Film Review: Bad Taste

After watching the sweeping epics that were 'The Lord Of The Rings' trilogy, it's hard to believe that Peter Jackson started out in low budget horror. But just because Jackson's first full length film didn't have much money behind it (at a budget of just $30,000) that doesn't mean it scrimps on ANYTHING.

The population of a small New Zealand town vanish, and are replaced by cannibalistic aliens looking for human flesh to take back to their planet to sell at an "intergalactic" fast food restaurant chain. Only a handful of survivors can stop them.

Not exactly Tolkien, and it's not especially well acted, and on occasions the budget really shows (a lot of the film is just running about in a field), but 'Bad Taste' has the kind of wit and charm that many similar films wish they had.

When I said at the start of the review that Jackson did 'horror', I'm not sure you could apply that tag entirely to this film. Sure, there's plenty of horror to be had, body parts go flying, intestines spill out left, right and center, and at one point an alien played by Jackson himself eats the brains out of half a head with a spoon. It's not exactly stuff for those with a weak stomach or nervous disposition.

But the film is in equal parts action, comedy and sci fi and it does a great job of combining all these genres without getting muddled or confusing.

For the limited budget involved, the special effects are superb. From the gore effects to the aliens when they reveal themselves near the end of the film, they look like they belong in a film that was made for ten times the amount 'Bad Taste' was made for. And as cheesy as it looks in this day and age, the 'spacecraft' scene is also incredibly well done.

Bear in mind that 'Bad Taste' was filmed on weekends only over the course of 4 years and you get a real appreciation for the effort put in. These guys had jobs in the week, and it was only when the New Zealand Film Council saw how good it all looked that they got a cash injection into the project.

You can also see flairs of Jackson's directorial brilliance too, with some really interesting camera work , it's quite reminiscent of the work Sam Raimi did on the original Evil Dead film, which surely was some kind of inspiration to Jackson at the time. While you'd have never thought Jackson would end up heading a franchise the size of 'Lord Of The Rings', or even a 'King Kong' remake, you'd have to see bright things were in his future.

'Bad Taste' is a definite cult classic. While it's not the most seamless or well acted film ever made, it's gloriously silly, endlessly quotable ("I'm a Derek, and Derek's don't run!", "I'll give you an eyewitness description of this, intergalactic wanker!") and has some superb makeup and special effects, considering it only cost $30,000 to make. Worth checking out for horror fans, fans of Peter Jackson and amateur filmmakers everywhere.

****
Going to show you don't need a huge budget to make an entertaining film, Bad Taste is stupid, gruesome fun. And I mean gruesome!