Bad Taste – A long way from Mordor


Today the name ‘Peter Jackson’ is synonymous with big budget epic films like the ‘Lord of the Rings/Hobbit’ saga and ‘King Kong.’ And with good reason – he’s clearly a fantastic director and deserves to be up there with the best of them.  Therefore, it’s always fun to find out where someone like Jackson came from – in ‘filmic’ terms anyway.


Way before he was giving a seemingly infinite budget to work with, he had to effectively finance his films all by himself – writing, directing, starring, making special effects moulds in his home oven and even blowing up his own house (if the internet rumours are to be believed!).


This is the very definition of ‘low budget.’ Jackson had to pretty much raise all the cash himself for his ‘gore-fest’ alien invasion movie which sees a bunch of human-hungry intergalactic nasties invade a small New Zealand town and slaughter all the residents.  Luckily for humanity, ‘the boys’ (i.e. a quartet of government heavies are on hand to save out pink backsides from being the next fast food crazy across the cosmos.


I guess the one thing you need to know if you’re considering watching this is that it’s ‘cheap.’ Whether you decide that is a positive or negative is really down to your own personal taste.  Many could look at it and say that they could probably do better with the camera on their iphone, while others – who are more forgiving of crafting a feature-length film and enjoy cheesy, gory B-movies as a genre – will absolutely adore what can be done on a shoestring budget.  Guess which camp I fall into?

I love 'Baste Taste.' I think it's great to see a film made with so little become to big.  Yes, it won't be for everyone.  The lack of budget (and terrible acting - even I can't defend that!) will no doubt put many off, but you also have one hell of a lot of practical effects in terms of deliciously over-the-top gore added to the mix.  The blood and guts is so in-your-face that 'Bad Taste' falls well within the genre of horror-comedy.  And, of course, the jokes are pretty low brow and 'adult' to match.

I know this film won't be for everyone, but it's stayed in the public's conscious not just because it was Peter Jackson's first outing, but because it's the perfect blend of sci-fi/horror/comedy B-movie with stupidly-awesome gore.  If that sounds like something you're into, you'll have a blast.  It really is the perfect B-movie.  But the acting is truly terrible.  Did I mention that?



8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one