Black Sheep (2006/I)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Jonathan King

Writer:

Jonathan King (written by)

Release Date:

29 March 2007 (New Zealand)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

Get ready for the Violence of the Lambs!

Plot:

An experiment in genetic engineering turns harmless sheep into blood-thirsty killers that terrorize a sprawling New Zealand farm. |

Plot Keywords:

Sheep | Farm | Genetic Engineering | New Zealand | Mutation

Awards:

5 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Matthew Chamberlain	...	Oliver Oldfield (as Matt Chamberlain)
Nick Fenton	...	Young Henry
Sam Clarke	...	Young Tucker
Eli Kent	...	Young Angus
Nathan Meister	...	Henry Oldfield
Nick Blake	...	Taxi Driver
Oliver Driver	...	Grant
Danielle Mason	...	Experience
Peter Feeney	...	Angus Oldfield
Glenis Levestam	...	Mrs. Mac
Richard Chapman	...	Muldoon
Louis Sutherland	...	Winston
Tammy Davis	...	Tucker
Tandi Wright	...	Doctor Rush
Ian Harcourt	...	Brash

Runtime:

USA:87 min | Argentina:87 min | Canada:87 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

New Zealand

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

New Zealand:R13 | Australia:MA | Singapore:R21 | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:M18 (edited version) | Ireland:15A | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Germany:18 | Germany:16 (cut) | USA:Unrated | Argentina:16 | Denmark:15 | Netherlands:16 | Peru:14 | USA:TV-MA | France:-12 | Italy:VM14 | Italy:VM18 (cinema rating)

Filming Locations:

Wairarapa, New Zealand

Company:

New Zealand Film Commission

Trivia:

The man who is pulled down by a sheep while trying to find the keys to his car is the director, Jonathan King.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When the line 'Now get the fuck off my land' is delivered, it is unsynced.

Quotes:

Experience: You hear that? Sounds like somebody's sheering

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Dog Soldiers (2002)

Woolly Bullies!

When will mankind ever learn? Deranged, over-ambitious scientists have tried to genetically alter pretty much every species of the animal kingdom so far, and it always results in gigantically mutated critters and outrageous massacres. All the better for us bloodthirsty horror freaks, of course, as there's nothing as fun as a good nature-revolting-against-men creature feature! And we never had sheep before! On one hand this is no real surprise, because sheep are probably the least menacing type of animals on the planet and it's a lot easier to scare people with mutated rats or over-sized crocodiles. But on the other hand, sheep played a very important role in one of the most major breakthroughs in the history of science when "Dolly" was the first living being ever to be cloned successfully. The Dolly-experiment gone wrong would have resulted in a crazy sheep-themed horror film already, but we had to wait till now, with Jonathan King's "Black Sheep". All the necessary ingredients to put together a traditional and delightfully clichéd creature-feature are well presented: an isolated location, over-the-top crazy scientists, a genetic experiment that is too imbecile for words, the reluctant anti-hero and – of course – dimwitted animal activists to let things go totally out of control. The New Zealandian film-industry is definitely growing lately (mainly thanks to Peter Jackson) and naturally this is the ideal country to produce a film about sheep, as there are gazillions of them! The two brothers Angus & Henry grew up of the family's farm but drifted apart ever since their beloved father died in a terrible accident. Henry is terrified of sheep ever since and never set foot on the farm again, but now he finally returns to sell Agnus his part of the property. Henry arrives just in time to discover that his brother has been messing with Mother Nature's creation and that he's about to artificially create a new and revolutionary species of sheep. But when an over-enthusiast activist runs off with on of the mutated lambs, all the nearby flocks are soon infected with a virus that turns the calm & woolly animals into a aggressive and carnivore monsters. "Black Sheep" stands for extremely entertaining and undemanding splatter, with loads of black humor that is actually funny and make-up effects that are thankfully accomplished the old-fashioned way! When director Jonathan King introduced this film at the Belgian Horror Festival, he said he didn't want too much CGI to ruin his film and I definitely concur with him. Especially the scene where a bunch of uncontrolled zombie-sheep attacks a gathering of international businessmen is an absolutely terrific homage to vintage cheesy horror, with disembowelment and ripped open throats. "Black Sheep" is a good film, but of course it still could have been a lot better. Some chapters in the script could have used better plotting and dialogs, and particularly the ending was a bit of a letdown. They could have done so much more with the ending, if you ask me! Nevertheless, despite some obvious flaws, "Black Sheep" is a must-see film for every horror fan who doesn't take him/herself too seriously.