Back in my original Corner of Horror October movie marathon two years ago (Jesus, that was actually two years ago), I made a review on a Peter Jackson horror film, Braindead, or Dead Alive, or whatever you wish to call it, and thought that it was an entertaining splatter horror film. Little to my knowledge is that there was another, one before this film, also made by the Lord of the Rings director, all the way back in 1987, with a film called Bad Taste. So, was Peter Jackson’s first film possibly one of his best? Well, let’s find out.
Bad Taste follows the Astro Investigation and Defence Service, or AIDS for short, as they travel to the fictional New Zealand town of Kaihoro to find out why the townspeople have suddenly gone missing. Eventually, their search brings them to these mysterious figures dressed in blue shirts that wander around and attack them without warning. It is eventually revealed that these people are actually part of an intergalactic alien race that plans on kidnapping humans so that they can eat them and sell their flesh in a galactic fast food restaurant. Now the AIDS unit has to stop the aliens from taking the humans they have with them, as well as dealing with the alien menace the best way they can, by slaughtering them in droves. And if you’ve seen Dead Alive, you’ll know just how violent and crude Bad Taste is. In fact, I think it may be more so.
Now it may not be as violent, what with the fact that this film only had a $10,000 budget, but it’s humor and its use of gore makes it a really disgusting film, in a good way, of course. Aliens vomiting a green slime into a bowl, people slipping in cow shit, and just an endless amount of gore in this movie. For $25,000, they sure were able to get a lot of mileage out of it. Sure, some of the effects look pretty basic and fake, but there are some scenes that are impressive as hell. They clearly didn’t take the cheap route with the gore in this film. Disembowelment, getting shot, stabbed, torn in half, sliced open from the inside out, and getting a chainsaw to slice an aliens head in half. It’s honestly kind of disgusting with how much this movie shows you, yet impressive at the same time. I can’t gush enough about these gore effects. They’re practical enough to be funny, but so creative that you can’t help but be impressed by what they were able to do with it.
The aliens themselves are actually really well done to. Sure, for most of the movie, they use a disguise to make themselves appear human, so you don’t get to see them much aside from a few glimpses of their hands and shadows. But when you do see them, they, once again, don’t hold any of the budget back. The costumes for them are actually pretty impressive. Sure, they aren’t scary, but they are well done. The fear comes from the complete isolation of the town. It really feels empty and dead in the town of Kaihoro. But clearly, comedy was a far greater aspect. That seems to be a theme with these cult movies. They have horror elements, but they are mostly comedy films more than anything, that just happen to take place in a horror setting. Well, regardless, the film has its moments of fear and they work well.
Bad Taste is definitely an entertaining film. They had so low of a budget, and yet Peter Jackson proves himself as a competent director, making one of the most interesting films of the late 80s. I mean, compared to Peter Jackson’s other works, it’s definitely not his best film, but it’s a film worth checking out if you ever have the chance of stumbling upon it.
Bad Taste follows the Astro Investigation and Defence Service, or AIDS for short, as they travel to the fictional New Zealand town of Kaihoro to find out why the townspeople have suddenly gone missing. Eventually, their search brings them to these mysterious figures dressed in blue shirts that wander around and attack them without warning. It is eventually revealed that these people are actually part of an intergalactic alien race that plans on kidnapping humans so that they can eat them and sell their flesh in a galactic fast food restaurant. Now the AIDS unit has to stop the aliens from taking the humans they have with them, as well as dealing with the alien menace the best way they can, by slaughtering them in droves. And if you’ve seen Dead Alive, you’ll know just how violent and crude Bad Taste is. In fact, I think it may be more so.
Now it may not be as violent, what with the fact that this film only had a $10,000 budget, but it’s humor and its use of gore makes it a really disgusting film, in a good way, of course. Aliens vomiting a green slime into a bowl, people slipping in cow shit, and just an endless amount of gore in this movie. For $25,000, they sure were able to get a lot of mileage out of it. Sure, some of the effects look pretty basic and fake, but there are some scenes that are impressive as hell. They clearly didn’t take the cheap route with the gore in this film. Disembowelment, getting shot, stabbed, torn in half, sliced open from the inside out, and getting a chainsaw to slice an aliens head in half. It’s honestly kind of disgusting with how much this movie shows you, yet impressive at the same time. I can’t gush enough about these gore effects. They’re practical enough to be funny, but so creative that you can’t help but be impressed by what they were able to do with it.
The aliens themselves are actually really well done to. Sure, for most of the movie, they use a disguise to make themselves appear human, so you don’t get to see them much aside from a few glimpses of their hands and shadows. But when you do see them, they, once again, don’t hold any of the budget back. The costumes for them are actually pretty impressive. Sure, they aren’t scary, but they are well done. The fear comes from the complete isolation of the town. It really feels empty and dead in the town of Kaihoro. But clearly, comedy was a far greater aspect. That seems to be a theme with these cult movies. They have horror elements, but they are mostly comedy films more than anything, that just happen to take place in a horror setting. Well, regardless, the film has its moments of fear and they work well.
Bad Taste is definitely an entertaining film. They had so low of a budget, and yet Peter Jackson proves himself as a competent director, making one of the most interesting films of the late 80s. I mean, compared to Peter Jackson’s other works, it’s definitely not his best film, but it’s a film worth checking out if you ever have the chance of stumbling upon it.