Bad Taste
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- For other meanings, see Bad taste.
| Bad Taste | |
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| Directed by | Peter Jackson |
| Produced by | Peter Jackson |
| Written by | Ken Hammon, Tony Hiles, Peter Jackson |
| Starring | Terry Potter, Pete O'Herne, Peter Jackson, Mike Minett, Craig Smith |
| Music by | Michelle Scullion |
| Editing by | Jamie Selkirk, Peter Jackson |
| Distributed by | New Zealand Film Commission |
| Release date(s) | 1987 |
| Running time | 91 mins |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $25,000 + $230,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Bad Taste is a low-budget 1987 cult film, one of the first directed by Peter Jackson, in which aliens invade the fictional New Zealand village of Kaihoro (population 78) in order to harvest human beings for their intergalactic fast food franchise but are repelled by a four-man paramilitary force.
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[edit] Production notes
Heavily influenced by special effects pioneer Tom Savini, Peter Jackson incorporated easy camera tricks while giving the audience impressively gory special effects. Part of the film was shot in Jackson's home town of Pukerua Bay, north of Wellington, New Zealand. It was shot primarily on weekends over the course of four years, at a total cost of around $25,000 (toward the end of the shoot the New Zealand Film Commission invested around NZ$235,000 into the film to ensure its completion), and Jackson himself plays at least two roles. Careful editing, from shots taken months apart, makes it possible in one scene for one character played by Jackson to torture the other character played by Jackson (one with beard, Robert, and one without, Derek).
The rest of the roles are filled by Jackson's friends and family, many of whom were co-workers of his at the time. Jackson also created the over-the-top gory make-up effects, which emphasized absurdity. The film secured international distribution (quite unexpected even by its director) after playing at the Cannes Film Festival.
[edit] Main cast
- Terry Potter - Ozzy/3rd Class Alien
- Pete O'Herne - Barry/3rd Class Alien
- Craig Smith - Giles/3rd Class Alien
- Mike Minett - Frank/3rd Class Alien
- Peter Jackson - Derek/Robert
- Doug Wren - Lord Crumb
- Dean Lawrie - Lord Crumb SPFX Double/3rd Class Alien
- Peter Vere-Jones - Lord Crumb's Voice
[edit] 2001 Armageddon Convention
On September 15, 2001, the Michael Fowler Center in Wellington, New Zealand hosted Armageddon. One of the main features for the 2001 convention was the cast of Bad Taste attending for a quick Q&A on the main stage, and a screening of the film.
The cast members that attended were; Craig Smith (Giles), Pete O'Herne (Barry), Mike Minett (Frank), Terry Potter (Ozzy), Ken Hammon (Writer, 3rd Class Alien) and Dean Lawrie (Lord Crumb SPFX Double, 3rd Class Alien).
[edit] Sequel plans
The first official biography on Jackson (Peter Jackson: A Film-maker's Journey by Brian Sibley), reveals that in 1993, after Jackson's third film, Braindead, he approached the New Zealand Film Commission with plans to make Bad Taste 2 and 3 back-to-back for $7 million. In Bad Taste 2, the heroes of the first film would travel to an alien planet to save zombie hunter Derek, played by Jackson. In Bad Taste 3 the aliens enact revenge on Wellington with "a spectacular aerial battle over the city with dozens of flying houses, buzzy bees and Santa Claus".
Peter Jackson told a New Zealand newspaper The Dominion Post he is still interested in making a sequel of the movie.[1]
[edit] Trivia
- The weapons used in the movie were made using aluminum tubing and the actors had to shake them to simulate the recoil. A flash and sound effect was added later. Also, all the masks in the film were baked in Peter Jackson's own oven.
- This film may have established the exploding sheep concept in the computer gaming subculture. The banning of an already cut version of Bad Taste in Queensland, three weeks into its run, led to the abolition of the Queensland Film Board of Review in 1990. The film had to be trimmed for release in Australia at the time, as the OFLC felt the gore too excessive. An uncensored R-rated version was released by Universal Home Entertainment on DVD in 2005.
- Kaihoro, the name of the village, is a Māori word made up by Jackson and his crew early in the shooting of the film. It has two parts - "kai" which means food and "horo" which means town or village.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Bad Taste at the Internet Movie Database
- Bad Taste at the Open Directory Project (suggest site)
- The Ultimate Bad Taste Web Site
