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''Bad Taste'' is a 1987 New Zealand
science-fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, sp ...
action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...
comedy horror Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...
film directed, produced and filmed by
Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...
, who also starred in it and co-wrote the screenplay, along with Tony Hiles and Ken Hammon. Independently produced on a low budget, it is Jackson's first feature film. Jackson and friends take on most of the key roles, both on and off-screen. The plotline sees aliens invade the fictional
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
village of Kaihoro to harvest humans for their intergalactic
fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...
franchise, where they face off against a four-man
paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...
force. The film was shot in Northern Wellington over the course of four years, and eventually received nearly a quarter of a million dollars in
New Zealand Film Commission The New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC; ) is a New Zealand government agency formed to assist with creating and promoting New Zealand films. It was established under the New Zealand Film Commission Act 1978 (as amended in 1981, 1985, 1988, 1994 a ...
assistance, providing Jackson with the leverage necessary to advance in the film industry. Since its release, ''Bad Taste'' has become a
cult film A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated ...
and has received stronger reviews. It is regarded as a classic of New Zealand indie cinema. In 2008, British film magazine ''Empire'' ranked ''Bad Taste'' as the 416th greatest film ever made.


Plot

After the town of Kaihoro's entire population disappear, the Astro Investigation and Defence Service (AIDS) sends their agents Derek, Frank, Ozzy, and Barry to investigate. They find the town overrun by man-eating space aliens disguised as humans in blue shirts. Barry kills one of the aliens and is attacked by others. After Derek notifies Frank and Ozzy, he begins torturing Robert, an alien they caught earlier. Robert's screaming attracts a number of aliens. Derek kills the would-be rescuers, but he is attacked by Robert and falls off a cliff ledge, to his presumed death. Meanwhile, charity collector Giles passes through Kaihoro. He escapes Roberts' attack and comes to nearby house for help, only to get captured by another alien. Giles later wakes up in a tub of water filled with vegetables and is told he is about to be cooked and eaten. Derek wakes up in a
seagull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...
's nest with a hole in his head, so uses a hat to keep his brains from leaking out. That night, Frank, Ozzy, and Barry infiltrate the aliens' house and find a room filled with bloody cardboard boxes, likely containing the corpses of former Kaihoro residents. They kill an alien, and Frank wears its shirt to infiltrate their meeting. He learns that the victims have been harvested for food and hears of their recent hostage, Giles. The alien later dine on Robert's vomit, and the disguised (and disgusted) Frank has to follow suit. He escapes and tells the others of the plan. They save Giles as the aliens sleep. At sunrise, they try to leave but are attacked by the aliens, and a gunfight ensues. Derek emerges and joins the fight, using his belt as a headband when the hat is shot off. He grabs a chainsaw from the boot of his car and heads for the aliens' house. As the group leaves with Giles, the alien leader (Lord Crumb) and his followers morph into their true form and follow. Ozzy uses a rocket launcher to explode Frank's car, which has been overrun by aliens. Frank and Ozzy hunt for Lord Crumb and kill many aliens along the way. Meanwhile, Derek kills an alien with his chainsaw and replaces the missing parts of his brain with its brain. An alien prepares to shoot Frank and Ozzy, but it is beheaded by Derek. Frank and Ozzy are shocked to see him alive, and see he has lost his mind. After they escape the house, Lord Crumb shoots Ozzy in the leg and Frank fires his rocket launcher at the leader, but misses. Lord Crumb knocked out Derek; the house transforms into a giant space ship and blasts off into space. On board, Derek looks out the window to see Earth. He ambushes Crumb and kills the alien with his chainsaw. He proclaims war on the alien, then puts on the alien leader's skin and laughs maniacally as he rockets towards the alien planet. Back on Earth, the survivors drive away in Derek's car.


