Review of Meet the Feebles (1989) by Adam B — 09 Jul 2008

Twisted, sick genius. Every possible act of depravity invented by man is depicted in this film, all of them by sometimes-adorable puppets. It could be utterly nasty and off-putting, but Jackson strikes a gleeful tone of juvenile delinquency that saves "Feebles" from its own virulent vileness...

Again and again, be it with sex, drugs, violence, pornography, foul language, Vietnam flashbacks, or (most hilariously) a lavish production number for a song about sodomy, PJ seems to be getting away with something. And when you get to the end credits and realize that the film was partly paid for by the New Zealand government's cultural commission, it becomes all that much more apparent that he did...

Whatever else you can say about this joyfully disgusting film, it firmly establishes Jackson's abilities as a mass manipulator of audience reactions. Just as he plays his viewers like so many violins in LOTR and "King Kong", he gets to you in "Feebles". Maybe the best thing to be said about it is that you cannot watch it impassively; you WILL react to this film, even if it isn't in a positive manner...