FBI Donut - The Frighteners (1996)
The Moment: A tiny little sight gag but a hilarious little character moment that is typically Jackson.
Agent Dammers (Jeffrey Combs) gets into his car… and puts a blow-up donut on his seat before he sits down…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "Jeffrey's performance captures Dammers' eccentricities in a powerful fashion. Suffice to say, you would think about breaking the law if you knew the consequence was having Dammers in your face."
Help Us - Heavenly Creatures (1994)
The Moment: A bold, bloody opening to Jackson's first non-splatter flick is a, um, claret-splattered prologue in which Paul (Melanie Lynskey) and Juliet (Kate Winslet) run screaming through the woods.
When they emerge, they're hysterical and terrifying. We don't find out what really happened until the film's disturbing end…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "What interested us was to show these two 15-year-old girls with no other agenda than to be as accurate as we possibly could, and to somehow imagine what was going on inside their minds."
Bite Stuff - Braindead (1992)
The Moment: A zoo official who wants to take a rat monkey out of Skull Island ends up bitten by the little critter, which prompts his comrades to cut off the appendages that have been scratched and/or bitten by the pest.
Which, sadly, includes his head…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "Like Bad Taste , it’s a splatter film that non splatter fans can go see. The humour dilutes the gore to a point that is acceptable, but still there for the fans."
Radagast - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
The Moment : Of all the additions to Jackson's The Hobbit, perhaps the most crowd-pleasing was that of Radagast The Brown, the wizard who has a rabbit-drawn sled.
We meet him fretting over the state of the forest, where he reveals a birds nest in his hair (under his hat, naturally), and that he can heal hedgehogs with a good spell and a shiny crystal.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "I’m there to tell another story, but the characters within the story, as well as the story itself… since you’re dealing with thirteen dwarves, it gives you a different tone and a different feel in places than Lord Of The Rings did."
Get Rid Of It - Bad Taste (1987)
The Moment: The guys attempt to keep an alien quiet when they infiltrate the ET base (a lovely wood-panel house, naturally), but end up pulling its head and spine clean off.
What to do with the head? Well, boot it through the window of course.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "When I started doing Bad Taste , it was only a short film. In my mind the enormity of the project was restricted to 10 or 15 minutes, so we started shooting and it just sort of. . . spread."
Purgatory - The Lovely Bones (2009)
The Moment: Susie (Saoirse Ronan) embraces purgatory, which transforms into an ever-changing landscape around her.
She imagines herself as a pop star and is pulled along snowy mountains on a dog sled. Meanwhile, a giant rose blooms under the icy surface of a frozen lake…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "Everything is a metaphor in a dream world; everything means something else. But it’s not a literal thing, so we used image systems that the audience is not really supposed to obviously understand all of this."
Child Birth - Heavenly Creatures (1994)
The Moment: A hilarious bit of make-believe as Paul (Melanie Lynskey) plays the husband of Juliet (Kate Winslet), who's just given birth to a cushion.
"I shall call him Diello!" vows Juliet. Everybody did this when they were kids, right?
Peter Jackson Speaks: "Pauline's diaries are very, very funny. We ended up using a lot of the more dramatic material in the movie, in the scenes in which she's talking about murder and suicide, but unfortunately we had to leave a lot of the funny things out.
"She records hilarious conversations that she and Juliet had, and it's all very witty."
At Home With Frank - The Frighteners (1996)
The Moment: "You better start pulling your weight, guys, or you're going back to the cemetery!" We get a glimpse at how psychic Frank (Michael J. Fox) lives, here shacking up with not one but THREE ghosts - plus a ghost dog.
Best bit is when resident cowboy The Judge comes in, guns blazing, because the dog's pinched his jawbone…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "Michael has a really interesting edge to him in this role that I find fascinating to watch. I think audiences are going to be surprised. He has been a collaborator during the whole creative process, from start to finish."
Your Mother's Dead - Braindead (1992)
The Moment: Vera (Elizabeth Moody) takes a significant turn for the worse when, after eating almost an entire dog, the monkey bite kills her.
