The 8 most exciting movie classics being screened at Forbidden Worlds this year

The 8 most exciting movie classics being screened at Forbidden Worlds this year

Posted on: 18 Mar 2024

Forbidden Worlds Film Festival 2024 is just around the corner, and the full line-up has finally been announced – with some very exciting films to be shown on the big screen.

 

Forbidden Worlds is Bristol’s cult classic genre film festival – celebrating idiosyncratic films from the silly to the sublime. The festival also has a very special USP: screening the films in the old IMAX cinema located in the Bristol Aquarium.

 

Returning this May, from Thursday 16 to Sunday 19, it’s a unique experience, and not a chance to miss – handpicked genre classics screened on Bristol’s biggest screen.

 

Now, with Forbidden Worlds announcing their full line-up, excitement is building to explosive levels, with some really exciting movies on the docket. Here’s our breakdown of some of the most exciting amongst them.

 

ATTACK OF THE 50FT WOMAN

This camp sci-fi classic bears a name that has resonated across culture, mainly through loving, gleeful parody – and it’s a perfect example of what FW offers: pure B-movie thrills and goofs. But beyond that, it’s also a great example of what this year’s “Killer Queens” theme has to offer too: an exploration of female empowerment from the view of nearly 70 years ago.

SPEED

Perhaps better known to some by the title ‘The Bus That Couldn’t Slow Down’, Speed is an absolute classic that dominated the summer of 1994, and continues to keep a hold on the collective cultural consciousness.

There’s a bomb on a bus. Once the bus goes fifty miles an hour, the bomb is armed. If it drops below fifty, it blows up. What do you do? WHAT DO YOU DO?

KIN-DZA-DZA!

Now we’re getting to the really exquisite stuff – the wonderfully unhinged Kin-Dza-Dza! is a fascinating slice of Soviet absurdism.

A surprisingly scathing satire of Russian society and bureaucracy at the time, KDD is the story of a foreman and a student musician who are transported to a post-apocalyptic planet by a shoeless man they encounter on the street – black comedy and visual fantasy abound from there on. You’re not likely to get a chance to catch this one again!

INNERSPACE

Former US navy-man and test pilot Tuck Pendleton is miniaturized in a secret experiment, but after an unexpected attack on the lab accidentally injected into the wrong target – a hypochondriac store clerk.

A beloved 80s update of a wildly influential sci-fi classic – Fantastic Voyage – as well as a massively popular family-friendly film in it’s own right, Innerspace is a great cinema gem to add to your viewing repertoire.

TIME COP

They killed his wife ten years ago. There's still time to save her. Murder is forever... until now.

Time Cop’s supremely silly name gives some idea of the absurd action contained within – but belies the clever, mind-bending story at it’s heart, and the legendary direction of Peter Hyams.

THE DEVIL’S SWORD

If you’re here for the rarest, wackiest films you can find, good news: The Devil’s Sword.

This Indonesian sword-and-sorcery cash-in transcends its tacky origins to a truly feverish classic; mad wizards rub shoulders with crocodile people and those surfing on flying rocks. This is the UK premiere of the new 2K restoration of the film, pure and uncut as intended by director Ranto Timoer.

STARGATE

This is a name you may have heard – although you might associate it with TV more than film. Nonetheless, Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi hit Stargate was originally a film, and an influential one at that.

FEMALE PRISONER #701: SCORPION

 

A woman betrayed and imprisoned. A mission of vengeance. Matsu the Scorpion IS a woman double-crossed by her corrupt detective boyfriend and incarcerated in a sadistic institution where she must face violence from both the guards and fellow inmates – all the while plotting her revenge…

 

A Japanese classic embodying feminist resilience, empowerment, and independence within the realms of grindhouse and exploitation cinema, FP701 kickstarted the film career of much loved cult actor and singer Meiko Kaji.

 

That’s just a taste of what Forbidden Worlds has to offer this year, with films running from Thursday to Sunday, and a range of tickets available to hit the films you want to see most. Get yours on Forbidden Worlds’ website.

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Patrick Bate

Patrick is a filmmaker with so much Bristol in his blood the white blood cells are graffiti'd. Educated at the Northern Film School in Leeds, he’s returned home to be a Videographer and Reviewer for 365Bristol and BARBI. When he’s not messing about with cameras, he enjoys playing guitar, spending far too much time on tabletop RPGs, and being an awful snob about cider. Have a look at his work here, or get in touch at patrickb@365bristol.com.