Review of Black Sheep (2010) by Shannon W — 15 Jan 2010

Black Sheep tells the story of two brothers who?ve inherited one of the largest sheep ranches in New Zealand. One brother left for the city, paralyzed by his fear of sheep; the other stayed on to take over the family business and start a genetic engineering project to create the perfect sheep. As such projects usually do, the engineering project went horribly awry. Cue the hungry-sheep bloodbath. Some thoughts:

* Part of me wants to quibble about whether this is actually a zombie movie. The sheep are pretty darn angry, but not undead. And though the people definitely get infected by sheep bites (turning them into horrible man/sheep hybrids), the infection doesn?t reanimate people who die from the bites. That said, many of the same fear tropes and kinds of plot elements that drive zombie films apply, so I?m inclined to bring it into the fold. As I told my students while we discussed this movie, if I?m willing to call Invasion of the Body Snatchers a zombie movie, I probably have to include Black Sheep.

* I wonder if there?s something extra creepy about normally-calm animals who go bonkers and try to eat you. I think there is. The snapping teeth of the sheep in the movie are downright terrifying.

* The movie feels a lot like Dead Alive in its gore effects. One student mentioned that the effects were done by Weta studios, Peter Jackson?s special effects studio. Not surprising that they pulled this off. My favorite bit is that the film has a very genuine look to it?the effects appear to have been practical, rather than CGI. The only computery moment in the film, for me, was the herd of sheep rampaging down the hill in one later shot.

* It seems like environmentalists are always causing problems in movies. While mad scientists are doing their villainous deeds, they?re taking safety seriously. Tree huggers get up in their grill and mess things up. Case in point: Severed: forest of the dead and 28 Days Later, just to name two. This film includes both a total loony goofball environmentalist and another who?s sensible yet still a bit loony.

Worth a look, whether you like zombie movies or movies about out of control livestock. I?m looking at you, Babe-fans.