10 Weird Sci-Fi Horror Movies Of The 80s
4. Bad Taste
In Peter Jackson's directorial debut, a small military unit is sent into a town in New Zealand after alien invaders harvest the locals for an intergalactic food chain.
Straight off the bat, it's obvious Bad Taste is going to be as ridiculous. And yet, the zaniness exceeds all expectations. One character called Derek (played by The Lord of the Rings director himself) suffers a nasty head injury, leaving him with a hole in his skull. Despite the fact chunks of his brain keep leaking out, he continues to fight the alien forces.
There are so many ludicrous images like this that are sure to be seared in viewers' minds forever. Derek wearing an alien's skin as a disguise while inside a house in space. One of the heroes guzzling extra-terrestrial vomit. Peter Jackson's character uttering the non-sensical line, "I am a Derek... and Dereks don't run."
Although the effects are cheap as hell, Bad Taste gets away with it, since every aspect of the filmmaking is astoundingly creative (and gross).
As nutty as Bad Taste is, it's more surreal when you remind yourself the creator went on to helm arguably the most celebrated trilogy in cinematic history.