Appropriately enough, Peter Jackson was born on Halloween 1961 in New Zealand. His rise to splatter-fame within the world of movies got off to an early start as he became the proud owner of a super-8 camera at the age of eight. It would take some years before his first feature film, Bad Taste, hit the screens. It became an instant cult-classic, it was screened in Cannes and has received The Gore Award at the 17th Paris Festival of Fantasy and Sci-Fi. For quite some time Peter Jackson was quite unknown to most regular moviegoers. His second feature, Meet The Feebles, a raw parody of The Muppet Show did not last long in the movie theatres. When at last Braindead barged into our lives did Peter Jackson get some real attention. In Sweden some of the most violent and explicit scenes were shown on the news and two camps were soon formed ­p; the ones who hated and the ones who loved the film. Astonishing enough, all of Peter Jackson's productions can be rented uncut in Sweden. Obviously the Swedish censors managed to grasp the strong concept of humour that Peter Jackson uses as a spice to the graphic splatter.

Q: How did you end up in the film business?
PJ: I grew up watching the Thunderbirds on the TV when I was a kid. It was fascinating to see how you could create whole new worlds with the help of puppets and stop-motion technique. I got a super-8 camera when I was about eight years old. I started building models and making short films on my own.

Q: Except for The Thunderbirds, who are your biggest influences?
PJ: Definitely Monty Python, the 1933 version of King Kong and everything by Buster Keaton. Q: When did you start to work on Bad Taste?
PJ: I got a 16-millimeter camera when I was 20 years old, that was the start of it. The actual filming started for real in 1983. I was working at a newspaper at the time so we had to work weekends and didnīt finish until 1987.

Q: It must have taken quite some time and effort to create all the special effects?
PJ: Yeah, I worked all day, came home in the evening and sat up half the night to get all the props ready for the weekend.

Q: A lot of splatter fans anticipated a Bad Taste II after the immediate success of the first film.
PJ: Itīll come. Iīve thought about it for a long time but there have always been other projects in the way. I never make up any certain plans for the future. I take each day as it comes. A lot of people speculated in whether Iīve left the business of splatter films since Iīve done Heavenly Creatures, but I never ever said that Iīll stop making splatter films.

Q: If you decide to make Bad Taste II, will you return as Derek?
PJ: I suppose Iīll have to. Actually the character was created in a rather late stage of making the film which explains why he is on his own in so many scenes. Besides, it was nice to have at least one person who turned up for shooting every weekend. I suppose my mates were pretty tired of the whole thing after a couple of years...

Q: How do you feel about Bad Taste today?
PJ: I havenīt seen it in a couple of years, but Iīm happy with it, yeah. It started out as a film for home-use. When we started out I would never have thought that The New Zealand Film Commission would back me up economically, I never thought it would be shown in Cannes and I definitely didnīt think that it would be sold to 25 countries. So naturally Iīm pleased with it.

Q: Your next movie was Meet The Feebles. Is it a parody of The Muppet Show?
PJ: No, actually not. Iīd like to view it as a satire of human behaviour. Imagine a scenario where the Muppets just finished a TV-show. What would happen if they went backstage and behaved like normal people, smoking, drinking and having sex? Thatīs what we were aiming at. That film was also meant to be a small project, but then a Japanese company wanted to back us up and the New Zealand Film Commission gave us the rest of the money we needed so it became a feature film.

Q: When was the concept of Braindead conceived?
PJ: We began writing the script back in 1986 and it kept developing over the years. I always wanted to make a zombie film, especially after Iīd seen Sam Raimis Evil Dead and Stuart Gordons Re-animator.

Q: A lot of critics say that Braindead is nothing but a sick, violent movie and definitely not funny.
PJ: When people use the word violent I think of pain and suffering and you canīt apply those terms to Braindead. The dangerous movies are the ones without blood, like Texas Chainsaw Massacre where the violence is on a psychological level, and karate films that make young people believe that you solve your problems by kicking someone. I donīt think anyone will go after the neighbour with a lawn mower after watching Braindead.

Q: But is it actually funny watching 50 zombies get mutilated in 25 minutes?
PJ: There are always those who say that youīre not supposed to laugh at people getting killed on the screen. They have to understand that this is a comedy, a relevant sort of comedy. When the bloodshed gets this exaggerated itīs just like Monty Python, only worse. Splatter films are a very specific genre that a lot of people like. To those who donīt I just want to say: Stay away from the films or shut up! Thatīs the good thing about movies: Thereīs something for everyone.

Q: You must have had a rough time shooting the final half hour of Braindead?
PJ: Yeah, we had two film teams working simultaneously for six weeks. One team in the kitchen and the other in the hallway. I kept running back and forth to see what they were up to. It was hard work, but I never got any vacation. We went straight into the cutting room to get the film ready for Cannes. Then I had to start work on Heavenly Creatures.

Q: Would you ever consider going to Hollywood?
PJ: I can see the point in doing a film in Hollywood, just for the experience. The advantage of working in New Zealand is the artistic freedom, even if it comes from the cost of having low budgets. But freedom is worth more than the money in Hollywood.

Q: How do you feel about censorship?
PJ: I think itīs good. I havenīt had any problems with it myself. As far as I know Braindead was released uncut everywhere. But censorship is good as it keeps control over pornographic films that contain violence or children, those things must be stopped. Iīm mostly grateful that the censors seem to understand that my films are comedies. But itīs a pity that censorship works differently in different countries. There ought to be a world-censor.

Q: What are your favourite movies?
PJ: As I said before, The original King Kong, Buster Keaton, James Bond, Jurassic Park and most of James Cameron's work. Iīve got a rather broad taste, I just like good movies. But I have no favourite directors. Scorcese made a couple of great films, while others stink. I think that goes for most directors.

Q: Finally, what purpose do your films serve?
PJ: To make people laugh. The more the better!

Interview by Jorgen Broms