Black Sheep

Angus Oldfield is a reckless genetic engineer who is trying to create a new race of sheep out of the flocks that peacefully graze the green pastures of New Zealand. His brother Henry, terrified by sheep after a childhood trauma, returns to his family’s farm in order to work with him. But when two inept environmental activists release one of Angus’ mutant lambs in the woods surrounding the farm, the sheep are turned into a flock of bloodthirsty predators!

As a delegation of international investors gather to see the brand new Oldfield sheep, the flock happily banquet on them.
 But the humans bitten by the monster sheep are turned into zombified sheep-men… The destiny of mankind and sheepkind in New Zealand is in the hands of Henry, his farmer friend Tucker and green activist Experience. 

Young Kiwi director Jonathan King has created an explosively funny horror comedy that keeps all its promises: be it rude jokes or a light irony towards environmental fanatics, or even splatter scenes in the tradition of Peter Jackson’s first features.
So is this a trash, no-budget flick?

Not at all: scripted and directed with care and a deft knowledge of the genre(s), Black Sheep features excellent photography and soundtrack, and is inhabited by three-dimensional characters.

Henry and Angus, respectively the hero and the baddie, are equally humorous without being farcical, while idealist greenie activist Experience (an ironic treatment of the traditional “nomen omen”) owns a hilarious if subtle moment of comedy: when her boyfriend Grant, now a giant monster-sheep rises up to his colossal height, she doesn’t look at him in the face, but - you know where!    

Just as in 28 Days Later, the catastrophe is caused by over- zealous activists, which could be read as an implicit criticism to their  gung-ho ways.
But the most dramatic scene of the film raises awareness of a horrific practice that actually takes place in every country: vivisection and genetic experimentation on live animals.

So the ethical message of the film remains coherent:  respect  natural laws.
It is no accident that the only character who can healthily relate to meat, blood and innards is old maid Mrs. Mac, who  is untouched by so-called progress -  yet has no problem in killing a  sheep.

Rating

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