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Anteater · 10-09-2013, 10:47 AM

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Yes, ladies and gents...time for a new movie review. Feast your eyes upon this early comedic masterpiece by famed director Peter Jackson....or be square!

MEET THE FEEBLES (1989)

One finds it hard to look into New Zealand cinema over the last twenty years or so without running into Peter Jackson atleast once or twice. His iconic adaptations of Tolkien's fantasy universe aside, every film this guy has done stand out from the crowd in some way. He also has quite a knack for horror-comedic panache, a trait he shares with American director Sam Raimi. Available evidence of this include his debut Bad Taste and 1992's Braindead, both of which I highly recommend to the splatter/horror aficionados among ye. They're a lot of fun!

Still, if there's one film in Jackson's filmography that qualifies as a bonafide cult classic "tabasco laced-enchillada-up-your-nearest-orifice" sort of experience, it would be this hilarious and demented Muppets-parody called Meet The Feebles. Funded by a bunch of loony Japanese investors and subsequently released back in 1989, audiences didn't take to it at all, resulting in an abysmal box office performance. However, in retrospect...they just didn't know what they were missing. Jackson excels at savage, black-hearted humor, and this film is a loaded gun full of laughs that either enchants you or makes you wonder if you ingested LSD on accident prior to viewing. Regardless...this is easily one of the funniest movies ever made in any genre or era bar-none, whatever your preferences.

Like Tough Guys Don't Dance, this film is something you need to see to really believe it. The premise of a theatre troop of Muppet knockoffs preparing for a big television debut doesn't seem like much at first, but Jackson's comedic insanity grabs you before you even realize you've stepped into his world. From the gut-busting dialogue to parades of lulzy absurdities that just keep on coming, there's a relentless sort of glee chortling beneath the plot and characters here that is damn near infectious, and I mean that in the best possible way.

Every director has a period of time in their careers where they're willing to do anything and craft films that seem almost schizophrenic in comparison to movies they do later on which win them critical and commercial acclaim. Although some may disagree, I still believe Jackson was firing on all his cylinders best from the late 80's through the mid 90's, and Meet The Feebles captures this maniacal creativity at an all time peak.

So watch the trailer below, grab a bag of jellybeans, and light up a blunt. You're going to need 'em, but don't worry: you'll have a helluva good time!