Black Sheep (2006) Poster

(2006)

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7/10
Damn fine film.
OnewithTheClaws25 May 2007
After reading an extremely negative review of this, which COMPLETELY missed the point, I thought I'd write a far more 'accurate' review. In my opinion, this is one of the best of this type of horror movie i've seen. It's right up there with Peter Jackson's early work and Evil Dead. All the negative things the other reviewer was saying, the poor dialogue, and acting, the unrealistic effects, were deliberate, after all, the effects were done by highly skilled and trained effects people at WETA Workshops - who of course did Lord of The Rings. It is a horror comedy packed with clichés and subtle allusions, and full of New Zealand humour, which i concede probably doesn't translate well internationally. NZ is primarily a farming nation, we're a huge exporter of lamb, Farming is a huge part of our culture, and this blends that with our history of offbeat, slightly dark, and idiosyncratic cinema. It is a clever, quintessentially kiwi, homage to such previously mentioned horror comedies (or comedic horrors). That's what i like about it, it is a lot cleverer than it looks. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the film. If you like Peter Jackson's early stuff, you'll like this. Just don't expect it to be s***-your-pants scary.
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7/10
A Nutshell Review: Black Sheep
DICK STEEL21 July 2007
I haven't the opportunity to follow many New Zealand movies, besides the recent memory of Sione's Wedding and In My Father's Den, both of which were of different genres, and mighty enjoyable. Written and directed by Jonathan King (who is also writing the Raintree produced movie The Tattooist), Black Sheep takes the well-established genre of zombie movies, and with its fusion of local flavour, presents its own worthy take in giving us the attack of the killer sheep.

Meh!

It's a crazy idea, but heck, I admit it was sheer wicked and twisted fun watching the usually docile (and may I say dumb?) animals turn the tables on us humans, and start going on a berserk rampage to munch on our flesh. Watching them hunt in packs was surreal, and happens to be one of the nightmares of Henry Oldfield (Nathan Meister), who develops a phobia of our woolly friends after his brother Angus (Peter Feeney) played a cruel joke on him. The film fast forwards to the adult brothers, where the latter is planning to unveil his new "perfect" Oldfield sheep, and selling off the farm - why need the space when you can genetically engineer them?

Before you say, oh this is yet another movie which warns about the dangers and questions the ethics behind tinkering with genetics, you would probably think again when it made the environmental activists folks look like social outcasts, and totally bumbling, indirectly contributing to the zombie sheep phenomenon. I liked how the problem became two- pronged, in that the sheep became infected of course, and how its bite is now its worst weapon. And I'd bet you'll never look at another sheep, especially the baby ones, in the same light again, ha!

The plot's fairly straightforward to follow, with its villains (the scientists and of course, the raging sheep) and its heroes clearly spelt out - Henry, his farm hand Tucker (Tammy Davis), housekeeper Mrs Mac (Glenis Levestam), and an activist with an interest in Asian fengshui and zen sayings, called, check this out - Experience (Danielle Mason), who together actually form quite a lovable team whom you'll root for to get out of this mess.

With the animatronics and special effects done by Weta Workshop, you can expect some top notch gore, though I thought that despite it being a zombie flick, it lacked copious amounts of blood splatter. Chewing raw flesh may be stomach curling, especially when the details of such dastardly deeds are not spared, and the camera lingers. Transformational scenes were also fun yet eerie to watch, and if you think you've seen the best of these scenes from various werewolf movies, wait till you get a load from this one!

