Movie Review: Bad Taste (1987)

This is an appropriate title. As Peter Jackson’s first film, this is a fascinating subject. To go from making movies about aliens eating brains in a small New Zealand town to winning Oscars in just 15 years…that’s the American dream. Yes, I know he’s not American, obviously.

I mean the first image we see of Jackson (who of course acts, as do all his friends, who also work behind the camera) is him eating human brains with a spoon. It’s wonderful.

This movie is definitely not for everyone, but for someone like me, it’s hard not to enjoy. It has that truly rebellious spirit of independent filmmaking in spades. The plot itself is nothing a studio would ever do, and you can almost see the blood, sweat, and tears of Jackson and his friends on screen. Think Kiwi Evil Dead.

So that’s really what I got out of this movie. It’s exploitation perhaps not at its best, but at a satisfying level.

Rating: 7/10