Forbidden World (1982)

Unlike Roger Corman's Galaxy of Terror, Forbidden World truly deserves being referred to as an "Alien" rip-off, and for my money if I had to choose between the two science fiction stinkers, Forbidden World would easily be my poison of choice as after two viewings it still holds up as being slightly enjoyable.

On his way home after a lengthy mission, and many years in stasis, Mike Colby is awakened by his robot co-pilot SAM-104 to be informed they've been diverted to the planet Xarbia to assist in an emergency.  A Federation research lab was established there in hopes of creating a new food source and the scientists believe they've made an fantastic breakthrough.  The alien protein they discovered on the planet's surface multiplies at miraculous rates, but when a sample is mixed in with what they refer to as element B, the result is the mutation into a living life form.  The researchers don't think much about it until the organism begins killing people, and breaking down their bodies into a pure protein form which it is then consuming! As the situation in the research station begins to grow more grave and the creature begins to evolve at enormous speeds, Mike is finally brought up to date with what it is their dealing with and what exactly element B is which has appeared to cause this mutation.
 

Forbidden World is your typical alien story, where researchers end up taking exploration and science too far and create a beast that ends up killing them all.  For a B-movie the film has some pretty good special effects and a few pretty gruesome scenes that are well executed.  The story is alright and the acting mediocre, but that shouldn't be a shock.  Throw in a couple gratuitous skin shots from the film's two lovely ladies June Chadwick (of the original V television series) and Dawn Dunlap (who only has a few other B-movies to her name), and Forbidden World is a Corman classic that I've now seen twice (actually I've watched the director's cut entitled Mutant, but I don't think there's much of a difference between the two) and can say it's worth a viewing if this type of film suits your fancy.  And the new Corman Cult Classic release definitely boasts some excellent improvement on the video quality for the original release.

6/10

Forbidden World Full Film