Black Sheep makes no apology to its violence, sexual innuendoes or toilet humour. In fact, it celebrates them, to tragic-comedic effect. However it knew how to rein itself in, and the farting-sheep-shagging jokes never goes into overdrive. The acts of violence too had a fair share left to the imagination, though I thought there probably was some scrimping in expected chase and attack sequences. If you're in for some light entertainment, then Black Sheep is probaaably your wicked choice for the week.
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6/10
They are coming to get ewe Barbra...
come2whereimfrom2 October 2007
Black sheep is a New Zealand film about a farmer who's been conducting genetic experiments on sheep in a weird breeding programme, when two activists accidentally release some of the radioactive material all hell breaks loose. With effects provided by Peter Jackson's Weta studios this is a daft horror much like his early work 'Braindead' and 'Bad Taste'. There is blood galore, mutant flesh eating sheep, human-ram hybrids and silly jokes and it definitely doesn't take itself too seriously. Packed full of clichés and homage's to other films, look out for the 'American Werewolf in London' take off, it is at times quite funny but ultimately the story is nothing new and only just manages to hold your interest between sheep attacks. If you want a no-brainer and a bit of a laugh and a groan then you will probably like this movie but stay away if you want highbrow because Shakespeare this isn't. They are coming to get ewe so get out the mint sauce.
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7/10
The violence of the lambs is very funny and entertaining
springsunnywinter5 November 2007
Warning: Spoilers
It's been a long time since I've seen a horror-comedy so that is why I went to see Black Sheep and I'm so glad that it didn't suck. The story was simple but it's better that way because then you can just concentrate on the hilarious gore and all the sheeps acting stupid. The movie had a very good blend of horror-comedy and was smart for a silly film. The killer sheeps were the icing on the cake of course but the people turning into weresheeps was the cherry on top. It was like a zombie movie with a contagious virus but instead was sheeps which is quite different.

The 10 things I have learned from Black Sheep are: 1) Sheeps can drive. 2) Sheeps like to mate with humans. 3) You need to shoot a sheep twice on the head to kill it but with one chop with an axe. 4) Fart is highly explosive. 5) Sheeps can detect infected humans. 6) If you hold someone at gunpoint but the safety is on then just give it to them to unlock and they will give it back to you. 7) Sheeps like to bite off a naked man's penis first. 8) Always check before you answer the door because there could be a killer sheep. 9) Sheeps are strong enough to break a hole into a door with their head. 10) Dogs can baaaaa as well as bark. Basically they were the funniest bits.
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Brilliant.
ericajane5038 April 2007
This movie tickled my funny bone. Its got that great Kiwi humor, this the huge amounts of swearing, Maori jokes, and Kiwiana icons. Look out for the part with the Watties sauce, and the crazy Asian guy running across the screen.

The actors are pretty good, and Weta workshop must have been in their element with the splatter style film. You get a fright, then laugh because you realise its a psycho sheep. Sheep? C'mon. Some people may never be able to return to the farm again, but me? I have a whole new respect for the woolly guys. Put this move at the top of your must see list!
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6/10
Nicely Put Together New Zealand Schlocker
mstomaso24 December 2007
Black Sheep is the sort of film that will appeal to fans of Pete Jackson's and Sam Raimi's early horror comedies - especially Braindead and Bad Taste (Jackson) and the Evil Dead series (Raimi). Like these low budget 'schlockers' Jonathan King's film is well made and does not take itself seriously. Unlike these films, however, Black Sheep is not very self-consciously low budget. Since the film consistently parodies low-brow, low-budget horror films, the film-makers were able to very nicely exploit the gimmickry of these films without losing any artistry or credibility along the way.

Black Sheep is the story of two brothers from a New Zealand sheep farming family. Henry Oldfield (Meister) is terrified of sheep and has alienated himself from his family estate in order to seek therapy. Angus (Feeney) is a sociopath, sadist and rising provincial politician who loves sheep. Angus, of course, wants to make better sheep. And predictably, has genetic scientists set up in a barn on the estate who are performing grisly and disturbing experiments which somehow result in rabid, homicidal zombie sheep and were-sheep. A couple of macrobiotic eco-warriors are thrown into the mix (a brilliant touch) to round out the cast.

Of course, the plot is the weakest element in this film. But this is completely consistent with the film's mission as a genre and self-parody. The strongest elements are the excellent (though still hilarious) effects and art design by WEDA, directing and editing, the fine cast, fun characters and good script. King directs the film economically (a rarity in this genre) and the final cut wastes not a frame. The film is also very nicely shot - each scene - especially the sheep stampedes - is engaging and nicely paced. Every horror genre cliché is presented at one time or another, and most are exploited mercilessly.