Cast

* Terry Potter as Ozzy / 3rd Class Alien * Pete O'Herne as Barry / 3rd Class Alien *
Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...
as Derek / Robert * Mike Minett as Frank / 3rd Class Alien * Craig Smith as Giles Copeland / 3rd Class Alien * Doug Wren as Lord Crumb ** Dean Lawrie as Lord Crumb SPFX double / 3rd Class Alien ** Peter Vere-Jones as Lord Crumb's voice * Ken Hammon as 3rd Class Alien * Costa Botes as 3rd Class Alien


Production

Much of the film was shot in and around Jackson's home suburb of
Pukerua Bay Pukerua Bay is a small seaside suburb at the southern end of the Kāpiti Coast, New Zealand. In local government terms it is the northernmost suburb of Porirua City, in the Wellington Region. It is 12 km north of the Porirua City Centre o ...
in northern
Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
, using a 25-year-old 16mm
Bolex Bolex International S. A. is a Swiss manufacturer of motion picture cameras based in Yverdon located in Canton of Vaud, the most notable products of which are in the 16 mm and Super 16 mm formats. Originally Bol, the company was founded ...
camera. Originally begun as a 20-minute short film called ''Roast of the Day'',''Bad Taste'' was shot primarily on weekends over the course of four years, at an initial cost of around $25,000. Toward the end of the shoot the
New Zealand Film Commission The New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC; ) is a New Zealand government agency formed to assist with creating and promoting New Zealand films. It was established under the New Zealand Film Commission Act 1978 (as amended in 1981, 1985, 1988, 1994 a ...
invested around
NZ$ The New Zealand dollar (; currency sign, sign: $; ISO 4217, code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New Zeal ...
235,000 into the film to ensure its completion. Heavily influenced by special effects pioneer
Tom Savini Thomas Vincent Savini (born November 3, 1946) is an American prosthetic makeup artist, actor, stunt performer and film director. He is known for his makeup and special effects work on many films directed by George A. Romero, including ''Martin ( ...
, Jackson incorporated many absurdly gory
special effect Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...
s. Peter Jackson himself plays two acting roles. In one early scene halfway down a cliff, careful editing, utilising shots taken months apart, makes it possible for the two characters, Derek and the alien Robert (both played by Jackson), to fight one another. ''Bad Taste'' begins Jackson's penchant for using the
Morris Minor The Morris Minor is an economy car produced by British marque Morris Motors between 1948 and 1971. It made its debut at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, in October 1948. Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.6  ...
in his films - Giles drives a Morris Minor. Subsequently, every car in ''
Meet the Feebles ''Meet the Feebles'' (also known as ''Frogs of War'' in New Zealand as the film's English fake working title) is a 1989 New Zealand adult puppet musical black comedy film directed by Peter Jackson, and written by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Stephen ...
'' is a Morris Minor (including a
limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically. A luxu ...
) and several are seen in ''
Braindead ''BrainDead'' is an American political satire science fiction comedy-drama television series created by Robert and Michelle King. The series stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Laurel Healy, a documentary film-maker who takes a job working for h ...
''. A combination of blank firing firearms and homemade weapon props were used in the film. Most of the firearm props were made using recycled aluminium and wood. The actors also had to shake them to simulate the
recoil Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged. In technical terms, the recoil is a result of conservation of momentum, for according to Newton's third law the force requ ...
. A flash and sound effect was added later during post production. All the alien masks in the film were baked in Peter Jackson's mother's oven. Kaihoro, the name of the town whose inhabitants are butchered, is a
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
word coined by Jackson and his crew early in the shooting of the film. It has two parts - "kai" which means food and "horo" which means town or village. Foodtown is also the name of a New Zealand chain of grocery stores. Kai horo in Te Reo Maori means 'greedy' - but is made up of the words Kai (food) and horo (quickly) which, loosely translated, could be said to mean fast food, a play on the fate of the villagers. The sheep in the film was to have played a larger role as a
running gag A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are no ...
, being surprisingly aggressive and chasing "The Boys" at various points throughout. This was reduced to the single sheep/rocket launcher moment of the final scene.


Release

The film sold to many countries after playing in the market at the
1987 Cannes Film Festival The 40th Cannes Film Festival took place from 7 to 19 May 1987. French-Italian actor Yves Montand served as jury president for the main competition. French filmmaker Maurice Pialat won the ''Palme d'Or'', the festival's top prize, for the drama ...
. Despite its wide acclaim, the film failed to impress at the 1989 NZ Film and Television Awards, winning no awards. As well as this, a
TVNZ Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, streaming service, and news se ...
executive spoke out the next day about whether or not the film industry needed films like ''Bad Taste''. The film did however still win favour among the country's cult film audiences. In France, the film received 29,339 admissions.


