Bad Taste (1987. New Zealand)

TRAILER HERE

DIRECTOR: Peter Jackson

A retarded splatter comedy from the man who orchestrated the oscar winning trilogy that had something to do with Lords and Rings (The Non Porno version you dirty minded bugger) , Bad Taste is a cheap, messy and probably sticky piece of no-budget glee.

A group of government agents with double digit IQ’S (combined) are sent to investigate a small New Zealand town that’s been completely deserted. They quickly figure out that the perpetrators are a bunch of pesky vomit eating aliens that plan on turning the earth’s population into an ultra tasty item on ttheir intergalactic fast food chain menu. It’s now up to our heroes to shoot, decapitate and chainsaw their way to the human's race survival! All they need to worry about is that the belt is tight enoug around their head to keep the brains from falling out.

Shot over a few years on a cheap hand-crank 16 millimetre camcorder that could only record 60 seconds of film at a time (Without Synch Sound), Bad Taste should be remember as nothing more then a backyard failure. The main actors mumble their way through stilted lines, the story makes zero sense and all the extras that are blown away in the so-called “action scenes” are the same three guys with different wigs on. It’s so cheap that it it probably isn't worth your time. Go read a book instead!

If you think the above is true, you’re wrong, please leave the class. And don’t come back. (Except reading...someone told me that's enjoyable. I wouldn't know.)

Filmmakers take note: If the budget eludes you, make it up with a slavish case of go for broke enthusiasm. Every frame of this blood drenched classic feels like a bunch of pals fooling around on weekends and loving every second of it. It also helps that a certain amateur director was testing out his chops on a bunch of cinematic techniques. Sure, it’s sloppy and self-indulgent, but there’s enough swooping camera moves, decent alien affects and a few impressive explosions to make it a cut above the rest. It looks threadbare because at the end of the day it’s still a dummy that’s being thrown off the cliff. We can tell it’s a dummy. They know it’s a dummy. No one cares. All that matters is that it gets a grin on your face.

“Bad Taste” is the perfect example of a filmmaking drug. After viewing it, not only will you have enjoyed it, but you’ll want to do the same. And all you need are a few suckers that are willing to be covered in vomit. Anything for entertainment!

DVD: Anchor Bay put out a bare bones editions years back with amazing picture quality (For it’s source) that you can pick up at any retail location. The Holographic two disc edition isn’t anything to shout to the heavens about, but the 40 minute made for tv doc (around the time it came out) “Good Taste Made Bad” is good enough to hunt down to watch once.

NOTE: Peter Jackson plays not just one but TWO roles. He’s the drooling agent Derek and the bearded drooling Alien. The reason for the roles was because Jackson couldn’t always get his friends to come out and shoot, so he’d go out and shoot whole scenes by himself.