Great film for fans of the genre. Not recommended for others.
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3/10
Disappointing
shaunpegg13 October 2007
Maybe this film had some type of humor I couldn't understand, but I found this to be completely disappointing. I've wanted to see this film ever since I watched the trailer, which made me believe it was a lot like Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, or Severance. I was wrong. I am a HUGE fan of those films, but this one just doesn't live up to what I had in mind. I thought it would have way more comedy than it actually did. I mean, it made me actually laugh maybe 3 times at most. To me, the only really good parts were when they found Angus with the sheep and, of course, the sheep killing all the people at Angus's presentation. This film, in my mind, could've been made so much better. But it wasn't.
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6/10
Woolly Bullies!
Coventry17 April 2007
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.
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4/10
Poor comic gore film with a dumb script and dumber premise
Leofwine_draca4 December 2015
Warning: Spoilers
New Zealand was the country that made Peter Jackson's BRAINDEAD back in 1992. That film still stands strong as the goriest movie ever made, a near-perfect mix of gross-out humour, Kiwi insanity and copious bloodshed. When I saw that BLACK SHEEP, a similarly-themed film about genetically engineered sheep with an appetite for human flesh, was another Kiwi horror comedy, I was hoping it might reach near the standard of Jackson's work. Instead I found a film that simply ripped off that earlier, better movie – along with lots of other stuff like SHAUN OF THE DEAD. This is derivative film-making at its worst, totally lacking in any kind of inspiration and always striving to aim for the lowest common denominator.

As the film begins with an unexplained incident – a kid kills and skins a sheep, wearing its bloody fleece to scare his little brother – you know that not much intelligence has gone into the script. Despite some typically pleasant New Zealand backdrops, the small scale antics that play out are utterly familiar and therefore pretty dull. Nobody in the unknown cast makes any kind of impression, and I was just waiting for a touch of originality or inspiration to come along and make me entertained. It never happened.

The sheep bite people, transmitting a kind of virus that turns humans into rubbery sheep monsters. There's a last-reel attack by a flock of sheep full of cheesy gore effects with severed limbs and guts-aplenty, once again heavily indebted to BRAINDEAD. There's even a mutant lamb not too dissimilar from the Sumerian rat monster in the Jackson movie. The final solution to tackle the menace is about as lowbrow and unfunny as you can get, and never once did the film manage to raise itself from the doldrums. A below-par script, uninteresting performances (Danielle Mason is pretty but bland), laboured effects – from Weta workshop, the team who worked on LORD OF THE RINGS no less – and an overruling predictability make this one to miss.
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6/10
The first WereSheep movie n hopefully the last.
Fella_shibby1 April 2021
I saw this for the first time in 2007 on a dvd which I own. Revisited it recently with my nephew.

The film has beautiful n serene landscapes juxtaposed by oodles of gore n unpleasant stuff.

The girl named Experience reminded me of a very young Amber Heard.

While revisiting it, the haggis scene reminded me of a dialogue from Prime Cut where Lee Marvin taunts Gene Hackman about offal.
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5/10
Ovinophobia
petra_ste26 September 2008
Warning: Spoilers
The premise is funny enough in an endearingly stupid kind of way - although it's taken from an episode of the Simpsons: I can't remember the title but I guarantee you the scriptwriter of Black Sheep does; special effects courtesy of WETA Worskshop are amusingly over-the-top; there are a few chuckles here and there. But that's the extent of Black Sheep's achievements.

Henry (Nathan Meister) comes back to his native farm in New Zealand to find his brother (Peter Feeney) practicing horrific experiments. A flock of murderous sheep is on the loose...

Among the cast the stand-out is Danielle Mason: she is cute, funny and easily walks away with the movie. She looks a bit like a younger Naomi Watts, and her comedic timing is surprisingly good. A quick look at her IMDb page shows she has been in The Desolation of Smaug... as Galadriel's "picture double". Come on, give this girl more to do. She's a firecracker.

