Bad Taste – 1987, New Zealand, 90m. Director: Peter Jackson.
Curse of the Screaming Dead – 1982, US, 92m. Director: Tony Malanowski.
Lady, Stay Dead – 1981, Australia, 95m. Director: Terry Bourke.
BAD TASTE (1987) Aliens have invaded Earth—well, New Zealand, anyway—and are killing humans in order to feast on mankind’s flesh. A small band of survivalists try to stop the invasion with an arsenal of revolvers, machetes, and even a semi-automatic used to severe the arm of an alien before the amateur commando falls from a cliff and splatters the rocks below. Another extra-terrestrial (disguised as a man) gets the top half of his head sliced off—the alien’s friend, also in human form (and played by director Peter Jackson), is later seen eating from the dead alien’s open cranium as if it were a bowl of spaghetti. A victim is knocked unconscious and wakes up marinating in a vat of vegetables and spices like a roast suckling pig. In the movie’s grossest scene, a houseful of aliens feast from a communal bowl of E.T. vomit as their leader, Crumb (Dean Lawrie), informs them of a plan to use human meat for his outer space restaurant called Crumb’s Crunchy Delight. Jackson would eventually become the Oscar-winning director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-03), as well as one of the most flamboyant, and ingenious, filmmakers of modern time. But, for the more reserved gorehound, Bad Taste is a marvel of independent, black-humored splatter and shouldn’t be missed. B+
THE CURSE OF THE SCREAMING DEAD (1982) Filmmaker Tony Malanowski wrote, produced, and directed this backwoods homage to George A. Romero on a shoestring as Curse of the Cannibal Confederates in his home state of Maryland. While one can admire Malanowski’s passion and admiration for Night of the Living Dead (which this film is ripping off), it’s also quite obvious the man is no Romero. A group of friends on a hunting expedition disturb the graves of Confederate soldiers who inexplicably come back to life as zombies. Acting and dialogue are all bottom-of-the-barrel, as is the zombie makeup, most of which looks like papier-mâché masks and cheap pyrotechnical gags consisting of exploding styrofoam heads. Even the splatter is below average with the only gory scene involving the evisceration of a victim. But that’s not even the most disheartening part of Curse of the Screaming Dead—it’s actually a remake of sorts of Malanowski’s Night of Horror, which premiered the year before to little-to-no attention. AKA: Curse of the Cannibal Confederates. F
LADY, STAY DEAD (1981) Amateur gardener and all around psycho Chard Hayworth stalks and kills singer Deborah Coulls at her isolated beachfront property. Hayworth’s activities are interrupted by the untimely arrival of Coulls’s sister (Louise Howitt) who he traps and terrorizes in the house. Expecting an easy kill, Hayworth is thrown off guard when Howitt turns into a female Rambo and fights back. Good acting and some surprises highlight an otherwise sluggishly paced Australian thriller that’s never quite as thrilling as you want it to be. C