Synopsis
Bad Taste is Peter Jackson's debut feature film, a gleefully gory splatter comedy in which a team of inept government agents investigates the disappearance of a small New Zealand town's population. The culprits turn out to be aliens collecting human flesh as the latest ingredient for their intergalactic fast food chain. Shot on a shoestring budget with homemade special effects, the film launched Jackson's career and became a cult classic celebrated for its anarchic humor and outrageous gore.
Why Watch It
Peter Jackson's gleefully grotesque debut announces a visionary with boundless imagination and a chainsaw-level commitment to practical gore. Splatter comedy at its most uninhibited—rubber-masked aliens, arterial sprays, and deadpan Kiwi humor combine into something genuinely original that still holds its manic energy three decades later. A raucous, handmade masterpiece that proves visionary filmmaking doesn't require studio budgets.
Did You Know?
- Peter Jackson filmed Bad Taste over four years on weekends.
- Jackson played two characters: Derek and alien Robert.
- The entire film was made for approximately NZD 25,000.
- Jackson's friends and family formed the entire cast and crew.
- Fake vomit was made from baked bean soup by Jackson.
Iconic Quotes
- I'm a Derek, and Dereks don't run.
- The bastards have landed.
- This is a battle of the minds... and you're unarmed.
- We want to live, just like you.
- Class-4 outbreak. No doubt about it.
