Bad Taste

A non-stop parade of highly entertaining nastiness. Aliens shot to bits, a tasty lunch of vomit, and a snack of human brains eaten with a spoon as the icing on the cake. “I'm a Derek and Dereks don't run!” Peter Jackson kept his word, didn't give up his struggle as a filmmaker and made more great and extremely entertaining films like Bad Taste. (05/26/2002)

A maximum splatter coating that is a perfect demonstration of Jackson's directorial craziness. A monstrous collection of disgusting things of all kinds, dominated by various forms of human body dismemberment, but on the other hand also by an unceasing cadence of the darkest humor. Certainly, the plot is simple and short, fitting neatly into a single page, and the whole thing is shot exactly in the style of a "buddy" video. However, only a few videos of this kind convey such enthusiasm with every shot (that detailed camera pan around Magnum is fantastic) while maintaining a sense of humor about the fact that nothing deadly serious is being filmed here. Within serious filmmaking, it's undoubtedly an obvious outsider, but as a cult classic for die-hard film fans, it's a flawless masterpiece that will leave you questioning yourself for another two hours after it ends, wondering how it's possible to create something so brilliant with such a small budget. (12/11/2005)

Peter Jackson's first cult classic didn't grab me as much as his later work, Braindead, which I absolutely adore. Considering the film was made without a script, it turned out pretty well. The beginning is fantastic and really hooks you, but then it takes a nosedive in the middle, becoming painfully dull and unnecessarily drawn-out. However, it's worth sticking with it because the ending is absolutely mind-blowing. The "rebirth" scene is particularly spectacular. The character played by Peter Jackson himself is the highlight of the film. The scenes where Jackson reattaches a loose piece of his skull with a belt and collects bits of brain are brilliant, as is the alien throwing pine cones after losing its legs. (01/20/2020)

You can't be serious. Everyone else with a camera has done something similar with their mates and I believe it was funnier. Peter Jackson as Derek should be shot. Apart from a few good jokes (seagulls for example), it’s pretty dull and only occasionally impresses with decent enough cinematography for a debut. (11/30/2009)

Peter Jackson is probably not a normal person, but you can't be mad at him. This movie is stupid, disgusting, and freaky, but it's damn good entertainment that even Paul Verhoeven on a $100,000,000 budget wouldn't dare to make. It's not exactly customary for almost all humour to come from detailed limb-ripping, but Jackson has an innate sense of the right level of "stab and cut", and instead of being disgusted, you have to laugh out loud. In addition, the aliens are really cruel (where is Independence Day?) and thanks to the legendary Derek and his motorbike you will get to know their organs in detail. It may look terribly amateurish, and the cinematography, sound and editing are crap, but Jackson showed great courage when he presented the audience not with a couple in love in the middle of the beautiful New Zealand countryside, but with a bunch of slimy alien cannibals who will flip you off and take you away in a flying house. Compared to it, the high-budget Lord of the Rings must have been a walk in the park. (02/26/2012)