Saturday 13 October 2012

Bad Taste (1987)


Even the best have to start at the bottom.  More than a decade before he filmed the spectacular and heavily lauded ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, Kiwi director Peter Jackson began his career in movies with this no-budget, gory action comedy flick. Bad Taste is a cult classic for B-Movie fans and showcases Jackson’s talent as a director at a very early stage.

The population of a small New Zealand village disappears and their place is taken by aliens who wear the villagers’ skin as a disguise.  The extra-terrestrials have killed the village’s inhabitants and packed their remains into boxes with the intention of selling the human remains as fast food.  Meanwhile a government task force, who apparently specialise in this sort of thing, are dispatched to find out what the hell’s been going on and try to stop the aliens.

The filming of Bad Taste was a long and difficult process and it is a testament to Jackson’s talent and determination that the film turned out so well or was even finished at all. Jackson shot the film on weekends over the course of four years, financing the film out of his own pocket, using friends as actors and designing the movie’s props and masks himself.  Jackson even plays two of the film’s roles himself, including its most memorable character: Derek, the spectacled ‘special forces’ member who has the back of his head ripped open and goes on a mad rampage with a chainsaw  – “I’m a Derek and Dereks don’t run!”

 
Despite the films financial handicap, Bad Taste never wavers in terms of ambition. The film never lets the budget (or lack thereof) get in the way of the films action. It is incredibly entertaining and the scenes of gore are some of the most sick and gruesome that had ever been filmed at the time.  The film is also very funny at times too and I have no doubt that ‘Bad Taste’ was probably a lot of fun for Jackson and his mates to film. It’s a perfect lesson in shoe-string budget filmmaking.  Jackson is an ambitious filmmaker and his love of spectacular special FX set-pieces is on full display even at this early stage of his career.

I had wanted to see Bad Taste for a long time and finally got round to seeing it this week. I loved it and the film is a must for fans of cult films and B-movies, not to mention Gore-hounds. Highly recommended viewing.