That's not the end of her, though - Vera soon pops back to life as a zombie and promptly rips off the head of her nurse before going for Lionel (Timothy Balme), who manages to lock her in the basement…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "The script for Braindead was set in the modern day up until the very last minute.
"I was worried going into the movie that the hero of the film, named Lionel, acted in a fairly nerdy kind of way - he doesn't socialise, he takes care of his mother - and yet we wanted him to be the empathetic character in the film.
"I was afraid that if it was set in the modern day, the audience - especially a young audience - would really jeer at this character, and not be able to relate to him at all."
Cliff Edge - Bad Taste (1987)
The Moment: "Eat lead, suckah!" Derek (Peter Jackson) is being chased by a couple of blue-shirt-wearing aliens, which leads to him dangling off the edge of a cliff.
Luckily, just when he needs it the most, Derek recovers his machine gun, bellows a war cry and lets the aliens have it. Brain matter everywhere… Including, after a fall, Derek's…
Peter Jackson Speaks: " Bad Taste was really like a great film school. In New Zealand we don’t have film schools, though I wouldn’t have wanted to go to one even if we did, because I’d just get impatient.
"I don’t want to sit there being told what to do, I’d rather just go out and do it, and make my own mistakes."
Gandalf Returns - LOTR: The Two Towers (2002)
The Moment: Legolas (Orlando Bloom) et al hear talk of the White Wizard and naturally assume it's Saruman (Christopher Lee) on the rampage.
But when they confront the wizard in the forest, they're blinded by a white light that reveals the White Wizard to be none other than a back-from-the-dead Gandalf (Ian McKellen). Hurrah!
Peter Jackson Speaks: "There's not a lot of places in the movies where Gandalf's magic is really that visually used - it's often more a question of a power than a sort of pyrotechnic display."
Sand Castle - Heavenly Creatures (1994)
The Moment: Paul (Melanie Lynskey) and Juliet (Kate Winslet) make a sand castle at the beach, and Jackson's camera travels right inside as they tell a story about the people who live there.
Naturally, this being Paul and Juliet, the interior is the most ridiculously/beautifully crafted ever.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "Act one is when the two girls meet and become friends, and the turning point is at the end of the first act when you realise that they are now bonded."
Rational Explanation - The Frighteners (1996)
The Moment: Lucy (Trini Alvardo) and her husband Ray (Peter Dobson) receive a visit from some unwanted ghosts. The bed levitates, a creepy doll comes to life, and everything in the kitchens starts flying around.
In one of the film's best-timed funnies, Ray insists "There's gotta be some kind of rational explanation for all this" as he stands in the kitchen with plates whizzing past his head.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "Trini was involved in some very intense and physical sequences and she was quite proud of showing me her bruises from the previous day's work."
Goblin King - The Hobbit: There And Back Again (2012)
The Moment: "What are you gonna do now, wizard?" Gandalf (Ian McKellen) goes up against the Goblin King himself and promptly pokes him in the eye before slicing open his gut.
"That'll do it," admits the Goblin King, collapsing in a heap.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "It was interesting trying to cast that role because the character was very uncouth, with very bad personal hygiene issues and his vocabulary is very small. So obviously Australia seemed the best place to go first.
"And of all the Australians available to us, Barry Humphries was ideal."
At The Park - Braindead (1992)
The Moment: Lionel decides to take the newborn zombaby to the park for a little R&R (no, it doesn't make any sense and no, we don't mind).
But the zombaby just wants to eat other kids, breaking free from the pram and rampaging through the park. Cue Lionel beating it up and stuffing it in his bag as horrified mothers look on.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "I like comedy too much, to the point that I could never make a film that took itself that seriously. Fundamentally, I just want to entertain people, so I usually trade in cheap laughs for true horror."
Damn Fine Custard - Braindead (1992)
The Moment: Infected after being bitten by the rat monkey, Vera (Elizabeth Moody) insists on entertaining the head of the WLWL.
