Bad Taste, Movie Review

Could a title be any more direct? New Zealand maverick Peter Jackson made a splash (well, more of a splatter) with this film debut, a slapstick gross-out comedy about an alien fast-food franchise that turns a small town into a cheap source of meat. All that stands in the extraterrestrials’ way is the Alien Investigation Defense Service (yes, it’s a tasteless gag), a bunch of would-be Rambos who take on the aliens with axes, rocket launchers, and chainsaws. Jackson mines vomit jokes, dismembered corpses, and brain-spattering gore for over-the-top laughs and succeeds with inventive low-budget effects, crack timing, and sheer exuberance. Not bad for a film made on weekends with homemade props and a bunch of energetic mates.

Before Peter Jackson hit the big time and won three Academy Awards for his involvement with The Lord of The Rings films, he was just a crazy Kiwi with dreams of being a special effects artist. And although he later decided that a Director’s chair would suit him a lot better, his early flicks are still laden with more gore and over-the-top grizzly scenes than any three horror films combined.

Jackson’s first film released to the public at large was Bad Taste; a hilarious comedy/horror splatter-fest that never gives your stomach a moment to rest. It’s one of those on-the-run, micro budget, independent movies that still manages to impress the hell out of anyone watching it despite the huge limitations Jackson labored under.

Manned largely by his own friends, family and acquaintances, Bad Taste has a run of credits in which you’ll see many of the same names listed over and over under different headings. Peter Jackson himself is listed as Director, Writer, Producer, Editor, and Special Effects guru. Not to mention the two acting roles he manages to fill on top of all that. He plays the nigh-indestructible Derek over on the good guys’ side, as well as the mute, man-eating alien named Robert in the villains’ camp.

The plot, though certainly humorous and well-done, is a fairly straightforward affair. Aliens have landed in a little New Zealand town called Kaihoro and decided that human flesh is going to be the new galactic taste sensation. See, these extraterrestrials aren’t your usual fuzzy, lovable, friendly guys you see depicted in many films, and they aren’t the acid-spitting, scaly scaries either. These guys are just businessmen working for an outfit called Crumb’s Crunchy Delights, albeit with a complete disregard for human life and a willingness to harvest us like cattle.

This is where A.I.D.S (Astro Investigation and Defense Service) comes in. And after the audience is treated to the title of this top-secret organization, one of the film’s characters mutters uncomfortably beneath his breath, “Wish we’d change that name!”

This four man team of special forces operatives, whom look and act more like construction workers on their day off, are inexplicably charged with the responsibility of finding out what happened to the missing denizens of Kaihoro.

The chain of events that follows has more brains bursting, limbs being lopped off, and machine guns gutting alien bodies than any sane person should rightfully see. In fact, it’s so over-the-top it could practically hurdle the Empire State Building with an ease that would make Jackson’s favorite gorilla, King Kong, positively jealous.

But what really manages to impress me about this movie is that even back in 1987, in his very first foray into the film industry, and with a budget of less than $25,000, Jackson’s inherent talent and zealous enthusiasm for movies still managed to burst through and shine. There are a lot of Directors out there who have multi-million dollar budgets and A-list acting talent at their disposal, and still manage to make films that I wouldn’t watch twice if you tied me up and payed me. But under even the most daunting of scenarios, Peter Jackson made a movie that any fan of comedic horror films should run out and see without a moments delay.

Trust me, this is not one to be missed.