Apart for her, Black Sheep lacks... well, a bit of everything. Horror is gory but never scary; comedy is droll but never hilarious. For long bits we are just supposed to laugh at the sight of the killer sheep - the kind of one-joke concept which quickly wears thin.

Color me sheepishly disappointed.

5/10
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8/10
Hilarious!
fickle_kitty1929 April 2007
Oh, come ON people, stop ragging on it so bad! It's a horror comedy about KILLER SHEEP for crying out loud! How high-brow do you expect the humor to be?? How could you even think that it's trying to achieve the level of something like LOTR??! You say that they could substitute any animal in for the sheep & get the same cliché situations, but they didn't use just any animal, they used SHEEP, and there's something really hilarious about a 'menacing' medium shot of a sheep standing in a field looking at the camera. :) I just saw it at a midnight IFF screening & it was fun & cheesy, yet I dunno how campy you could call it, because the special fx were pretty amazing - kudos for weta for the animatronic puppets, morphing sequences & really good gross-out gore. Yes, it made the audience groan at some of the baa-a-a-ad jokes, but most of the time we were all laughing hysterically & clapping & cheering at the sheer ridiculousness of it all! I think the vast majority of the audience left the theatre with smiles on their faces & in a good mood! I highly recommend this film for anyone who wants a good laugh & enjoys sheep jokes. I mean, come on, it's not hard to appreciate the silliness of this. Go out & support this movie! I challenge you to sit through it & not laugh!
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7/10
Ovinaphobia in Wairarapa!
hitchcockthelegend16 April 2014
Black Sheep, written and directed by Jonathan King is a wonderfully kooky horror comedy filmed out of New Zealand. Premise is simple, genetic tampering by unstable farmer man-child type has produced psychotic zombie sheep who like to chow down on human flesh. If you are "lucky" to still be alive after being bitten, you turn into a human/sheep hybrid - who likes to chow down on human flesh! All inhabitants of this island are doomed unless three spunky young heroes in waiting can overcome monumental odds and save the day!

With effects done by Weta being no bad thing, Black Sheep is a whole bunch of popcorn munching fun. Many of the jokes aren't really surprising but they hit the mark because the comedy is drawn nice and broad. It helps as well that much of it carries a sense of mischievous depravity about it, while the snarky asides to scientists and tree hugging environmentalists shows King to have a semblance of world awareness about him. The cinematography (Richard Bluck) is gorgeous, capturing the magnificent landscapes as a backdrop to the ovine carnage, and Victoria Kelly's musical score is jovial supreme.

Nothing earth shattering here, so those horror/comedy fans who venture in for the first time expecting otherwise will be disappointed. However, at under 90 minutes in length King's movie never once sags in pace or gasp for new comedic air. It's a short sharp shocker of a rib tickler and well worthy of a look if in the requisite mood. 7/10
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1/10
Artless, pointless, laugh-less, scare-less....void of any creativity..AVOID Black Sheep
IAN-Cinemaniac17 November 2007
I adore horror films. I love all kinds of horror films....monsters, ghosts, slashers, werewolves...and I'm even open to a good killer sheep film, BUT this isn't it. It seems that the creators of this film just had an idea....and that's all. the script, the acting...everything about this film is so weak and low grade and it thinks it's so funny....maybe to some frat boy wasted on pot. Don't waste your time or your dime. Rent Dead Alive (aka Brain Dead) or An American Werewolf In London instead. I really feel this film was made by a fan of Pater Jackson's early stuff, maybe this guy loves horror like me, but he doesn't have an ounce artistry or imagination...no offense, but stick to working behind the counter at McDonalds Mr Director.
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6/10
Shear-ly a One-Joke Movie
joker-48 November 2007
Obviously connections between Jonathan King's horror-comedy BLACK SHEEP, a ridiculous little film about genetically-engineered sheep that bleat to a murderous rampage, and the early works of Peter Jackson can easily be made. After all, not since DEAD ALIVE – or perhaps the very-underrated FRIGHTENERS – has New Zealand been the backdrop for a schlocky horror film.

