Peter Jackson Films 1987 - 1995
Braindead, Bad Taste, Heavenly Creatures, and More...
A complete and extensive list of all the films Peter Jackson has made, from 1987 - 1995, broken down by year of release and including short synopses.
Peter Jackson has had a meteoric rise to fame, but prior to his career defining Lord of the Rings trilogy the director had to really graft. His early work was extremely low budget, and frequently relied on friends and family to help out in front of and behind camera. (More recent work is examined in the tie in article Peter Jackson Films 1996 - Present). Characterized by gore, home-made costumes/special effects, and cut through with a gallows humor that frequently veered into juvenile silliness, the early films ticked all the right boxes to gain notoriety as instant cult classics.
Filmography 1987 - 1995
Bad Taste (1987)
This film started life as a 10 minute short called Roast of the Day, but grew into Jackson's first full length feature film. The story concerns visiting aliens who have come to earth in order to harvest human flesh for their intergalactic fast food restaurant. Financial constraints meant that this movie was filmed over 4 years, mostly at weekends, with friends dressed up as the aliens and Jackson himself taking on two roles in the film.
Meet The Feebles (1989)
A film populated by muppets style puppets with foul mouths, Meet the Feebles has drugs, sex, guns and gore. It's a disgustingly humorous, twisted comedy of cultish proportions.
Braindead (1992)
This low budget (as opposed to no budget) zombie flick has obvious roots in Dawn of the Dead, a self professed favorite of Peter Jackson. With Braindead, the killer zombie is lead character Lionel's Mum, which creates major problems for him and his new girlfriend. Much splatter-based humor ensues.
Heavenly Creatures (1994)
Jackson assumed a very different approach with this highly revered film. Based on the true story of two young girls who committed a murder, Jackson's handling of the plot turns Heavenly Creatures into something much more hauntingly atmospheric than a normal crime story. He weaves a fantastical world of imagination around the girls, drawing the audience directly into their warped minds. Heavenly Creatures also boasts amazing performances from its young leads, Melanie Lynskey and Kate Winslett (in her debut feature film).
Forgotten Silver (1995)
This fake documentary caused controversy when it was first broadcast on TV in New Zealand, fooling many people with its claims to have discovered long lost films of an overlooked Kiwi director extraordinaire, Colin McKenzie. It was actually Peter Jackson himself who created the supposedly newly discovered archive footage, whereas co-director Costa Botes filmed the documentary part of the story. Fake interviews with notable industry bigwigs such as Leonard Maltin and Harvey Weinstein added further to the desired effect. Despite dropping subtle hints that in retrospect identify the film as a fake, the tale was imbued with such a sincere, heartfelt sentiment that it remains beautifully moving – even now the truth is known.
This filmography continues in the article Peter Jackson Films 1996 – Present.
Further information about Peter Jackson's incredible career, including family background and forthcoming projects can be found in the two part biography articles Peter Jackson - The Early Years and Peter Jackson - New and Recent Films.
Sources: IMDb, Wikipedia, tbhl.theonering.net
