Violence/Gore: Plenty, but all of it in an over-the-top “splatstick” style (Jackson’s term) that renders it laughably gross rather than dramatically disgusting. But boy, does he try to earn the title, with bits of brain falling everywhere, bisected bodies, a vomit sequence that has to be seen to be believed, and a scene in which Jackson’s heroic Derek literally crawls through an alien’s body from the mouth down. Must be what passes for a good time in New Zealand.

Sex/Nudity: Not unless you like bearded Kiwi hooligans drenched in blood and guts and/or pot-bellied aliens…and if you do, seek professional help.

Best Line: “There’s no glowing fingers on these bastards.”

Score:

When a contingent of aliens who fancy human brains as the next galactic fast food craze descend on the serene landscape of New Zealand to harvest some product, an intrepid band of gun-toting investigators are called out to protect mankind. Unfortunately, they’re a bumbling bunch of local yokels who manage to thwart the invasion in spite of their sheer ineptitude. Sounds like the recipe for a sci-fi comedy extravaganza? Try an uncomfortably awful romp that plays like a third-rate student film and you’d be closer to the mark.

Writer/director/fx guru Peter Jackson (yes, that one) saved money by casting himself in two roles - Robert the alien and Derek the (literally) brain-damaged hero - but his crooked-tooth mugging is so embarrassing, even for a low budget genre film, that he might have been better served by staying behind the camera for his first full-length feature. If Jackson is an unwelcome on-screen presence (OK, he’s not really all that bad), at least the scenery is something to gush about. There’s something appropriate about the fact that so many years before he was to helm the greatest fantasy epic in film history, Jackson’s home country still winds up emerging as the real star of his production. Just as it would in LORD OF THE RINGS, the New Zealand countryside fills the screen, steals every scene, and enthralls with its unspoiled beauty. Jackson and Co. work hard to spoil every inch of it with animal guts and copious amounts of stage blood, but NZ wins out easily.

I know this movie is a cult classic, and thanks to recent events we’re more inclined to view Jackson’s oeuvre with unwavering reverence, but let’s be honest here - this is a pretty lousy film. It’s an admirable achievement from a hobbyist point of view, and as a first feature-length effort by a young man just starting to discover what can be accomplished with film, it’s an impressive attempt to work out some special effects challenges in practical terms. But as my colleague Andy Hershberger pointed out, this movie plays more like a demo FX reel than a cohesive narrative. Some people might enjoy this slapstick-laden SF travesty, but as entertainment, BAD TASTE is just in…you know where I’m going with this. So why did I give it one needle at all? Read on…

DVD Extras: This is the reason for the one needle rating (otherwise, the movie itself would only rate a quarter needle). First: this two-disc special edition is anything but. Originally expected to feature commentary from Jackson among other things, this set was hampered by Jackson’s understandably busy RINGS schedule. So it puts the movie on one disc and a slight 25 minute “making of” featurette on an entire disc all its own(!). This obvious attempt to stretch the meager offerings to the two disc limit is rather shameful, but to be fair, the documentary is definitely enlightening.

The featurette gives us a glimpse of Jackson’s childhood as a budding film maker as well as some valuable lessons in how he rallies the troops to make a low-low budget sci-fi/horror movie. Jackson is as personable here as he would be years later discussing the making of his RINGS saga, and it’s fascinating to see how the man who would be Lord of Middle Earth began by making vomiting puppets. In one telling sequence, we see how Jackson’s meticulous nature and eye for detail led to the manufacture of two dead-on scale models of the movie’s signature house. This same mania for consistency and quality, honed by his experience on projects like BAD TASTE, was put to good use a decade later and clearly was always a part of his enthusiastic personality. As a RINGS fan, the BAD TASTE documentary serves as a nice little historical footnote.

So yes, ultimately this movie was important and necessary, because it set Jackson on the path to true cinema success. If BAD TASTE is the price we pay for LORD OF THE RINGS, then I’ll be the first to say it was worth it…just.

ATB