Member-only story
Review: ‘Heavenly Creatures’ Shows the Potential of Peter Jackson
‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy director moves from zany cult classics to a severely underrated tragedy with his 1994 drama
These days, it’s hard not to think of humongous scale whenever the name Peter Jackson is seen or heard. Jackson has consistently shown an at least competent understanding of films on truly gigantic scales, whether that be with his Lord of the Rings trilogy, 2005’s ambitious version of King Kong or his less beloved Hobbit trilogy later on. Jackson, reminiscent of James Cameron in his interest in massive scale films which also toy with film technology in pursuit of exciting representations of pure spectacle, has practically become synonymous with massive budget productions even if most of the last decade has seen him dabble exclusively with restoring and altering historical archive footage.
Those who have peeled back more layers with Jackson’s films and background will also be aware that the Kiwi director hailed from ‘bad taste’, both literally and figuratively. Jackson’s first feature film, Bad Taste, is an exercise in the style of its title — it is utterly ridiculous, joyously silly filmmaking that uses its playful nature to allow Jackson to build towards his potential as a director. While that potential…
