Bad Taste (1987)

Bad Taste (1987) – A small town in New Zealand is invaded by aliens looking to use humanity as the featured dish for dinner.

Director  Peter Jackson                                     Starring Terry Potter, Pete O’Herne, Craig Smith

Why I Liked It – Ummmmm, some of the effects didn’t suck?

There can be something charming about low budget movies.  It can be fun to see the earliest work of a successful director.

But not in this case.

This movie, well let’s be honest, is awful.  Terrible script, awful acting, amateur cinematography.  Ok, let’s be fair.  There was, in fact, no script.  Filmed on four years worth of weekends, Jackson (Yes, THAT Peter Jackson) and his cast of friends worked out the weekend scenes during the week.  The “budget” came out of Jackson’s pocket, until just before the end when the New Zealand Film Commission gave them enough money to finish the movie.  ALL of the dialogue was dubbed in during post-production.  The list of ridiculous facts goes on and on.

In the end, it’s a 91-minute movie that feels much longer.  The story wanders without much of a point, and the acting is high school drama class.  The fact that it’s Jackson’s first movie is enough for some to get all warm and fuzzy about it, but that’s not enough to overcome the rest.  Bad movies can be fun.  “Plan Nine From Outer Space” is every bit as awful, but it offers a campy kind of fun that “Bad Taste” doesn’t. This is strictly “wait till you can stream it for free” stuff.

It would be fun to watch while getting drunk, and you can appreciate how much they tried and achieved with a nothing budget.  But it’s just not good.

Rating ** – Not Impressed