Except she's not at her best (in fact, she's pretty much falling apart), and when her oozing sores burst bloody goo into the custard, the WLWL's husband obliviously gobbles it up… Meanwhile, Vera gets an earful.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "I like movies to be entertaining, to be a little larger than life. With something like Braindead , obviously there's no problem doing that."
Museum Madness - The Frighteners (1996)
The Moment: A patron dies at a museum, and naturally Frank (Michael J. Fox) is there to witness it. But the Grim Reaper's not done, attacking the editor of the local newspaper.
While Frank tries to save her, everybody thinks he's actually attacking her. Meanwhile, Frank's ghost buddies bring a mummy to life…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "It's a ghost story that takes so many twists and turns you begin to believe anything is possible. And everything is scary…"
People Die - Heavenly Creatures (1994)
The Moment: Paul (Melanie Lynskey) reveals she has a plan to stop her mother from separating her from Juliet (Kate Winslet).
While taking a moody blue bath together, Paul resolves to stage "some kind of accident" to get rid of her mother. Chillingly, she adds: "People die every day…"
Peter Jackson Speaks: "[ Wendy, the real Paul's sister ] thought that the portrayal of the tension between Pauline and her mother was very accurate. It was nice, because Wendy is one of the few key people alive who refuses to talk about it.
"She absolutely refuses to have anything to do with journalists, with anyone, so it was actually very sweet of her to get the message back to us. It was quite amazing to us that she had even gone to see this film. She thought it was good, but incredibly difficult to watch."
Saving Theoden - LOTR: The Two Towers (2002)
The Moment: Theoden (Bernard Hill) has fallen under the control of Saruman (Christopher Lee), whose evil lacky Wormtongue (Brad Dourif) is now pulling the strings in Rohan.
Enter Gandalf (Ian McKellen), who forces Saruman to give Theoden up in spectacular style. As Saruman leaves his body, Theoden's ravaged face slowly softens and loses its haunted grimace.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "The middle chapter of a trilogy, I think, has certain demands that I the think, in trilogies, happen in the middle episode.
"And that's that the complications arise, and that the forces of darkness kind of are closing in, and the vice is a tightening on our heroes, and it's just getting harder. The quest has begun in the first film, but now it's tough."
Heaven & Hell - The Frighteners (1996)
The Moment: Evil baddies Patty (Dee Wallace) and Johnny Charles (Jake Busey) are literally dragged to Hell by a gross hellworm.
Meanwhile, Frank (Michael J. Fox) discovers what Heaven looks like. Hint: it's really shiny.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "There isn't a long list of actors that can play comedy and drama. This character is grappling with his demons, and I didn't want to lose the audience's sympathy when he does the dramatic stuff.
"I wanted someone who was likable, and Michael was one of those actors who had an inherent likability."
Killer Patty - The Frighteners (1996)
The Moment: Turns out that Patty (Dee Wallace) isn't so innocent after all. Revealed to be a psychotic killer, she grabs a shotgun and hunts Frank (Michael J. Fox) in an abandoned hospital.
Which includes accidentally (?) killing Agent Dammers (Jeffrey Combs) by blowing his head off…
Peter Jackson Speaks : "I don't really like horror movies as such, especially ones that take themselves seriously.
"I'm more influenced by good direction - some of Martin Scorsese's or James Cameron's films - good directors who really know how to tell a story."
Puppet Porn - Meet The Feebles (1989)
The Moment: Just one of the many hilarious scenes in Peter Jackson's 'naughty muppet' movie, this one sees hedgehog Robert attempt to save muppet Heidi from being spanked by a cockroach.
Except he doesn't realise this is actually the set of a movie and the star, Heidi, is quite happy getting spanked…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "There’s nothing, even in Meet the Feebles , that I’m trying to do on any kind of serious, political level. If we’re satirizing anything it’s the squeamishness of people, breaking taboos – but just for fun.
"Using puppets allowed us to do a lot of things I never would have tried with humans, we got away with murder, and made a lot of people blind to the film’s subversiveness."
