Review of Black Sheep (2006) by Aaro S — 10 May 2009

Black Sheep is unashamedly silly horror flick in something of a New Zealand tradition, (Bad Taste, Braindead, The Frighteners) which revels in the absurdity of its premise; a werewolf movie, but with sheep.

This film clearly plays on the fact that, until Peter Jackson took Tolkien down under, the only thing New Zealand was famous for was said wooly ungulates. The basic plot revolves around a family sheep station were genetic experiements to create a new bred, (ironically called an Oldfield) have led inevitably to bloodthursty sheep whose bites transform people into monsterous hybrid man-sheep.

This daft idea is tethered to some reasonable character development and some excellent set pieces. The main actors all give good performances, rather than letting the special effects carry the show. The creature effects by Weta Workshops are great, managing throughout to walk the line between horiffic and comical.

The only let down of Black Sheep is that, after such strong first and second acts, the ending doesn't quite deliver. The film seems to be heading for a zombie movie style "they've got us surrounded" finale, then veers off in a different direction. When the ending does arrive, it's seems a little rushed and confused.

All-in-all though, Black Sheep is gross and funny and there's not many films where you can see a man having his guts eaten by farm yard animals*.

*That I know of.