Director: Jonathan King
"Black Sheep" is a wry,
dry and enjoyably silly
movie about genetically
engineered sheep running
amok on an idyllic New
Zealand farm. It's part "28
Days Later" and part
"Shaun of the Dead" and
while it's nowhere near as
good as either film, it's still
very good fun.
Henry Oldfield (Nathan
Meister) left the farm he
grew up on after traumatically
losing his beloved
father in an accident and
being cruelly bullied by his
older brother Angus (Peter
Feeney). Henry now lives in
the city and is a thoroughly
neurotic young man with a
serious phobia toward
sheep.
The story begins with
him returning home so that
his brother can buy out his
share of the farm.
Angus is
now a successful farmer who
has secretly developed a gentically
engineered sheep
with a team of unscrupulous
scientists. A couple of environmental
activists sneak
into the farm and steal a disgusting
looking miniature
sheep in a glass jar which
was a failed experiment on
its way to the dump. But the
monstrous little sheep accidentally
gets loose and starts
attacking sheep and humans
alike. The sheep it bites
immediately turn into savage
killers and the humans
transform into giant twolegged
sheep thanks to some
impressive old-school special
effects.
"Black Sheep" isn't particularly
funny and nor is it
particularly scary but the
film's premise is so wonderfully
silly that it doesn't
much matter. There are
enough wryly comical
moments and witty snippets
of dialogue to make "Black
Sheep" a little better than
average. Peter Feeney, in particular,
really stands out as
the supercilious Angus. His
deadpan performance is
probably the best thing about
the film, especially toward
the end when he indulges in
a little ovine love.
Director Jonathan King
clearly loves horror films
and "Black Sheep" is loaded
with references to the genre,
the most obvious being
when someone talks about
"the violence of the lambs."
He also realizes that there is
something irresistably
enjoyable about transforming
the most docile and
harmless creature on the
face of the earth into a
bloodthirsty killer.
It really
is quite amusing to see a
flock of baying sheep ripping
people to pieces and
there are even some scenes
when they genuinely look
quite sinister.
The ending is also a gratifyingly
subversive reaffirmation
of the farming culture
on which New Zealand
was founded. After watching
this you'll feel a lot less
guilty about chomping on a
nice mutton chop.
Now showing in Latvia.
