Bad Taste (1987)

An Alien Investigation and Defence team are dispatched to hunt down some extra-terrestrial aliens who have depopulated a small town, using the humans as stock for their intergalactic fast-food chain.

A bumbling commando squad known as “The Boys” – Barry (Pete O’Herne), Ozzy (Terry Potter), Frank (Mike Minett) and drooling nitwit Derek (Peter Jackson) – must now save the day and the world before the meat-eaters spread across the whole planet.

Along the way, there’s a flying house, a Jackson vs Jackson fight scene, chainsaw madness, and a man headbutting a seagull. Not many Oscar winners started out like this!

Peter Jackson’s hilarious 16mm tale of an alien invasion of New Zealand saw him write, direct, supervise effects, do stunts and play hero Derek.

Filling the cast with his mates and work colleagues, throwing in nods to The Beatles, Doctor Who and Stephen King, and making the whole thing up as he went along, Jackson’s DIY cult classic took four long years to complete.

They only shot on Sundays because they all worked six-day weeks, and some Sundays they couldn’t shoot at all because they couldn’t afford it.

The over-the-top special effects range from sickeningly realistic to downright amateurish, but considering nearly all the gore gags were created by Jackson himself (in his mum’s kitchen) with almost no budget, one can’t help but be impressed.

Ozzy
Terry Potter
Barry
Pete O’Herne
Frank
Mike Minett
Derek/Robert
Peter Jackson
Giles
Craig Smith
Lord Crumb, alien leader
Doug Wren
Alien leader’s voice
Peter Vere-jones

Director
Peter Jackson