Review of Bad Taste (1987) by Shannon M — 15 Mar 2010

There are certain movies that make you ask "What if?" What if the German plot to kill Hitler had succeeded? What if aliens were walking among us unnoticed? Or in this case: What if Peter Jackson had never been handed "King Kong" or "Lord of the Rings," and instead stuck to his original, cheesy, gorehound roots? Perhaps sadly, that's a world we will never see.

"Bad Taste" is credited as Peter Jackson's first movie on the IMDB, and it shows. Years later, Jackson would do this kind of movie right with the superbly over the top "Dead Alive" (or "Braindead" in other parts of the world), but "Bad Taste" lacks the polish, wit, and cohesion that Jackson attained with its successor.

First off, I never got the feeling that these aliens posed any significant threat, given how incompetent most of them were. But I can allow that perhaps that was intended as part of the humor that never really fired on all cylinders. What I can't shrug off are all the parts that never quite make sense.

For example, for a good three quarters of the film, I was under the impression that the guys in blue shirts cooperating with the aliens were some sort of zombified humans. But when it's revealed that they're actually aliens themselves, it raises a slew of questions. Why can't they talk in anything but grunts? Why are they so stupid? Wouldn't you take along more competent help in your world-dominating endeavors? If they aren't zombies, then why is the guy who fell off the cliff at the beginning still alive, with his skull cracked open and half of his brain spilling out?

I could go on with observations that there's apparently air in space, given the gaping hole in the aliens' craft that doesn't seem to cause any problems, but then I'd be here all day. In short, "Bad Taste" wasn't really painful to sit through, but it fell rather regrettably flat. And when you consider the great things that Peter Jackson went on to do, it's kinda difficult to sit through something this lackluster and amateurish with his name on it.