Unfortunately, BLACK SHEEP spends entirely too much time deciding if the film is to be either a gory horror-fest, or a light-hearted Spielbergian romp ala ARACHNOPHOBIA or GREMLINS. Nathan Meister's fear of sheep is a little too forced and the obligatory romance between his character, Henry, and that of Danielle Mason's lacks any sort of chemistry, genetically-engineered or not.

What was missing from the film is the element of pure sarcasm; an event where the actors can almost get away with winking to the audience in shared knowledge. In a film featuring zombie sheep, the audience is not looking for the sophistication of THE RING or even the horror of NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, rather something akin to what should be this film's goofy contemporaries: the EVIL DEAD trilogy, SLITHER and even SHAUN OF THE DEAD.

BLACK SHEEP does have its charming moments, charming, that is, for those lovers of zombies. The attack during older-brother Angus' speech is the highlight of the film. That and the movie downright looks great. Even aside from Weta's high-caliber practical effects, the lighting and, in particular, the sets provided a top-notch feel to the production. That creepy drop of nervous anxiety running down your spine was the only feeling missing.
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Dull BS.
fedor831 March 2008
When Monty Python did their little low-budget "flying sheep" sketch, it was so much funnier than all the gags in BS put together. There are hundreds of horror films with killer rats, killer bats, killers this and killers that. I suppose it's alright to give New Zealenders and their fluffy animals a chance, as well. A lack of originality in the premise isn't the problem. Ther problem is it simply isn't funny. There are perhaps one or two grin-worthy moments, but that's about it. There is the usual NZ frenzied acting and gore. It seems Peter Jackson's NZ worshippers realize that "if you can't rip off LOTR, for lack of a budget, why not try with a splatter comedy like 'Bad Taste'", or as NZ-ers would say: "Bad Teeste". This would seem a wise choice in light of the fact that splatter comedies are "in" right now. Alas, nearly all of them are unfunny and mediocre. Mixing humour with gore requires a clever script and a fitting direction. Even though the movie mocks New Age esoteric save-the-world morons to some extent, it also includes a pro-Green message, which is the ultimate stupidity. A comedy splatter film preaching to us? What's next? Drew Barrymore writing a book about cosmology?
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7/10
Black Humor
kosmasp29 July 2007
If you know the premise of the movie (I won't spoiler it for you if you don't know it already), than you also know that this is going to be dark ... a dark comedy that is!

Two things to keep in mind here, it's a horror movie (with the aforementioned black humor) and it's bloody! So I need to warn people, this is not for the faint hearted! There are some pretty disgusting and nasty moments in it!

My impression overall, is that this is a good movie. And you won't make a wrong decision watching it. But it's not a classic either. It's good fun, with great effects (WETA), nothing more, nothing less!
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4/10
How did it go wrong?
JMAN-825 August 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This film would seem to have everything going for it: competent direction, excellent score, effects by the masters at WETA, and carnivorous sheep. So what happened? The acting, while occasionally good, is often terrible. I understand the importance of an all-indie cast, but couldn't they have found good actors? But perhaps they aren't as bad as it seems, what with the terrible script. It appears that writer/director Jonathan King (who should stick to the directing and leave the words on the page to someone else) was trying to make a film like those of early career Peter Jackson (think Bad Taste and Braindead): horrifically gory but shockingly funny; and he failed on both counts. While there were a few moments where I laughed, most of it was forced and often just terrible writing ("The Feng Shui in this room is terrible!"). Sometimes the jokes would have worked if the timing of the actors and the editing was better, but that, apparently, was too much to ask. He should have jumped right into it, making everything gory and shocking and funny at the same time (for instance, there could have been a freaky if hilarious scene where Angus could have mated with the pure white sheep, instead of the one-off "animal husbandry" line). I was really hoping this would be good, but it wasn't. A disappointment.
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6/10
From the Land of Sheep Comes a Film About... Sheep
gavin694219 October 2007
As a child, a boy is scared when his brother wears the head of a sheep as a mask, coinciding with the day his father falls off a cliff. Years later, he returns to his family sheep ranch to overcome his fear. But his brother, who has since taken over, is experimenting with some genetically-modified sheep (and we don't mean Dolly) who have some questionable side effects. One being the hunger for human flesh.

