Bad Taste

Peter Jackson has talent. I'm a big big fan of what he did with Lord of the Rings and have enjoyed other movies of his. Bad Taste is not going to make it to that list of likes. This is essentially nothing more than a mindless gore-fest, and while I can imagine it being fun to make it's not that fun to watch if you require anything else out of a film.

The story centers around aliens who have come to Earth to turn humans into the next galactic fast food craze. They've wiped out a small village as a way to collect samples. A small bumbling band of alien hunters has come across their plot and sets out to stop them as well as rescue any survivors.

That's pretty much it. There's very little story, no character development, no nothing. It's as little premise as possible to pit people in a violent struggle against carnivorous aliens. It's best described as a comedy though most of the jokes are in keeping with the title – bad taste. It's extremely campy though I will say it's pretty well shot. I've seen better movies that weren't put together as well as this one which is where Jackson's talent really shows through here.

Without much story to sink my teeth into I looked for other things. I might have been slightly more forgiving if there had at least been more consistency. Sometimes the aliens are nearly impossible to kill, sometimes they drop with minimal effort – and often we see both happen in the same scene. Sometimes the heroes act like a highly-trained task force, other times they act like bumbling dolts.

I did laugh some, but not a great deal. The acting is pretty bad throughout. Effects and visuals are definitely B grade but not bad at all, actually impressive even, for what is essentially a no budget homemade movie made in Peter's spare time.

It comes down to the entertainment value you place on jokes about splattered brains. If you can find that enjoyable perhaps Bad Taste is a movie to check out. If you want narrative substance then you'll need to look elsewhere.

MORALITY:

Bad Taste features lots and lots of gore and violence. It's of the more campy variety than something like Saw, but you're going to see more than your fair share of splattered brains. One of the more disturbing scenes features an alien behind some poor slob who's missing the top portion of his head. The alien is eating the contents of the guy's skull like a person would eat soup.

There's a bit of strong language in here as well.

There is nothing sexual or revealing (unless you count alien butt cheeks poking out of holes in their pants).

SPIRITUALITY:

You walk right up to that alien and tell him, "Don't eat me!"

FINAL THOUGHTS:

As someone who has made his own homemade productions I can appreciate the quality of Jackson's work. For a movie filmed with virtually no budget, homemade costumes, and a shoot-whenever-we-have-time schedule this movie is exceptional. And that is what is going to save it from getting the lowest possible rating out of me. Still, it doesn't offer anything of substance that makes it a movie I'm eager to see again.

#BadTaste