Men's Room - The Frighteners (1996)
The Moment: Frank (Michael J. Fox) goes to the men's room in a restaurant, only to find himself in the wrong place at the wrong time again when the Grim Reaper attacks an innocent diner. Cue a spot of bother and a memorable stairway to Heaven.
Peter Jackson Speaks: " The Frighteners came about through slightly odd circumstances. We heard that Robert Zemeckis was looking for a film that he would direct that was based on his Tales From The Crypt TV series. And we had this idea for a ghost story about a sort of a psychic conman…"
Troll! - LOTR: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001)
The Moment: "They have a cave troll," mutters Boromir (Sean Bean). The Fellowship is in the Dwarf mines of Moria, now overrun by goblins who have their own pet troll.
When that troll smashes its way into the Fellowship's hiding place, we get one of the first film's finest set-pieces.
Peter Jackson Speaks : "What we did with Rings, was to say, 'Okay, we have the fantasy elements, to have the Balrog, the Trolls, Orcs, Elves and Dwarves, but we're going to write it with a degree of truth within the world that the story exists in."
Breast Plate - The Frighteners (1996)
The Moment: Woman-phobic FBI agent Dammers (a brilliant Jeffrey Combs) has already made his entrance by this point (memorably vomming in the loo after being yelled at), but here he really makes his mark.
When he believes that Frank (Michael J. Fox) is trying to crush his heart using his psychic powers, he reveals that he's wearing an impenetrable led breastplate…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "Dammers is somewhat twisted, even for an FBI agent!"
Woman Roar - LOTR: The Return Of The King (2003)
The Moment: "You fool!" cackles the Witch King. "No man can kill me. Die now." Enter Eowyn (Miranda Otto), dressed as a soldier, who rips off her helmet and declares: "I am no man."
Plunging her sword into the Witch King, she offs him like a true warrior princess. Go girl power!
Peter Jackson Speaks: "I think Eowyn's character has extraordinary depth, and it's there in Tolkien's writing. And we are actually hoping to capture his depth of Eowyn in our movies, that's what our goal is, because she is a very interesting character and Miranda Otto is doing a wonderful job playing her."
Sacrifice - King Kong (2005)
The Moment: Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) has been kidnapped by the residents of Skull Island and strung up as a sacrifice.
A sacrifice for what, you ask? Well, that bloody great ape that's just crashed through the foliage. Cue Ann unleashing a truly blood-curdling scream…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "It was important to us that there’s a very simple progression in the story, which is that you’re introduced to the situation on the island and to Kong, and at the beginning he’s a terrifying monster – we want him to be as scary as he can possibly be at the beginning. He takes the girls from the altar and he kills them, as he has done for decades."
Boromir - LOTR: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001)
The Moment: What a way to end the first movie… Beset by Orcs, Boromir (Sean Bean) ends up becoming their pin cushion in what is an exhaustingly emotional moment.
Even more so because he's the first of the Fellowship to fall under the One Ring's spell and attempt to seize it from Frodo (Elijah Wood). That he eventually dies defending Frodo redeems him and turns him into one heck of a hero.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "The combination of the epic and the intimate is what's wonderful about the books, and I think it worked very well in Fellowship . Audiences appreciated that there was character depth and emotions within such a vast epic."
Melancholy - King Kong (2005)
The Moment: Kong sits on a high, rocky perch and surveys Skull Island. With the sky turning pink before him, there's a melancholy about him that Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) attempts to shift with juggling.
In the end, she just curls up in his giant hand and watches the horizon with him. Sob.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "The interesting part of Kong for us was to think what would really happen if a 25-foot-tall silverback gorilla took Ann Darrow, you know, how would he react to her and how would she try to survive.
"What happens in the story is he stays his hand from killing Ann and that proves to be his undoing, which is the tragedy of the story. The moment that he exercises humanity and follows his heart, he’s doomed."
Rock N Roll - The Frighteners (1996)
The Moment: Frank (Michael J. Fox) bursts out of The Fairwater Gazette offices and bumps into a biker guy who's actually Peter Jackson in cameo mode.
Here, he's dressed up to the nines in a leather jacket and piercings.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "My kids send up what I do mercilessly, which is a very healthy thing.
