Elijah van der Fluit is a writer for The Hollywood Insider based in California with aspirations to write and direct films for a professional career. In his spare time, Elijah enjoys watching and discussing movies of all genres as well as reading, hiking, spending time with family, and being one with the world. Elijah believes that art, whatever form it may take, has the ability to inspire and broaden people’s perspectives in a positive way and he hopes to use his work in film and writing to do so.
Mar 23, 2025
Table of Contents
A low budget horror splatter comedy with obscene amounts of blood. The most iconic fantasy story with adventure, emotion, and scale being adapted into a monumental trilogy which shaped an entire generation. Two contrasting filmmaking endeavors you would only find on a shelf next to each other when you find the Peter Jackson section at your local movie store (if you still have those near you). Film directors can be commended on various platforms including their talent, creativity, resourcefulness, and influence. While Peter Jackson holds all these qualities, his most unique trait is his diverse choice of genre spread out in his filmography. Not that most directors stick to one kind of film through their entire career (though some do), but they at least develop a cinematic style or choice of story that remains the same throughout their career. As seen through his 37 years of making feature films, Jackson is not guided by what kind of movie to make a career out of, but a love for the craft and its opportunities to entertain the audience as well as himself! So, let’s journey into Peter Jackson’s spiraling yet ultimately rewarding career in motion pictures.
A Resourceful and Creative Artist, Proven by Comedic Splatter Fests
From the late 1980s and into most of the 1990s, passionate filmmakers from places outside of Hollywood were taking it upon themselves to make movies with low budgets and lots of passion with just a few being Quentin Tarantino,Sam Raimi, and Robert Rodriguez. These and more would go on to make names for themselves and shape the landscape of modern Hollywood cinema. Among these rising creatives was Peter Jackson from New Zealand. Rather than trying to make a heart wrenching drama like most film students might try, Jackson’s first film embraces a gratuitous, over the top tone in‘Bad Taste’(1987), an independently produced horror comedy about a fictional New Zealand town overrun by aliens seeking to harvest humans for their intergalactic fast food chain only to be stopped by a team of elite soldiers in hilariously gruesome ways. Like other low budget productions of this time, there was barely any crew and no professional actors. Friends and family helped make the film on the weekends over the course of four years, ending with a miniscule budget of $25,000. Jackson would find resourceful ways to make his movie appear more professional including the construction of a homemade gimbal and crane all the props and costumes, with the most amusing fact being that he used his mum’s oven to bake the alien masks. An example of his quick thinking in low budget filmmaking is a comical torture scene between two characters who are both played by Jackson himself. Using clever shot choices and editing, the scene is not unlike other clever methods of cinematic trickery seen in his future work, including the forced perspective techniques to make the actors performing as Hobbits appear smaller in ‘Lord of the Rings’.
‘Bad Taste’ garnered enough attention and praise from festivals for Jackson to follow it up with ‘Meet the Feebles‘ (1989), a vulgar and juvenile parody of ‘The Muppets‘. The movie is made up of a series of vignettes among the characters of the Feebles show which consist of a P.T.S.D. tormented Frog, an abusive love triangle between a Hippo, walrus, and cat, and a washed up rabbit star who is diagnosed with an STD which all culminates in a bloody finale. Not only is this a far cry from the approachable ‘Muppets Show’, but also the grand sincerity of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy.
After ‘Feebles’ came ‘Dead Alive’(1992), also known as ‘Braindead’, which embraced Jackson’s campy and over the top horror style the most. With a simple but endearing love story as its anchor, ‘Dead Alive’gives us multiple treats of over the top, bloody encounters, in the same vein as ‘Evil Dead II’ (1987) only with more zombies and more blood. The film at one point held the most amount of fake blood used in any feature film for its finale that sees our protagonist cutting up a whole party of zombies with his lawnmower.
Jackson’s two follow ups to his splatter horror comedy years were ‘Heavenly Creatures’(1994) and ‘The Frighteners’ (1996), neither which were major successes but resemble more of the fantastical subject matter and visual effects Jackson would soon become famous for. ‘Heavenly Creatures’saw the creation of Weta Digital, responsible for the heavy amount visual effects in the film headed by passionate special effects artist Richard Taylor. The company would be instrumental in all aspects relating to props, costumes, effects, and designs for ‘The Lord of the Rings’. The overall lead up to Jackson’s venture into game changing fantasy epics shows very few signs that he would have such an endeavor ahead. At the very least, you would expect him to go the route that Sam Raimi did where he made high budget superhero movies with enough camp and quirkiness to allow him to retain his campy energy. In the case of Jackson, the choice to adapt one of the most respected stories in all of fantasy with unprecedented care would prove to be risky and not without troubles, yet also rewarding in every sense a director can hope his work can have.
