The Geek Address

Bad Taste is a considerable achievement considering the constraints under which it was made: a bunch of friends, led by the ever innovative Bolex wielding Peter Jackson, worked on the film every weekend over four years. Although they secured a little funding from the New Zealand Film Commission late in the piece, the film was largely financed by its young director. As one of the stars Mike Minett recalls: “Because of the expense and also Pete was paying out of his own pocket, it took about three years. We mainly filmed in the weekends, as that was the only time we could all be together. I think Pete filmed little bits here and there at night during the week at home. Because it took so long, it sort of became routine, so it was never that exciting. It was part of our lives…like going to work. We all had wives and girlfriends and kids (except Pete at that time, he was on a mission) so the Sundays we filmed was sort of like a bit of hassle cause we were away from our home life. But we stuck with it and it was good to actually finish the film. Although, now I kinda miss those good old days of madness.” After four years of madness, the bunch of intrepid kiwis produced one of the most celebrated cult films of all time.

The film features a storyline packed with gratuitous gore. A garrison of vomit guzzling aliens descend on a small New Zealand town to harvest its inhabitants for intergalactic hamburger meat. They encounter tough opposition: a highly secret gang of government agents known as ‘The Boys’, At the beginning of the film, a mysterious government official receives word of the invasion and declares, “This is a job for REAL men.”

Bad Taste is another movie that was banned in Queensland - usually a good sign that you’re in for some quality gore. Early in the film, Derek - one of ‘The Boys’ - plummets from a cliff and lands on his head. Miraculously avoiding death, he spends the rest of the film trying to keep the gaping hole in his skull closed and fending off seagulls. What the crew lacked in funding, they made up for in ingenuity. As Peter Jackson observed: “To get the seagulls to peck at Derek’s brains we scattered bread on the rocks. Generally you think of the easiest, most basic way of doing it. There’s never any magic in it. The brains were sheep’s brains from a butcher. I’ve never eaten them in my life. I  couldn’t imagine anything more horrible. They were horrible to handle but they  were easy to use. Anything you can buy off the shelf and don’t have to make yourself is good when you have so much to do.”

There are a number of memorable scenes in the film. The exploding sheep is worth the price of admission alone and the climactic battle between Derek and Lord Crumb is probably one of the most disgusting things you’ll ever see.

If you’re not convinced that Peter Jackson is a genius, watch Bad Taste. 

Best line: I’m a Derek and Dereks don’t run.