No, this isn't "Forbidden Planet." The only similarity between "Forbidden Planet" and "Forbidden World" is that they both have a robot (Robbie being superior in every way). The best description of "Forbidden World" that I can think of is "Roger Corman does "Alien."

The premise is that a group of scientists at an isolated research station are working on genetically engineering the perfect food source to combat the "food crisis." They have developed something called Proto B which causes incredible growth when cloned into other organisms. For no particular reason, they clone it into a human cell, and voila! We have the monster from "Alien." Now, it seems to me that if you're supposed to be solving a food crisis, you'd want to use it on actual FOOD -- rice, corn, or wheat, maybe.

The movie begins with the designated hero ("I got a motto: if it moves, and it's not one of us, shoot it") being woken by a person in a Boba Fett suit who apparently is supposed to pass for a robot. As Mike awakens ("My hands are numb," he cryptically complains), he has some kind of clairvoyant episode and hallucinates snippets of scenes from the rest of movie.

After a pointless spacefight with some anonymous attackers, Mike and Sam end up at a remote planet named Xarbia. We meet our cast of victims: head scientist Dr. Gordon (victim 3); Dr. Barbara, who "knows more about genetic synthesis than anyone alive;" Mike (victim 4); Dr. Cal, the all-purpose doctor (victim 6); Tracy, the survivor; Jimmy, her boyfriend (victim 1); Brian, the token black guy (victim 5); and Earl, the security guy (victim 2).

The scientists lead Mike into the lab, and we meet the monster, which at this stage is not all that bad. True, it's nothing but a pulsating cocoon, but let's give credit where it's due. Jimmy, our first badly coiffed victim, is ordered to clean up the lab. Since someone has to let the monster out of its cage, Jimmy volunteers by sticking his head in to look at the cocoon. Just his luck, a giant jello mold leaps up and fastens to his face! His body is naturally discovered by his girlfriend, Tracy.

Tracy's purpose in this movie (besides taking off her clothes) is to be the perpetual almost-victim and witness to every atrocity. If someone is dead, she will discover the body. If someone needs to die in company, she will be there. If the monster needs some exercise, she's ready to run away. Her mere presence in a scene means the monster is contractually bound to attack.

After a cursory examination of what's left of Jimmy's head (sans brain), Dr. Cal announces that Jimmy is "alive -- technically, anyhow." They all ponder this and then head off to bed.

An alarm goes off somewhere, sending Earl off to investigate, and we all know his time is up. The hapless victim wanders the same hallway over and over in search of his doom. ("You won't get away from me, you genetic cesspool.") Earl is presumably killed, and his body presumably disappears. That is, until it reappears later in the movie out in the desert miles from the scientific compound for no reason. Mike is walking along, and suddenly there's Earl's body. Someone says, "It's Earl!", someone else replies, "So it is," and that's the end of that.

The next morning, the grief-stricken Tracy decides to take a steam bath. When Mike shows up to remind her that they're in a horror movie and really shouldn't be wandering about alone, she invites him to join her ("So fair's fair. Get naked."). So much for Jimmy. Naturally, the monster attacks, and they escape.

Then Mike, Sam, Brian, and Dr. Gordon head out to Tatooine to look for the monster. They discover Earl's body, are briefly nonplussed, and attack the monster's latest cocoon. During this scene, Sam is dismantled by a shot from his own gun when his LASER BOUNCES OFF A ROCK CLIFF and hits him. The monster has already left the cocoon, however. It's waiting for them when they arrive back at the research station, and Dr. Gordon obligingly gets within two feet of it so that he can be easily offed. Tracy gets chased again, and the monster takes over the control room.

Meanwhile, Jimmy (who presumably is still alive -- technically, anyhow) has turned into a pile of pinkish goop. Then the Jimmy Slime Monster begins dividing. Remember the scene in "Better Off Dead" where John Cusack pokes his gelatinous green dinner with a fork, and it crawls away? The effect here is similar, and no less funny.

As the remaining characters stand around discussing what to do (hey, here's an idea: LEAVE! Mike's ship is STILL THERE!), Tracy is attacked by the remains of Dr. Gordon. Remember: still alive -- technically, anyhow.

Then Dr. Barbara and Tracy decide to try to communicate with the monster. This leads to the most ridiculous line in the whole movie. Dr. Barbara is speaking slowly and clearly, because naturally the monster speaks English. She asks, "Is it possible you understand me but cannot answer?" Hey, doctor, how likely is it that you'll get an answer to THAT one? At this point, music suddenly starts up -- apparently this is supposed to be the monster communicating. It's disco music, and frankly, I'd find that ominous and threatening. But the women still think that the monster might be kindly, so Dr. Barbara holds very still while a tentacle slowly impales her. Tracy starts screaming and gets chased again.

Brian is summarily electrocuted when slime drips on him while he works on an electrical outlet. Dr. Cal decides that the only way they can kill the monster is by feeding it a cancerous tumor. And, as a chain smoker, Dr. Cal just happens to have a softball-sized tumor on his liver. (?) So they send Tracy out to get morphine, while Mike gets ready for an impromptu surgery. She decides instead to look at Dr. Gordon's remains sadly for a while. Then Dr. Gordon's remains attack Tracy AGAIN, and she gets chased by the monster AGAIN. When she arrives back in the lab, the surgery is already in progress, and Dr. Cal is screaming unanesthetized murder. Thanks a lot, Trace.

Finally we reach the showdown scene. This is unspeakably ludicrous, since there isn't even a proper fight. The whole point of the scene is for Mike to shove this wad of bloody flesh into the monster's mouth. In the end, of course, he is successful, and the monster instantly vomits itself to death.

Rating: four turkeys.

Scene to watch for: Sam dismantles himself. He miraculously reappears later, though, and is immediately re-dismantled by a flying tentacle.

Best line: Dr. Cal gets some good ones, like, "Some of the life we create just won't behave," and his description of the monster: "That pathetic, malignant, unformed issue of our own stupidity."

Things that make you go "Huh?": Boba Fett? Jello mold? Disco?!?