"I don’t think either of them want to be film-makers, probably because they’ve spent their formative years getting excruciatingly bored on movie sets... They're not terribly impressed."
Breaking In - The Lovely Bones (2009)
The Moment: A scene of nerve-shredding tension as Lindsey (Rose McIver) breaks into the house of neighbour George Harvey (Stanley Tucci) determined to find something that links him to Susie's death.
Except then George comes home, and Lindsey's in the house all alone with him…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "Stanley was playing a very dangerous and frightening character, and so getting close to his eyes was a way of increasing the menace that Stanley’s performance was giving back to us."
Balrog - LOTR: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001)
The Moment: In the depths of Moria, the Fellowship is chased by an ancient demon of fire and shadow called the Balrog.
In an attempt to save the rest of the Fellowship, and with little regard for his own life, Gandalf (Ian McKellen) turns and bellows: "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" He turns out to be correct, but plummets with the Balrog nonetheless.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "Gandalf's magic I see as being subtle - I hate seeing fantasy movies where wizards are portrayed having sort of lightning bolts coming out of their fingertips, and having all these tricks - and so we made a deliberate attempt to really not give Gandalf any pyrotechnic, sort of visually clichéd, magical powers."
Ice Skating - King Kong (2005)
The Moment: Having escaped his captivity in New York, Kong goes for a spot of impromptu ice skating with Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts).
It's particular moving because we all know what's going to come next…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "[ My love for film ] was fuelled then by seeing the original King Kong , the 1933 version of Kong , which is saw when I was nine.
"And I remember that weekend I made plasticine dinosaurs and started to try to do some stop-motion animation with my little Super-8 camera."
Out Of Body Experience - The Frighteners (1996)
The Moment: Frank (Michael J. Fox) realises that the only way he can fight the Grim Reaper is to temporarily 'die' and leave his body.
When he does, while a little help from Lucy (Trini Alvardo), he cracks out ghostly weaponry in a cemetery showdown that sees the Reaper splatted across the gravestones…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "Trini has many scenes where she watches Michael's character relate to ghosts she can't see. I was impressed with her skill in responding to his reactions and establishing empathy and emotional attachment between their characters."
Third Man - Heavenly Creatures (1994)
The Moment: After admitting they're stark raving loons, Paul (Melanie Lynskey) and Juliet (Kate Winslet) go to see The Third Man at the cinema.
When they leave afterwards, they imagine they're being chased by Orson Welles in a sequence that gives Jackson the opportunity to go full-on noir with a grimy alley and shadows galore.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "With Heavenly Creatures , we were telling what we hoped would be a fairly accurate story.
"At the same time, however, I still wanted to make a movie; I didn't want something totally tied to real life, and totally dull. So we did have a little bit of fun with some of those characters."
Vomit Soup - Bad Taste (1987)
The Moment: Jackson's feature debut lives up to its name as his alien Robert vomits green goo into a bowl, which is then passed on to alien Lord Crumb (Doug Wren), who drinks it down happily.
You'll never look at pea soup the same way again.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "The real, creepy horror stuff usually doesn’t have a lot of blood in it. Going that way disturbs people a lot more than a gory film because it has to be taken seriously. You can’t defend against it.
"But if you go way beyond the saturation point, there’s no way people can be offended or shocked. They just have to laugh."
Battle of Pelennor Fields - LOTR: The Return Of The King (2003)
The Moment: Thought nothing could beat the Battle of Helm's Deep? Jackson pulls out all the stops for the final battle in Return Of The King , an absolutely massive scene that juggles numerous characters without ever losing any of them in the fracas. Amazing.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "Battles are always a challenge. They have to tell a story. You can't just have endless fighting, because that gets boring very quickly.
"Fortunately a lot of our principal characters get involved in Pelennor Fields. Gandalf, Pippin, Merry, Eowyn, Theoden, Eomer, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli - all of them get involved in this battle."
Sheep Go Boom - Bad Taste (1987)
The Moment: An errant missile entirely misses its intended target as it sails in one window and out the other.