This will be a significantly shorter section since not much new can be said about ‘The Lord of the Rings’and its success. Back to back releases, on location shooting in New Zealand, drama with the Weinsteins, constant danger of being shut down, and Viggo Mortensen breaking his toe are just a few of the stories that make up the complex but legendary production. The question to answer in this section is how did Peter Jackson, the creative mind behind offbeat horror comedies, manage to create what many consider to be one of the most decorated film series in all of pop culture and bring J.R.R. Tolkien’s story to the big screen? After all, why wasn’t a more prolific director with past success in big budget filmmaking able to take on the task? Most of Jackson’s previous films were not very successful at the box office and while ‘Heavenly Creatures’received a best screenplay nomination for him and co-writer/partner Fran Walsh, he had no major hits to his name.
If one reads through the history of the trilogy’s making or watches the behind the scenes of the three films, they would find a director who is not only creative, but also able to articulate visionary ideas, but also a great personality on set. He is able to connect with the cast and crew with his childlike wonder and demeanor while still able to competently lead a production of this scale. It also helps that he was surrounded by a cast and crew just invested and passionate about the story as he. From the two great co-writers to Richard Taylor and the whole Weta team who delicately shaped the props and effects, and the incredible Howard Shore masterfully composing music that fits seamlessly with the world. Not to mention many of the actors got extremely into their respective characters. On days when production was not going smoothly, everyone was still in good spirits and dedicated to the project. This family-like production crew and cast is thanks to Peter Jackson for bringing these many talents together and creating three movies that will be talked about and beloved for as many generations as it takes for the story to stay with us. To answer the question, Jackson did not need experience directing films similar to that of ‘The Lord of the Rings’. His passion, partners, and overall determination to see the product through were enough to create one of the biggest success stories in Hollywood.
After the trilogy’s unprecedented succes, Jackson directed a remake of ‘King Kong’ (2005). With the original being his favorite film, Jackson put the same amount of care and craft into the remake as he did with ‘The Lord of the Rings’, bringing many of the same team as the films to work on the film. Following ‘King Kong’was ‘The Lovely Bones’(2009), producing work on ‘District 9’ (2009) and ‘Mortal Engines’(2018), motion capture work on Steven Spielberg’s‘The Adventures of Tintin’(2011), and a return to Middle Earth with ‘The Hobbit’trilogy. Released in the same back to back fashion as The Lord of the Rings’,Jackson took over the project after Guillermo Del Toro left the project. By the time the final film in the trilogy was released in 2014, Jackson had brought two trilogies of highly beloved books to the big screen, which seems to have caused him to take a break from directing narrative features with his focus being primarily on documentaries.‘They Shall not Grow Old’(2018) and ‘The Beatles: Get Back (2021)’, are being two incredible examples of old footage restoration, but mark an era in Jackson’s career where he finds less interest in telling narrative stories and moreso in advances through technology. Not that he is completely retired, since as of September 2024, Jackson is lined up to direct a Tintin sequel. Like most legendary directors with accomplishments in storytelling or technology through the art of filmmaking, there comes a time to slow down, whether it’s due to aging or a creatively dry reservoir.
A lot can be learned from Peter Jackson’s career for aspiring filmmakers. His resourceful low budget techniques are certainly valuable. The lack of preference for what kind of movie to make while still going on to create masterpieces is a quality that provides reassurance. But perhaps most valuable is that Jackson came from New Zealand where no film industry existed prior to him starting his journey. Through hard work and unrelenting passion, Jackson built himself up from unlikely origins with splatter horror comedies and somehow brought to the world an a cinematic accomplishment among the likes of other giants of film history.Jackson’s career proves that success in moviemaking can come from anywhere, just as long as the person has a true dedication to the art form.
By Elijah van der Fluit
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Elijah van der Fluit is a writer for The Hollywood Insider based in California with aspirations to write and direct films for a professional career. In his spare time, Elijah enjoys watching and discussing movies of all genres as well as reading, hiking, spending time with family, and being one with the world. Elijah believes that art, whatever form it may take, has the ability to inspire and broaden people’s perspectives in a positive way and he hopes to use his work in film and writing to do so.
Elijah van der Fluit is a writer for The Hollywood Insider based in California with aspirations to write and direct films for a professional career. In his spare time, Elijah enjoys watching and discussing movies of all genres as well as reading, hiking, spending time with family, and being one with the world. Elijah believes that art, whatever form it may take, has the ability to inspire and broaden people’s perspectives in a positive way and he hopes to use his work in film and writing to do so.
Elijah van der Fluit is a writer for The Hollywood Insider based in California with aspirations to write and direct films for a professional career. In his spare time, Elijah enjoys watching and discussing movies of all genres as well as reading, hiking, spending time with family, and being one with the world. Elijah believes that art, whatever form it may take, has the ability to inspire and broaden people’s perspectives in a positive way and he hopes to use his work in film and writing to do so.
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