Wikipedia says, "Black Sheep is a New Zealand made comedy/horror film directed by Jonathan King and made in a similar style to Peter Jackson's early films such as Bad Taste and Braindead." I'm not sure what the "similar style" is other than that they were all filmed in New Zealand. As a big fan of "Bad Taste" and "Dead Alive", I can't really put "Black Sheep" in that same category. I liked it, but I don't see any connection.

I awaited this film a very long time. At least a year went by from one I first saw a trailer (and laughed heartily) until it finally made its way to the United States. Even with underground connections, I was unable to secure a copy before that, so I assure you I was ready to ravage this film with my eyes when I could. And I did. And, not surprisingly, I liked it.

As with most trailers, the trailer for "Black Sheep" is a tad misleading. It comes across as a very funny picture with excess tension and gore. You'll get a few laughs and you're get some gore and some tension, but it's nothing on the level you probably expected. In fact, I had to lower my rating from what I might have given the film just because it set itself up for failure by overstating its case. My horror film sidekick, Jason, was losing interest during this film... I think he may have even left the room towards the end (I can't say for sure because I was still watching).

I like horror films with satire or that have some anti-society message underneath them. This one clearly has the message that genetically engineering animals is a risky game. Will we get human-sheep hybrids, flesh-eating sheep or zombie sheep? Probably not. But that's the beauty of horror, using exaggeration and dark comedy to say something. I thought there was going to be a "Host"-like message after bio-waste was dropped down a well, but that never happens. There are also two hippie characters in this, and I suppose there's a message about hippies, too, although they seemed simply to be inserted for stereotypical reasons. Patchouli, aroma therapy, veganism... very flat characters.

I could say the film lacked nudity (there was none) and I can also say it needed even more action (there were some slow points). Most of all, it needed a better chainsaw scene -- the brief one we're given is a buzzkill. On the other hand, the special effects and makeup are amazing and should be commended for such an independent film. The sheep monsters and everything else were quite intense, very good. Why so many jokes about flatulence, though?

I'm glad I saw this film and I still think horror fans will like it. The general audience who might have found the idea interesting (especially the tagline about "the violence of the lambs") may be let down. I wasn't fully satisfied. But, you know what, it's still a decent movie and if you've seen the trailer, I know you can't rest until you see it for yourself. Do it.
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2/10
A ZOMBIE SHEEP FILM! but a very poor one.
sergiodeathstar3 April 2007
Wow, I went to this film on principle because I was told it was about Zombie sheep. If nothing else I thought it would be entertaining but much to my surprise, it wasn't. I have had hoped that New Zealand film was reaching some kind of maturity, but this was like stepping back 15 years only with a little more budget (I said a little) from the film commission to spend on guts.

With a mixture of clichéd and very weak jokes, unconvincing characters, and dialog that was tiresome at best, we are left with a horror comedy, with little horror (blood by itself is not very scary) and less comedy.

The score however is quite good, though a little Danny Elfman, and hopefully can be re used for a dark drama.

