Bad Taste

BAD TASTE (18)

D: Peter Jackson

Blue Dolphin/Wingnut (Peter Jackson)

New Zealand 🇳🇿 1987 (released 1989)

92 mins

Science Fiction/Horror

W: Peter Jackson, Tony Hiles & Ken Hammon

DP: Peter Jackson

Ed: Peter Jackson & Jamie Selkirk

Mus: Michelle Scullion

Peter Jackson (Derek/Robert), Terry Potter (Ozzy), Pete O'Herne (Barry), Craig Smith (Giles), Mike Minnett (Frank), Doug Wren (Lord Crumb)

The title says it all: Bad Taste

It's the sort of film which is thrown together by a bunch of film students over a weekend following a drinking binge, with production values, special effects and makeup akin to a Troma film (this is pretty much true if you read up on the production history).

Nevertheless, the film amassed a huge cult following, mostly because it marked the debut of Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson, and though this schlock B-movie can be appreciated as New Zealand's answer to The Evil Dead, the sad truth is that it's a bit of a mess.

The plot is inconsequential, it's just about a race of aliens who want to consume people and make Earth their equivalent of a fast food restaurant. It's all rather stupid, but good fun if you're in the mood for it.... and trust me when I say that you have to be.

4/10

Did You Know:

Director Peter Jackson shot the film on weekends over a four-year period with friends playing the lead roles. Jackson funded most of the film himself until towards the end of the shoot when the New Zealand Film Commission gave him money to finish his project after being impressed with what he'd already produced. There was never a shooting script for the movie; each scene was filmed from ideas the director had come up with during the week.