Bad Taste (1987)

   

Produced, Written Cinematographed, Edited, Make-Up, Special Effects & Directed by: Peter Jackson

Starring:

Pete O'Herne .... Barry
Peter Jackson .... Derek / Robert
Terry Potter .... Ozzy
Mike Minett .... Frank
Craig Smith .... Giles
Doug Wren .... Lord Crumb


Release Dates:
Cannes Film Festival: December, 1987 (New Zealand); Fantasporto Film Festival: February, 1990

 

Rating:

 

Aliens invade the village of Kaihoro in New Zealand to harvest humans for their intergalactic fast food franchise, where they face off against a four-man paramilitary force, of which at least one member appears to have gone insane.

 

The film starts off lamely with a 3rd class alien holding an axe towards Barry and corny one liners coming from him as well as trying to shoot him and this alien using his axe to protect himself or other stupid moments in order to protect himself but then there's gruesome results which will please the fans who likes sick stuff such as what was exposed here.
More stupid slapstick discussions with Barry on his walkie talkie talking to his nerdy friend Derek while he is on a cliff about to drive a sharp object in another aliens foot as well as his headbanging friends Ozzy and Frank driving along a road as there's good grindhouse shots on them speeding away in their vehicle but all of this looked terribly pointless and a time waster.
Also we see other aliens chasing after Barry when he tries to hide in a shack and we spot two aliens holding one of them and swinging their body and using their head to try and break open the door to try and get inside as this was supposed to be tongue in cheek funny but I didn't chuckle one bit. Meanwhile we have Derek being pitted against the alien he was torturing trying to fire away his rifle and silly moments with all of this happening too which didn't show good timing at all looking more and more dumb by what we all see here. However things look suspenseful when he is near the cliff as you wonder if he will fall since it's a long way down. I will give a good pointer on that scene.
There's a moment with what looked like a nerdy type of priest Giles driving along and spotting an alien feasting on a slaughtered head with a spoon as this just looked gross and not for anyone with a strong stomach to watch as well as him trying to get away from this maniac and then him flipping the bird. I was like '"Ho hum!"
Then we have a nice dark shot on him with an apple taped on his mouth with him tied and gagged in a tub of water ready to be turned into stew as well as a nice creepy shot on Lord Crumb telling him on what he will become for his people as the horror comes into this apart from the stupid lame brained comedy and sci-fi.
A good setting with Lord Crumb in a home with his fellow aliens by when he makes commandments on what their plan is which looked strongly done but of course we have stupid comedic one liners and stuff like that. Plus we have a gruesome slaughtering from outisde of the house by the group of people trying to put a stop to the madness and go undercover in which Frank is the one disguised as one of the aliens and see many gross out stuff with one of these beings spitting out green stuff and passing it to his people to drink it as this will gross you out as well as seeing if Frank will actually drink this stuff.
More lame brained fight scene's with one of the group of friends dressed in a ninja suit battling against a burly one in a chef hat as all of this looked hokey and sloppily done too. Also in this scene we spot alot of gruesome gun fighting and machette fighting in which you gorehounds will get a kick out of.
Another amusing moment is when we spot cheesy special effects on Lord Crumb and his people finally forming into their alien selves as the monstrous looks had a low budget sci-fi horror feel to it but also looking comedic too. Alot more dumb moments with the chase from the survivors nonetheless.
Good moments on the friends using a missile gun trying to shoot through the home as well as later on Derek coming into the home when it takes off into space and looking vengeful with a chainsaw which had a nice dark horror-comedy feel to all of this along with the results between him and the remains of Lord Crumb.
Bottom line is that as if Dead-Alive wasn't bad enough as this film offers the same grossness and nearly plotless. I found this flick distasteful and was very much a Troma Team horror style which says very little of course. I was in agony watching this one from start to finish but it has many admirers and a cult favourite which I can't understand why. A grindhouse drive in type of flick and a real bad one too.

The acting is quite terrible and uninspired as Pete O'Herne (Barry) just had the looks to portray someone trying to save himself and his friends from the alien invasion. He was saying his lines but didn't get into character a great deal. Tries to show off some energy into all that he did but didn't succeed enough to be considered a worthy character actor.
Creator Peter Jackson (Derek / Robert) also has one of the main roles in this film and has the nerdy looks for the role he portrayed but his performance got on my nerves big time with his geeky attitude while trying to be funny while using a weapon but his humor fell flat. However he seemed to do okay later on while in a space ship using a chainsaw looking vengeful as he showed off some okay energy.
Terry Potter (Ozzy) seemed to be the best out of the cast as he had the perfect looks to portray a headbanger as well as having a great hyped up energy especially with his speaking. Rolls with the punches and has a great drive for his hyperactive attitude. He was one of the only people worth mentioning that seemed to pull off some average characteristics.
Mike Minett (Frank) also wasn't too shabby in his role as he played the level headed serious one bringing a nice calm behavior to what he does. Also shows some good nervous expressions in certain scene's like when he is about to drink something gross while disguising himself and scenarios like that. I give him okay credit for doing his best in this one.
Doug Wren (Lord Crumb) stood out the most as the leader of the evil alien race having the right spooky looks and appeal to what he does. Yet his voice is over dubbed by someone else. Yet shows good expressions to different moments that we spot here. Shows some okay energy into all that he did here.

Aliens head is blown off brains oozing out
Bloody gunshots
Aliens eat persons brains with a spoon
Back of someones head is cracked open and brains oozing out
Body parts are sliced off
Gun is stabbed through someone's body
Head is ripped off
Brains and other insides are splattered everywhere
Machette is sliced through someone's head
Chainsaw is cut rthrough an aliens body

Many different styles of composing done by Michelle Scullion and Jay Snowfield which was sounding good and professional. Some nice creepy deep playing which seems to suit the evil that is happening in the picture. Also good violin music as always in a film. Plus we have nice guitar adventureous music here and there with nice synthesizer beats too. We hear the classical score sounding intense and high paced as this was totally energised. The music is the only good thing about this flick in fact.