A classic example of a film receiving government funding because its viewed as culturally "New Zealand", its basically a New Zealand version of a much over used formula, not done particularly well.
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7/10
This Black Sheep, amidst a heard of poorly made comedy/horrors and ill-advised remakes, stands out like a beacon of freshness.
johnnyboyz19 February 2011
Black Sheep knows that there is little-to-no point in creating rehashes of films such as Alien or The Thing here and now in the early years of the 21st Century; instead, it does something very creative and very appealing with the premise of bloodthirsty beasties roaming around a locale picking off its inhabitants, that is to say, takes it down a route of very funny and very effective comedy about killer sheep on a New Zealand located farm. One's mind darts back to an Irish film from 2003 entitled Isolation, ultimately a vanity project displaying the filmmakers' talents in creating atmosphere and inducing the odd scare; the purest in style over substance but something that no doubt benefited those whom worked on it, from the cinematographer right down to the tea-boys, in that it bulked out of each of their CV's. But that's all of what the film was: a CV-filler; a piece about a disfigured and very angry farmyard based cow-come-calf on the rampage, picking off the hapless inhabitants; all played for grimaces, all played seriously and all feeling very sub-The Thing; post-Alien. There can be little doubt Black Sheep helmer Jonathan King additionally grew up on such films; here, King grants the premise a refreshing upstart in several departments: from the often wondrous comedic element, dry in its overall tone, right the way down to the fact every one's tongue is of a Kiwi origin. In every sense of the term, it is the film Isolation should've been; and if it is compared to 2004's Shaun of the Dead, then it is because said film did precisely this with the zombie sub-genre. Such a comparison is merited.

The film begins with an act of violence involving a human being and a sheep, the first and most certainly not the last as two young boys occupy their father's sheep farm. The youngest of these two, the Oldfield sons, is Henry (Fenton); a boy whom with his brother grows up but unlike him moves away although is returning to the farm here-and-now for the first time in many years to sell off a stake in what its worth. His issue with returning is that he has a deeply rooted phobia of sheep given certain events that happened to him on the farm when he was younger. Once there, he meets once again with his brother Angus (Feeney) whom it later transpires is involved in particular genetic experiments involving sheep; something that attracts the attention of two activists named Grant (Driver) and Experience (Mason) whom speak of previous animal rights missions they've undertaken which have gone horribly wrong as they themselves attempt to infiltrate the property.

On another strand, Angus is looking to expand his experiments that have brought about the attention of many businessmen from all over the world, particularly the Japanese which usually means the technological advancements really are rather grandeur. He practises in front of rows of empty chairs where the forthcoming visitors are to sit, and while the composition of many-an empty chair carries with it a sense of foreboding, it is here we put two and two together regarding the premise before realising with a devilish laugh that sheep-fodder is up and on it's way.

Angus' dabbling in "agricultural sciences" will eventually come to see all manner of nastiness break out, writer/director King pushing the boat out and experimenting with all sorts of black comedy and hellish laughs; symptomatically inserting all manner of humour, creativity, energy and pulse into a premise long since worn into the ground by films that are merely homage posing as something much more than a technical exercise. Here, the activists unwittingly release a lamb embryo loose amidst the grounds; King allowing the audience to teasingly hear the results of what happens when one of these fully grown things gets close to a human without actually showing us what happens.

It isn't long before Angus and his team of cold, mechanical and somewhat uncanny looking team of barn-dwelling scientists each end up endangering the lives of everybody on the grounds; Experience and our lead Henry coming to form the core pairing as he attempts to deal with his morbid fear; she attempts to deal with the situation of volatile animals trying to harm her and both of them having to deal with each other as best-of-initial-enemies. King's film is good fun and impressively sticks to its guns in equal measure; delivering on generic demands but keeping everything reigned in. It isn't mean spirited in the mould of the stupefying, poorly made and grotesquely misjudged 2006 horror-comedy Severance, a film which flitted uncomfortably from content to content to cheap laughs to full on torture in an uncontrolled and immature manner, and nor does Black Sheep ever take the essence of its plot too seriously; in a world of unofficial sequels to remakes of films such as The Hills Have Eyes and ill-advised reinvigoration's of others such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Black Sheep is a welcome horror film tonic with its quick wit and eye for brooding situations.
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1/10
Finally a rival for Night of the Lepus!
phaedrav11 September 2006
This is one of those movies that is so bad it wraps around into good. Low budget and cheap too.

This is one film not afraid of low brow humour. Bad jokes galore. I won't be spoiling it for you if I tell you it's full of fart jokes.

