-good merits of bad behavior. Just hang out at The Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard with Richard Elfman. Several hundred people did just that on July 17th and 18th for The American Cinematheque’s tribute to the former Mystic Knight ringleader himself.
When Queen Doris (played to maniacally patented perfection by Susan Tyrrell) immortalized those words in Elfman’s crazy 1982 cult classic, THE FORBIDDEN ZONE, she may well have peering into the future of Elfman’s zany career in film.
Elfman has been carving a niche as the king of oddball freak shows like THE FORBIDDEN ZONE as well as such demented delights as MODERN VAMPIRES and SHRUNKEN HEADS, always remaining true to the spirit of the band he formed in 1972, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo.
All three of these Elfman eccentricities hit the screen at The Egyptian Theatre during the tribute, giving his latest fans a dose of his dementia in large screen lunacy.
“Why does it feel so good to be so bad?”
You don’t have to be stuck in The Forbidden Zone with a giant frog serving dinner at a table lit by a diapered man holding candles while suspended four feet above to ponder the feel-good merits of bad behavior. Just hang out at The Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard with Richard Elfman. Several hundred people did just that on July 17th and 18th for The American Cinematheque’s tribute to the former Mystic Knight ringleader himself.
When Queen Doris (played to maniacally patented perfection by Susan Tyrrell) immortalized those words in Elfman’s crazy 1982 cult classic, THE FORBIDDEN ZONE, she may well have peering into the future of Elfman’s zany career in film.
Elfman has been carving a niche as the king of oddball freak shows like THE FORBIDDEN ZONE as well as such demented delights as MODERN VAMPIRES and SHRUNKEN HEADS, always remaining true to the spirit of the band he formed in 1972, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo.
All three of these Elfman eccentricities hit the screen at The Egyptian Theatre during the tribute, giving his latest fans a dose of his dementia in large screen lunacy.
The MODERN VAMPIRES crew, from left: actor Caspar van Dien, director Richard Elfman, and actor Aeryk Egan
JULY 17TH
MODERN VAMPIRES & SHRUNKEN HEADS
The first night of the tribute featured two Elfman epics of questionable taste and logic; MODERN VAMPIRES and SHRUNKEN HEADS. How do you pair vampires who go for the jugular with heads that are lacking a neck?
“It was Charles Band’s original idea and then he hired Matthew [Bright] to flesh it out as a script and I then was hired to direct it,” Elfman recalled about the origins of SHRUNKEN HEADS.
MODERN VAMPIRES & SHRUNKEN HEADS
The first night of the tribute featured two Elfman epics of questionable taste and logic; MODERN VAMPIRES and SHRUNKEN HEADS. How do you pair vampires who go for the jugular with heads that are lacking a neck?
“It was Charles Band’s original idea and then he hired Matthew [Bright] to flesh it out as a script and I then was hired to direct it,” Elfman recalled about the origins of SHRUNKEN HEADS.
MODERN VAMPIRES actor Caspar van Dien
Caspar Van Dien who both starred in and produced MODERN VAMPIRES dropped in to answer questions about the film that boasted a diverse cast ranging from Kim Cattrall and Craig Ferguson to Rod Steiger and Robert Pastorelli.
But let’s get back to the lunacy of this evening. Matthew Bright, who also wrote the Kiefer Sutherland-Reese Witherspoon vehicle, FREEWAY (pun inevitable), dropped in by way of cell phone call to field long distance questions from the audience.
“You’re not even being seen and so I’m here holding you,” remarked Van Dien, whose arms must’ve been getting weary holding a microphone in one hand and his cell phone in the other. “I’ll just move my mouth while you speak.”
But let’s get back to the lunacy of this evening. Matthew Bright, who also wrote the Kiefer Sutherland-Reese Witherspoon vehicle, FREEWAY (pun inevitable), dropped in by way of cell phone call to field long distance questions from the audience.
“You’re not even being seen and so I’m here holding you,” remarked Van Dien, whose arms must’ve been getting weary holding a microphone in one hand and his cell phone in the other. “I’ll just move my mouth while you speak.”
Caspar van Dien and Richard Elfman conduct a phone Q&A with MODERN VAMPIRES writer Matthew Bright.
Fortunately, Bright had a knack for short answers. When asked whether he’s ever written any characters that aren’t tortured and pained, Bright responded “Uh…no.”
Van Dien and Elfman were eventually joined by SHRUNKEN HEADS star Aeryk Egan, who was fifteen at the time he starred in the film. SHRUNKEN HEADS, it turns out, is your typical film about Haitian witch doctors and headless children. Egan plays Tommy, a nice young man who loses his head over pretty girl Sally (Rebecca Herbst) who just happens to be the girlfriend of the local bully, Vinnie (A.J. Damato). Before you know it, a lesbian mob leader called Big Moe (Meg Foster, in a fat suit) and a Haitian witch doctor named Dr. Sumatra (Julius Harris in a role originally offered to Screamin’ Jay Hawkins) serve up a plot that’ll make your head spin faster than you can say Linda Blair.
JULY 18TH
THE FORBIDDEN ZONE
It must be in the genes.
