Ever since seeing the Lord Of The Rings movies about a decade ago, I've become a huge Peter Jackson fan. I think he's a fantastic director and a wonderful moviemaker, and I made it a priory to see all the movies he's made. Now, with the exception of a made-for-TV movie that only aired in New Zealand, I have seen every movie Peter Jackson directed. So let's go over them, one at a time, from his first film to his latest one.
Bad Taste (1987): In his first full-length film, Jackson tells the story of aliens who invade New Zealand to harvest humans as food, only to come up against a group of men that try to defend the planet. Very low-budget and very campy with tons of ridiculous over-the-top violence and gore, but incredibly entertaining. It can be classified as a black comedy with an absurd sense of humor that is reminiscent of the British comedy style. Also present are directorial trademarks such as sweeping wide shots as well as fast-moving, handheld POV shots. If you like splatter comedies, this is a movie for you.
Meet The Feebles (1989): Think The Muppets, only much darker and perverse. In this movie, all the characters are Muppet-like puppets and are a part of a musical variety act. Another black comedy, there are several topics that are brought up throughout the movie, including sex, sexual perversion, drug dealing and use, the true nature of show business, and violence. On one level, the film is just a dark version of The Muppets, but on another level it critiques the ugliness of humanity, with the depiction of people as animals the most obvious allusion. Definitely not for kids.
Braindead (also known as Dead Alive) (1992): The very definition of splatter comedy. It's a zombie splatstick horror comedy with ludicrous amounts of blood and gore, but it's so campy, low-budget, and unrealistic that it's much funnier than it is gross or disturbing. After a monkey is brought back from Skull Island, it bites the protagonist's mother, turning her into a zombie and triggering a zombie outbreak that our hero Lionel must fight in order to protect his town. It's similar to Evil Dead, only set in (you guessed it) New Zealand and with a lot more zombies and gore (and sadly no Bruce Campbell). One of my favorite Peter Jackson films.
Heavenly Creatures (1994): In his first drama, Jackson does a great job telling the true story of a murder that happened in New Zealand by two teenage girls. The film follows these two girls as they develop a close friendship that eventually begins to worry their parents. The girls cope by creating a fantasy world that they delve further and further into, only making their relationships with their parents worse, until they eventually hatch a murder plot against their parents. It's well acted, well written, well directed and a big departure from the low budget, campy style of the previous films. The movie also features Kate Winslet in her first movie role.
The Frighteners (1996): Another horror comedy, only this time with Michael J. Fox and without the splatstick violence and gore. I think it's one of Jackson's weaker movies, though he's made so many good ones that it's not a great insult. I also only recently realized that it's pretty similar to Ghostbusters, as the movie follows Michael J. Fox as a professional ghosthunter who can see ghosts, only in this movie he has to take on a murderous ghost who is back on the rampage. While it's well made and Michael J. Fox does a great job, it's only ok. Fans of Jeffrey Combs (of Reanimator fame) might enjoy seeing him as one of the movie's antagonists, and R. Lee Ermey also has a cameo as a ghost drill sergeant.
The Lord Of The Rings (2001, 2002, 2003): What is there to say that hasn't already been said about these movies? They should really count as one film in three parts, considering they were filmed at once and put together over a multiyear process. LOTR highlights how well Peter Jackson can tell a story as well as his attention to detail and precision when it comes to putting out a high quality product. Yes, it's a bit dense and not for everyone, but it's a remarkable adaptation and flawless in almost every respect.
King Kong (2005): Jackson had big shoes to fill after completing LOTR, so naturally he decided to tackle King Kong, remaking a movie about a giant ape on a hidden island that is brought back to New York City. Parts of this movie worked, but others didn't. Jack Black's performance was a pleasant surprise, as he stayed serious and avoided the schtick he's known for. But at three hours in length, it was a little too long and indulged CGI a bit too much. Clearly Jackson is devoted to his craft, but King Kong just didn't meet the expectations that LOTR established. In his defense, it's a bit unfair to expect him to outdo LOTR.
The Lovely Bones (2009): This is another favorite of mine. When 14-year-old Susie is murdered by her neighbor, she watches over her family from Heaven as they try to move on from the tragedy while also searching for the killer. As you can imagine, it's not a very happy film, but I found it quite thought-provoking. It's well-acted and once again Jackson does a good job as a director and story teller. There is an emotional core to the movie that Jackson taps into, which is something that is not always present in Jackson's movies, but he does a good job of harnessing that emotion. I also liked how the film depicted the afterlife as a non-denominational, unspecific Heaven that avoids religious nonsense.
What's up next for Peter Jackson? He's supposed to film The Hobbit as a two-part project, and as a huge LOTR fan, I can't wait to see it.
Until next time, Orange Hat Guy
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