What was Peter Jackson’s first feature film as a director?

Bad Taste was Peter Jackson’s first feature film as a director.

The 1987 science-fiction splatter comedy began as a low-budget project made with friends in Jackson’s native New Zealand. Its story follows an alien invasion in which extraterrestrials arrive on Earth to harvest humans as food. Jackson directed, wrote, produced, edited, and acted in the film, demonstrating the hands-on approach that marked his early career.

Production took several years because the filmmakers worked largely in their spare time and built many effects themselves. The film’s deliberately extreme gore and absurd humor established Jackson as an inventive cult filmmaker before he moved into larger productions.

Bad Taste is sometimes confused with Meet the Feebles or Braindead, which are also early Jackson features. Meet the Feebles followed in 1989, while Braindead, released in some markets as Dead Alive, arrived in 1992. Jackson’s later international breakthrough came with Heavenly Creatures in 1994.