While Danny (Oscar-nominated composer and Richard’s brother) made his screen debut as a musically inclined Satan, clad in white tux, brother Richard carries the torch for his insane directorial debut, THE FORBIDDEN ZONE, dressed as a killer clown in a baggy red suit with white-polka dots.
Oh, and then there was the real show; throw in a live band, give Richard a drum to bang and deposit this gang of musical misfits on Hollywood Boulevard in front of The Egyptian Theatre and you’ll end up with something that all of those tourist busses can really gawk at. Forget The Wax Museum! Steer that bus over to that place that looks like a P.T. Barnum nightmare on steroids.
Then there was the movie. If you’re reading this, you’re probably already familiar with it, but for the un-initiated (and un-intimidated) it’s the story of a doorway into another dimension in a small house in Venice, California. Forget THE TWILIGHT ZONE, though; this is THE FORBIDDEN ZONE, the sort of concoction that might have occurred had Max Fleisher directed THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARY under the influence of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW.
Originally shot in glorious black-and-white, the film has recently been given a full-color face lift courtesy of Legend Films and producer Jack Murphy, who, in addition to helming the colorized rerelease of ZONE, is also producing the film’s soon to shoot sequel, THE FORBIDDEN ZONE 2: THE FORBIDDEN GALAXY (why keep dwelling on that doorway in Venice if you can find perversion in outer space?).
Richard Elfman with Michael Holmes of the Sacred Fools Theatre Company
After the screening which was met by a standing ovation, Murphy introduced Elfman who arrived center stage in front of the huge Egyptian Theatre screen, with Michael Holmes of the Sacred Fools Theatre Company. Michael Holmes doesn’t always dress up in a public place wearing diapers and a black panty stocking on his head, but this is a special occasion. The Sacred Fools, he announces, did something really foolish lately and it paid off.
“About this time last year when The American Cinematheque hosted a screening [of THE FORBIDDEN ZONE], I got the chutzpa to contact Richard’s people and they’re like ‘we’d like you to meet Rick’…so I did and when I walked in, the first thing he said to me is ‘Oh, you’re full of shit, right?’”
Maybe it was the diapers, maybe it was the head gear, but the proposal captivated Richard’s already corrupted imagination: A stage production of THE FORBIDDEN ZONE. Hey, if it works for DIRTY DANCING and LEGALLY BLONDE, why the hell not THE FORBIDDEN ZONE???
Yes, this May, the stage will never be the same when THE FORBIDDEN ZONE goes live! ROCKY HORROR eat your heart out.
“About this time last year when The American Cinematheque hosted a screening [of THE FORBIDDEN ZONE], I got the chutzpa to contact Richard’s people and they’re like ‘we’d like you to meet Rick’…so I did and when I walked in, the first thing he said to me is ‘Oh, you’re full of shit, right?’”
Maybe it was the diapers, maybe it was the head gear, but the proposal captivated Richard’s already corrupted imagination: A stage production of THE FORBIDDEN ZONE. Hey, if it works for DIRTY DANCING and LEGALLY BLONDE, why the hell not THE FORBIDDEN ZONE???
Yes, this May, the stage will never be the same when THE FORBIDDEN ZONE goes live! ROCKY HORROR eat your heart out.
Director Richard Elfman and actor Marie-Pascale Elfman (Susan B. 'Frenchy' Hercules in FORBIDDEN ZONE)
This announcement sent a chill throughout the auditorium (in Holmes’ case, the chill might have been attributed to the lack of trousers). But could this be the beginning of the end for THE FORBIDDEN ZONE? Can we soon expect FORBIDDEN ZONE ON ICE? Not to worry, says Holmes.
“I’m very sensitive about how bad an adaptation can be and I am really not going to do a bad adaptation,” assures Homes. “I know it was Richard’s intention with the movie to put The Mystic Knights on screen and our goal is to reverse engineer that and bring that sort of hellish, nightmarish Cabaret up on stage.”
After this announcement and the latest news on the FORBIDDEN ZONE sequel, Elfman and company opened the Q&A up to the audience. And who better to start with than a pair of ladies dressed in black garters?
Members of the Los Angeles chapter ROCKY HORROR fan club
Two attractive, young ladies from the Los Angeles chapter of the ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW fan club (they’re very busy these days, thanks to The Nuart Theatre in West LA), inquired about the possibility of generating a ROCKY HORROR-like audience-participation cult devoted to THE FORBIDDEN ZONE. Does anyone have a frog-waiter costume lying around? Now’s your chance to put that sucker to use!
When asked whether we can expect a revival of the Elfman brothers’ Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo performances, Elfman responded, “I have to work that out with my brother.” Pointing to the screen behind him recently christened with THE FORBIDDEN ZONE, Elfman added “this is the closest you can get to a real Mystic Knights show.”
Jogging backwards and forwards in time, Elfman fronted questions to everything from The Mystic Knights GONG SHOW stint (they were gonged in 1976) to his current plans to produce a celebrity reality show set in Las Vegas.
But the real anticipation lays in Elfman’s FORBIDDEN future while he prepares FORBIDDEN ZONE 2 for production. “It’s going to be every bit as wacky as this one,” he said with a grin.
For more information on THE FORBIDDEN ZONE stage adaptation and The Sacred Fools Theatre Company, visit http://www.sacredfools.org