'Bad Taste' review by MartialHorror
Source: http://freewebs.com/mhbadt
Please check out the site!
BAD TASTE(1987)
(Directed by Peter Jackson)
Plot: Aliens take over a New Zealand town, and it’s up to four military elites to stop them.
Review:
“Bad Taste” was the big directorial debut of Peter Jackson, the man who would later bless us with the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. I’ve wanted to watch this cult classic for some time now, as I enjoyed Jackson’s “Dead Alive”, his other gruesome horror film that this is often compared too. Unfortunately, when I finally sat down to see it, I just wasn’t in much of a mood for it. But my netflix account has a system, and I knew that if I were to watch it at all, it had to be now. Throughout the viewing, I had a splitting headache, and just wasn’t in the mood to watch a movie where heads are literally split in two. So that may have affected my opinion. I found myself scratching my head, wondering what all the hype was about.
When aliens invade a New Zealand town, the Government sends in it’s elites: Four dudes who often don’t act very professional. Wow, if this is the best New Zealand has to offer, let’s pray that they’re never invaded! They walk around, scouting the place until they’re attacked. Soon, a poor civilian Giles(Craig Smith) drives into town and is captured by them. The military guys must save him and kill all the aliens.
“Bad Taste” reminded me of “Garth Merenghi’s Darkplace”, except with much more gore and less obvious blunders. The acting is either exaggerated or wooden, the twists are hilarious, the plot is absurd and the gore gags are over-the-top. The result is that you really don’t know how to review it. Is it intentionally bad or what? I guess it is….but to be honest, it still didn’t blow me away. While it often mad me laugh, it also had a tendency to annoy me. The subtitleless New Zealand accents worked against my poor hearing and I have to admit, Peter Jackson as Derek occasionally REALLY irked me, although at least he grew on me. The filming looks cheap(because it was) and the characters were all interchangeable(especially when they had their masks on).
Still, “Bad Taste” impresses due to its lack of budget. The SFX are cheap, but still have an unsettling look about them. It certainly is unpredictable and I appreciated that the movie didn’t feel the need to turn any of its non-alien characters to fodder. You don’t know who will live or die, and that actually means there is some suspense. All in all, Jackson does what he can and then some with the low budget.
In the end, I’m not sure if I’d really recommend “Bad Taste”. If you’re into low budget splatter, then you can’t get much better than it. But you have to be used to its primitive….well, everything. Still, Jackson directed the hell out of it, making a movie that is far more effective than many bigger budgeted gore fests. It’s nowhere near as good as “Dead Alive” in both quality and gore, but few movies are.
Violence: SUUUUPER gory. An easy R, maybe even NC-17 worthy.
Nudity: The aliens nasty asses hang out of their clothing.
Overall: “Bad Taste” is only for people who have….at the title suggests, bad tastes. I’d find it hilarious if anyone saw this and expected “The Fellowship of the Ring” or something. But still, it achieves what it wants to be, and that’s what matters.
2.5/4 Stars
my reviews of martial arts and horror films
http://freewebs.com/martialhorror