When it emerges on the other side, though, it connects with a poor innocent sheep, which goes kablooey in spectacular fashion. Not baaaaad.
Peter Jackson Speaks: " Bad Taste wasn’t too gory in the first hour, just boring. So I decided to make it really gory. The film was vastly improved at this point, and much more entertaining.
"Besides, I liked doing the effects. Special effects are what got me interested in making films in the first place – they were an excuse to blow things up."
Zombies Everywhere - Braindead (1992)
The Moment: All hell breaks loose at Lionel's house as the zombies break out of the basement and start munching on his uncle's party guests.
It's one of the goriest zombie attacks ever filmed, with faces peeled off, legs munched to the bone and one woman getting a fist through her mouth - literally.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "No one complained, but it was so uncomfortable, this sticky maple syrup we used just gets everywhere.
"And by the end the main set where we shot most of the carnage had this sweet, gassy atmosphere that was enough to make you sick even if you weren’t covered in blood. The syrup had fermented under the hot lights. Your shoes would stick to the floor like in a bad cinema – it was a nightmare."
Stabby Santa - Hot Fuzz (2007)
The Moment: A blink-and-you'll-miss-it bit of nod-winking, as we're introduced to Detective Angel (Simon Pegg), who, apparently was recently stabbed in the hand by a psycho dressed as Father Christmas.
Yes, that really is Peter Jackson as the not-so-jolly gift-giver. He was such a fan of Shaun Of The Dead that he offered to cameo in Edgar Wright's follow-up while he was in London.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "I'd love to do another zombie movie in the future. I keep seeing these zombie movies now and I'm so jealous of these guys. You see something like Shaun Of The Dead , which is a great movie.
"And I think, 'Oh, God, these guys are having so much fun.' If I was to have any direction I was gonna head in in my mind in the next few years it would be kind of lower budget smaller films and just do something a little different for a while."
Talk To Me - LOTR: The Two Towers (2002)
The Moment: Sat on his own on a rock, Gollum (Andy Serkis) has an argument with himself over what to do with the hobbits(es) he's leading to Mordor.
Giving us an insight into Gollum's fractured psyche, we get Evil Gollum and Good Gollum (aka Smeagul) chucking insults at each other before Good Gollum wins out. Temporarily.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "We decided we wanted an actor to drive Gollum's character. There's a team of animators working on Gollum, with a huge range of shots, so there was a danger of the result looking unfocused.
"We cast Andy Serkis originally as the voice of Gollum, but that was only the beginning. We told Andy to own the character, and tell us what Gollum should do and how he acts, just as Elijah is in charge of Frodo."
Something In The Walls - The Frighteners (1996)
The Moment: In the film's spooky opening, an apparition chases patty (Dee Wallace) through her creepy old house, bursting out of the walls and floor in an attempt to strangle here.
Which, naturally, results in the house getting absolutely trashed.
Peter Jackson Speaks: "Fear, like your imagination, has no limits."
Shelob - LOTR: Return Of The King (2003)
The Moment: Betrayed by Gollum (Andy Serkis), Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) are left in the creepy lair of giant spider Shelob.
While attempting to escape, it all goes a bit dark when Shelob stabs Frodo with her giant sting, paralysing him. When it rains, it pours, eh?
Peter Jackson Speaks: "The scene in which Frodo encounters Shelob is a scene I've been looking forward to doing right from the beginning, and I think it's largely because I've got this incredible arachnophobia myself. I mean I'm seriously scared of spiders.
"The design of Shelob is based on a New Zealand spider called the Tunnel Web, which is a spider I've been scared of ever since I was a child. And yeah, the Shelob shots do make me want to flinch back, so I guess I'm being successful at scaring myself."
Downfall - King Kong (2005)
The Moment: Yes, THAT moment we all love and hate in equal measure. On the run in New York, Kong's forced to climb the Empire State Building to evade capture, which of course only makes things worse.
