After wiping out a few small towns, the aliens must contend with a team of government assassins, headed by Pete O'Herne. As the plot rolls on, O'Herne's crew is decimated in as gory a manner as possible, and innocent bystander Craig Smith ends up being marinated (and a darned good job it is). Turns out that the space folks are running on a timetable; they've got to return to their home planet with their human-hash cargo before a rival franchise puts them out of business.

Could a title be any more direct? New Zealand maverick Peter Jackson made a splash (well, more of a splatter) with this film debut, a slapstick gross-out comedy about an alien fast-food franchise that turns a small town into a cheap source of meat. All that stands in the extraterrestrials' way is the Alien Investigation Defense Service (yes, it's a tasteless gag), a bunch of would-be Rambos who take on the aliens with axes, rocket launchers, and chainsaws. Jackson mines vomit jokes, dismembered corpses, and brain-spattering gore for over-the-top laughs and succeeds with inventive low-budget effects, crack timing, and sheer exuberance. Not bad for a film made on weekends with homemade props and a bunch of energetic mates.