Bad Taste

Peter Jackson's low-budget, high-gore splatter sci-fi debut, in which aliens descend on a small New Zealand town to turn its inhabitants into fast food. Confronting them is a small team of gun-toting Kiwi government agents, including the determined Derek (one of two roles Jackson played as well as directing, shooting, producing, co-writing and co-editing the film).

When the population of small town Kaihoro disappears, the Astro Investigation and Defence Service (AIDS) sends in agents Derek (Jackson), Frank (Mike Minett), Ozzy (Terry Potter), and Barry (Pete O'Herne). Kitted out with the full resources available to a 1980s government department, the boys encounter slow-witted but violent aliens and Derek loses his mind a bit after a cliff-top confrontation. While the other three infiltrate the alien base and find out about their sickening practices first hand, a deranged Derek does his best to pull himself together, grabs a chainsaw and heads off to teach the intergalactic bastards a lesson - alongside the surprisingly effective firepower of his AIDS cohorts.

Shot largely on weekends over four years, towards the end of its protracted shoot Bad Taste got a boost in budget from around $20,000 to $260,000 thanks to the NZ Film Commission, allowing the film to be completed. 

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