Everyone agrees it's about time sheep got a chance to let their alter ego go wild. Scientists are still evil of course, but there's lots of hippy activist alternative healing for balance.

Don't look for depth here (even in the underground scenes) but go in prepared to revel in the gore and silliness.

My other vote for this movie was a ten.
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9/10
The most fun I've had at the movies this year.
sanjr128 April 2007
I went to see a screening of "Black Sheep" last night at Tribeca and I have to say I was immensely impressed!! The film gets right to the point after a bit of exposition & once it revs up it's engines & hits the gas it really moves!. The subject matter?? Zombie Sheep of course! What did you think it was about eh?? The usual rigamarole about genetic testing with sheep DNA & human DNA & what do you get?? A horde of flesh eating sheep that would tear thru Romero's zombies anywhere...anytime. The performances are top rate & the script and direction are more than satisfactory. Let's get one thing straight here, This film isn't trying to reinvent the wheel, It's just looking to take a ludicrous premise & have a gory good time with it. It does this most efficiently. My only quibble with it is some of the accents took a little bit of time getting used to. You have to kind of pick up the cadence & the rhythm of it. It took a little bit of time for me but I picked it up. Luckily this is the type of film that doesn't need a lot of dialogue to get into. The story is simple and plays very easily on screen. The gore is top notch also. Do not think that they skimp on it...They don't. The blood & viscera fly freely, Along with the limbs. I groaned in disgust more than a few times while watching this movie. All in all, A great time at the movies. As a matter of fact it's the most fun I've had at the movies this year, Supplanting "GrindHouse" which was a blast...But a long blast. "Black Sheep" gets it right & does it in the right amount of time. Go see it...It's a hoot!!
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7/10
A "B movie" that does justice to black humor and a refreshing look on zombie movies!
yoshi_indo18 April 2011
Coming from Australia I understand that sheep is a major part of life in New Zealand, and know that sheep out number people by a long shot.

With that background knowledge, I thought I caught most of the dry humor movie presented in this movie.

The cinematography is great with many dark in door shots contrasted with the grassy fields of New Zealand. This juxtaposition created great atmospheric contrast and made the darker scenes all the more grim. The movie is visceral not shying away from limbs being torn off, and necks being torn to shreds.The SFX are pretty good for most of the part, but some of the monsters are obviously a man in a suit, and that broke the illusion quite a bit.

The writing is interesting, there are some formula plotting and clichés in this movie,but considering it seems to satirize horror movies they are employed quite well. The characters are very quirky but can be empathized. The humor is very dark using the purity of sheep and turning them into demonic beings from hell itself. However the humor (I thought) was very dry and only people from the oceanic region may understand it.

A good movie that deserves a look if one is bored, and is in a mood for watching over the top gore caused in a very comical manner.

6.6/10
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5/10
A Very Ba-a-a-a-a-d Idea For A Horror Movie?
strong-122-47888526 October 2016
You'd think that with a title like "Black Sheep" there'd be at least one genuinely "black" coloured sheep in the whole herd who was the biggest, meanest, and, yes, "blackest" bugger of them all. Yeah. And when it came to the merciless slaughtering of humans, this vicious beast would be the one who couldn't be stopped so easily - No - Not like to others.

And besides all of that - I don't care one bit if the creature is literally gnashing its teeth and foaming at the mouth like a lunatic - Dull, innocuous barnyard animals (such as sheep) make for the lamest, most unconvincing movie-monsters imaginable.

Set in the beautiful New Zealand countryside - Black Sheep's story deals directly with what happens when genetically altered sheep develop a rabid thirst for human blood and go on a murderous rampage, attacking one and all with a vicious frenzy.

Yes. Black Sheep was horrific and gruesome. But its intended humour didn't even come anywhere near to matching that monstrous level of ferocity at all. (If only it did) I found that all of the bloody carnage (and the story, in general) (what there was of one), quickly became quite tiresome, and, yes, predictable.
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