Bad Taste

Bad Taste is a 1987 New Zealand film that blends science fiction, action, comedy, and horror. It was written, produced, filmed, directed, and co-starred in by Peter Jackson, marking his first feature film. Made independently on a tight budget, it later gained a cult following. The story involves aliens invading the fictional New Zealand village of Kaihoro to harvest humans for their intergalactic fast food chain, who then battle a four-man paramilitary team.

The plot begins when the entire population of Kaihoro vanishes, prompting the Astro Investigation and Defence Service (AIDS) to send agents Derek, Frank, Ozzy, and Barry. They discover the town overrun by man-eating aliens disguised as humans in blue shirts. Barry kills one alien but is attacked. After Derek alerts Frank and Ozzy, he tortures a captured alien named Robert. Robert’s screams draw more aliens; Derek kills them but is attacked by Robert and thrown out a window, landing on rocks and presumed dead. Government worker Giles, who is conducting a census, passes through, escapes Robert, but is captured by another alien and wakes up in a vegetable-filled tub, about to be cooked. Derek wakes in a seagull’s nest with a hole in his head, using a hat to contain his brains.

That night, Frank, Ozzy, and Barry infiltrate the aliens’ house, find bloody boxes with corpses, kill an alien, and Frank disguises himself in its shirt. He learns the victims are harvested for food and hears about Giles. Frank is forced to eat Robert’s vomit during an alien dinner, then escapes to inform the others. They rescue Giles while the aliens sleep. At sunrise, a gunfight erupts. Derek reappears, joins the fight, grabs a chainsaw from his car, and heads for the aliens’ house. The alien leader, Lord Crumb, and his followers morph into true form and pursue. Ozzy uses a rocket launcher to blow up Frank’s car, which is overrun by aliens. Frank and Ozzy hunt Lord Crumb, killing many aliens. Derek kills an alien with his chainsaw and replaces his missing brain parts with its brain. An alien about to shoot Frank and Ozzy is beheaded by Derek, who has lost his mind. After escaping the house, Lord Crumb shoots Ozzy in the leg; Frank fires a rocket launcher but misses. Lord Crumb knocks out Derek, and the house transforms into a spaceship, blasting into space.