With its seamless special effects, this is utterly believably and utterly heartbreaking. Way to get an entire audience crying, Jackson…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "The real importance of [ Andy Serkis ] being there was so that Naomi would have somebody to look at, when she had to do some emotional performance or something where we wanted real power between her and Kong.
"I mean, her performance is twice as good because she was reacting to Andy rather than reacting to a yellow tennis ball on a stick. I’m sure she’d be the first to admit that."
Kong vs T-Rex - King Kong (2005)
The Moment: A T-Rex is eyeing up Ann (Naomi Watts) for dinner, which doesn't sit well with Kong, who bursts onto the scene all exposed fangs and bellowing rage. After drop-kicking the dinosaur, Kong grabs hold of Ann while also wrestling the recovered reptile.
Then comes dino number two…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "We don’t follow that convention where as soon as you start to empathise with Kong, we stop him from being terrifying. He’s still scary, he still turns around and kills sailors who are trying to save Ann, he doesn’t lose any of his power as a gorilla.
"It would have been an easy trap to fall into that once you started to empathise with him, we make him cute and benign. In our story, he’s always a wild animal and he’s always unpredictable. You never know what he’s going to do next."
Lawnmower Time - Braindead (1992)
The Moment: Lionel discovers that he's going to have to break out the big guns in order to tackle the zombie infestation in his mother's home.
And by 'big guns', we mean a lawnmower, with which Lionel purifies every zombie limb that comes flying in his direction. Mmm, zombie soup…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "I wrote the original script for Braindead … while still shooting Bad Taste and it’s been quite frustrating to see a lot of the gags we wrote back then turn up in other movies in various forms.
"Like one where a zombie is cut in two but still crawling along, I saw that in Return Of The Living Dead II . So along the way we had to keep coming up with new stunts just to stay on top."
Look Mother - Heavenly Creatures (1994)
The Moment: Having gone for a day trip Victoria Park, Paul (Melanie Lynskey) and Juliet (Kate Winslet) carry out their plot to murder Paul's mother.
Distracting her mother by pointing out a jewel on the ground planted by Juliet, Paul takes out a brick in a stocking and beats her mother to death…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "We went to the [ real life ] murder site, and we just felt uncomfortable about filming there. It was very strange, and maybe it was just our imagination, but it was very quiet, very tranquil.
"I mean, all the way down the path you hear the wind and the birds, and suddenly, when you arrive at the spot, you hear nothing. So we filmed the murder scene at Victoria Park, but it was on a different track, about a hundred yards away."
Just A Spoonful - Bad Taste (1987)
The Moment: As a gore-loving alien, Peter Jackson digs into the carcass of one of his fellow aliens.
Using - what else? - a spoon, he scoops out the gooey contents of his fallen comrade's skull. Never let it be said that Jackson won't suffer for his art…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "The multitude of tasks and jobs that I did was really born out of the fact there was no money, there was no budget, there was nothing at all. It was just me and a few mates."
Mount Doom - LOTR: The Return Of The King (2003)
The Moment: Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) finally make it to Mount Doom, where Frodo intends to throw the One Ring into the fire and end the badness.
When they reach (no kidding) the Crack of Doom, though, they're confronted by Gollum (Andy Serkis), leading to one final tussle and Gollum being chucked into the lava…
Peter Jackson Speaks: "Sean has done by far his best work of the trilogy in this film. He plays wonderful scenes, has incredible emotion."
Helm's Deep - LOTR: The Two Towers (2002)
The Moment: A battle so enormous it took Jackson four months to shoot it. And that's four months of night shoots, to boot.
But his efforts paid off in one heck of a set-piece. With 10,000 orcs laying siege to the fortress, it seems that our intrepid heroes are doomed. Until, that is, Gandalf appears with back-up… Who knew battles could be this emotional?
Peter Jackson Speaks: "Our action climax is the Battle of Helm's Deep. It does have an emotional power of its own, as you're seeing enormous heroic acts and the world of Rohan being saved.
"It's a fairly gritty battle. It's about as far as we could possibly push it within that rating [PG]. We filmed some heads and limbs being chopped off which we've taken out. We'll probably put them back in the DVD, which will have an R rating."
