Bad Taste [1989]

Average customer rating:

A funny exercise in filming, but not much more.

open season on ETs

If you're lucky, you might get a chunky bit...

VERY GORY, VERY FUNNY, VERY GOOD !! !! !! !!

Its bad taste but its a bloody good film.

Bad Taste [1989]
Starring: Pete O'Herne , Mike Miett , Terry Potter , Peter Jackson , and Craig Smith
Director: Peter Jackson
Manufacturer: Universal Pictures UK
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

All Horror | Horror | Categories | DVD | Video
DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Braindead [1993]

Meet the Feebles [1989]

Two Evil Eyes [1990]

The New Barbarians [1982]

Brain Dead [1989]

ASIN: B00006JI16
Release Date: 2005-11-01

Customer Reviews:

A funny exercise in filming, but not much more........2007-12-07

I bought this DVD, and returned it because HE AS NOT ANY KIND OF SUBTITLES. Now, about the quality of the film, I don't understand exactly the excitment from other reviewers. The film it's a good example and case study - for and - about the not at all easy task of making a movie with very looooow budget, and if we consider it a parody to sci-fi-horror movies, then it's ok. Filmed at weekends with the help of friends, the "actors" never warm up their interpretations, the talked jokes are almost inexistents (most of the time just plain stupid), and some scenes are way too long and can be boring.It's interesting to see how basic are some tricks to avoid the lack of budget and technical sources, but: the sound is bad, some sequences needed other tipe of filming lenses, sometimes the light used is not enough, the editing doesn't cut the exact moments of the beggining of the action by the actors, etc. The real funny parts of the film are the more gruesome and of real, real, real, bad taste, as you can read in the descriptions by some other reviewers. This film can be shown in film classes for two reasons: 1) to show what to avoid when doing a film (there's lots of examples); 2) to show what can be made with a very low budget (there's also lots of good examples). For the funny real bad taste demonstrated in some scenes, the two stars given, but overall, it doesn't deserves the stupid prices tha some sellers ask for it.

open season on ETs.......2006-02-12

yes you know all about peter jackson and how's he's gone on to cgi masterpieces (though i haven't seen 'king kong'). and no doubt you have some idea of the plot; new zealand's answer to aliens' marines ("i wish we'd change that name") find there are aliens amongst them, and deal with them accordingly.
so what about it then? well it's silly, gory and incredibly good fun - defo one done made specifically for (and starring) him and his mates. as well as the gore (though not to the same extent as 'braindead', which i found tough to stomach at first sitting) there's some incredibly banal and funny civil-service type dialogue as our four heroes muddle their way through things - "that's elevator music for headbangers". its the little touches that make this film so special - the aliens in the car, the numerous amusing deaths and gung-ho dialogue ("i know, and i've got another one right here"). and of course it features one of my favourite scenes as an alien realises that a) he's out of ammo and b) he's very shortly going to be out of luck, but c) he still has a few handy pine cones lying around. brilliant change in facial expressions if nothing else. ah, the things we find funny...
the acting was for me never much of an issue, but one bad thing about the film is derek's character being just plain irritating before he has his accident. and while i appreciate a certain reviewer's comments about the package quality, there's no way this is getting less than 5 stars. and yes, one day i do intend to get a clapped out ford capri with that car stereo setup...

If you're lucky, you might get a chunky bit..........2006-01-21

Peter "Lord of the Rings" Jackson's first commercial movie release was made on a minuscule budget and with more than a little help from his friends, not to mention mum and dad. It is undeniably a crudely amateurish zombie-populated gore-fest, in the nascent gross-out style that Jackson would push to its ultimate gory conclusion in his more polished next release - the truly inspired Braindead.

The plot of Bad Taste is recycled from umpteen corny old American B movies from the middle of the last century - aliens have landed in a remote part of the country, with the aim of exploiting humanity for nefarious ends. A small group of humans cotton onto what's happening and set out to save planet Earth.

The standard of acting is hardly Oscar material; the dozen or so actors (no actresses!) are recycled time and time again; the sound and soundtrack are very basic and the special effects are mostly crude and ridiculous. So why does it work and why has Bad Taste acquired such cult status? Quite simply because it is incredibly entertaining! The outrageous visual gags and often inspired one-liners (delivered in deadpan manner more often than not) provide a whole series of laugh-out-loud moments. Some of my favourites being the ongoing effects of Derek's (Jackson) traumatic head injury, the machine-gun firing literally through the body (didn't Jeunet pinch that idea in Alien 4?), the aliens dropping out of the tree in great number following a volley of shots from one of our heroes, Robert's (Jackson again) throat-cutting gag, the serving of the "gruel" (I defy anyone not to feel queasy the first time they see that!) and, of course, the gross-out "born-again" final sequence. Each of the gory set-pieces are strung together by some amusing dialogue and the paying of cheeky homage to everything from The Professionals, Doctor Who and Mad Max to The Waltons (yes, really!).

Not everything works, sure. I felt some of the shoot-out and pursuit sequences were a tad laboured and some of the gags struck me as very laddish in-jokes that only Jackson and his chums would guffaw at (I mean, what gives with the cardboard cut-out Beatles???) but just put it down to inspired lunacy and, rest assured that Jackson's inspired scattergun technique guarantees that the viewer will never have to wait too long for the next belly-laugh to appear.

Bad Taste is not as good as Braindead, but it still provides a lot of entertainment and is bound to appeal to those of you who love tongue-in-cheek horrors in the Evil Dead genre. Perfect leave-your-brain-at-home fare after a few beers with your mates, but I'd skip the "chunky bit" if you're planning to enjoy a meal shortly afterwards!

VERY GORY, VERY FUNNY, VERY GOOD !! !! !! !!.......2006-01-09

Bad Taste is, in my opinion, Peter Jacksons best film. Along with brain dead. With a budjet like some of the 'Lord of the Rings' films he made and an origonal idea of his, like Bad Taste he could make one of the best films ever made!
This film was a surprise to me when i first saw it, never before had i seen a film with such an exelent mix of action, gore and comedy! It even has a decent story, the story may not be that complex (its very, very short and simple actually) but it works well and its good how he got such a simple and short script into a feature lengh film!
But this film wont be as funny as it could be if you dont find 'black comedy' funny! But even if this film wasnt funny it would still be good! And theres lots of action to compensate!
Another thing i loved about this little gem is the blood and gore, i love films with lots of violence in them and this film doesnt dissapoint! Therse everything from aliens having their heads cut in half by a chainsaw to exploding sheep!!!!
And as i said earlier it has a surprising amount of action in it! The last third of the film is just non-stop shooting and blood!!!
So if you do like gory films, action films, or funny films (remember what i said about you having to like 'black comedy' though) or especialy all of them then this film should be baught immedietly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its bad taste but its a bloody good film........2005-09-27

Bad Taste is one of the most entertaining action movies I've ever seen. Its cool, funny, gory and highly entertaining that is hard not to like. The music is great and re-memorable (many movies arent.) The low budget effects are great and you start to realize that the crew had to go through years of filming to create this movie. So a lot of hard work was done to make this movie.
The movie is a little slow in parts but can easily be forgiven by the amount of action that happens later in the movie. The actors are great the atmosphere of the film is great and the movie itself is extremly good fun.

Defiently one of Peter Jackson's bests. Why did he ever make Lord of the Rings apart from the big money? We'll never know but one thing we do know is Bad Taste is an enjoyable film and who needs LOTR when you got Jackson's horror comedies.

Watch Bad Taste and you'll see how good movies were before big budget effects.

DVD Review:

DVD Review List

DVD Review