Bad Taste
Directed by Peter Jackson
Written by Peter Jackson, Tony Hiles and Ken Hammon
Released December 1987 (New Zealand), June 1989 (USA)
There is no way anyone could have ever predicted that Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, could have ever gone from a movie like Bad Taste to behing at the helm of one of the highest grossing, most popular series of films of all time. No way in hell.
Bad Taste is pretty much a bloody mess, and I mean that both literally and figuratively. If you're not into low budget horror movies that look like they were made on a home video camera, you might as well walk away right now. But, if the thought of an insanely gory movie about aliens who have come to a quiet New Zealand town to capture and kill humans to use as meat in their intergalactic fast food chain appeals to your less-than-delicate sensibilities, you might have a little fun with this movie.
Made on a shoestring budget that was apparently used solely on fake blood, brains, vomit and other violent special effects, Bad Taste is like a mixture of Heavy Metal Parking Lot and Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead. Cinephiles be forewarned: this movie looks like shit. While Jackson obviously has an eye for how to frame a shot or how to pace and edit for suspense or action, the grainy 16mm film virtually murders the use of any color or contrast.
The film quality can't, however, destroy the zany spirit of the movie. Let's face it: an exploding sheep is an exploding sheep. You don't need a $100,000 camera or high quality film stock to get a laugh out of that kind of imagery.
While Bad Taste isn't much of a movie (weak plot and acting, very little dialogue), it's a monument to homemade movie making and unstoppable creativity. Not a great movie, but worth a watch for the sick bastards who might be inclined to watch something like this.
For more on Bad Taste:
- Movie information at IMDB and Wikipedia
- Buy the DVD
The Bad Taste trailer:
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