Reception

Kim Newman of ''
Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
'' gave the film three stars out of five, with praise being directed to the special effects. For
AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, television series, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was ...
, Jason Buchanan wrote that ''Bad Taste'' was "amazingly resourceful," but that it moves at such a "hyperactive" pace that "it's nearly impossible to draw a breath, much less take a moment to laugh at the revoltingly hilarious exploits." In a much less positive review, '' Time Out'' summarised that although "the film had its moments," it was not a worthwhile watch. The film holds a 73% approval rating on
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, based on 22 reviews with an average rating of 6.50/10. The site's consensus reads: "Peter Jackson's early low-budget shocker boasts a disgusting premise—aliens harvesting humans for fast food—that gives the budding auteur plenty of room for gross-out visuals and absurd cleverness." On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film holds a score of 52 out of 100 based on reviews by 4 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."


Censorship

The banning of an already cut version of ''Bad Taste'' in
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, Australia, three weeks into its run, led to the firing and dissolution of the Queensland Film Board of Review in 1990. The film had to be trimmed for release in Australia at the time, as the OFLC felt the gore too excessive. When released on home video in Australia, the words "BANNED IN QUEENSLAND" was proclaimed on the cover. The uncut version was released by Universal Home Entertainment on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
in 2004. Apart from the uncut version, there is a heavily cut FSK 18-rated and an even more censored FSK 12-rated version in Germany available on DVD. The former is cut by approximately 6 minutes, the latter by approximately 10 minutes.


Home media

The film was first released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
in 2001 by
Anchor Bay Entertainment The revived Anchor Bay Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company owned by Umbrelic Entertainment co-founders Thomas Zambeck and Brian Katz. Anchor Bay Entertainment markets and releases "new release genre ...
. In December 2018, Peter Jackson announced that he plans to restore ''Bad Taste'', along with his two following films ''
Meet the Feebles ''Meet the Feebles'' (also known as ''Frogs of War'' in New Zealand as the film's English fake working title) is a 1989 New Zealand adult puppet musical black comedy film directed by Peter Jackson, and written by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Stephen ...
'' and ''
Braindead ''BrainDead'' is an American political satire science fiction comedy-drama television series created by Robert and Michelle King. The series stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Laurel Healy, a documentary film-maker who takes a job working for h ...
'' (known as Dead Alive in North America) for a possible 4K release.


Legacy

During his acceptance speech at the 2004 Academy Awards, Jackson mentioned ''Bad Taste'' (along with ''
Meet the Feebles ''Meet the Feebles'' (also known as ''Frogs of War'' in New Zealand as the film's English fake working title) is a 1989 New Zealand adult puppet musical black comedy film directed by Peter Jackson, and written by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Stephen ...
''), joking that it had been "wisely overlooked by the Academy." In 2008, ''
Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
'' ranked ''Bad Taste'' as the 416th greatest film of all time, based on opinions from readers and industry professionals.


See also

* ''Braindead'' (film) * ''Under the Skin'', a novel by
Michel Faber Michel Faber (born 13 April 1960) is a Dutch-born writer of English-language fiction, including his 2002 novel ''The Crimson Petal and the White'', and '' Under the Skin'' (2000) which was adapted for film by Jonathan Glazer, starring Scarlett ...
where aliens hiding in rural Scotland gruesomely farm humans for overpriced food. * List of films with the longest production time * List of cult films


References


Bibliography

*


External links


Badtaste.co.nz
with interviews, background, DVD comparisons, media etc., archived April 2009.
NZ On Screen page
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bad Taste 1987 black comedy films 1987 comedy horror films 1987 directorial debut films 1987 films 1987 independent films 1980s English-language films 1980s New Zealand films 1980s satirical films 1987 science fiction films 1980s science fiction comedy films 1980s science fiction horror films Films about alien invasions Films about extraterrestrial life Films about missing people Films about shapeshifting Films directed by Peter Jackson Films produced by Peter Jackson Films set in New Zealand Films set on spacecraft Films shot in 16 mm film Films shot in New Zealand Films with screenplays by Peter Jackson Films scored by Michelle Scullion New Zealand comedy horror films New Zealand horror films New Zealand independent films New Zealand satirical films New Zealand science fiction films New Zealand science fiction horror films New Zealand splatter films WingNut Films films Censored films Obscenity controversies in film Puppet films New Zealand science fiction comedy films New Zealand black comedy films New Zealand exploitation films New Zealand monster movies English-language comedy horror films English-language science fiction horror films English-language science fiction comedy films English-language independent films