Black Sheep

Nathan Meister, Peter Feeney, Danielle Mason, Oliver Driver, Tammy Davis

Dir. Jonathan King
Scr. Jonathan King

I’ll never look at sheep in the same way again. To be honest, I’ve always found them a little frightening anyway (I’m a city girl) and this movie is enough to make you never want go near one ever again. This movie is certainly gross, at times very funny indeed, but not the brilliant masterpiece it could have been.

Angus (Feeney) and Henry (Meister) are brothers who have gone their separate ways – Angus running the family farm and Henry trying desperately to stay away from it. Henry returns to collect his share of the family fortune, thereby giving complete ownership of the farm to Angus – a shady, somewhat unethical farmer who loves his flock just a little too much. Thanks to two trespassing green activists, played by Mason and Driver, all hell breaks loose when an evil cannibalistic sheep is set free and soon the whole flock is infected. Cue a lot of blood and gore and a chance for Henry to overcome his fears and reclaim his heritage.

The best thing about this movie is the basic premise on which it is based – what if the sheep started to attack? Especially in a country where they outnumber people more than ten to one. And that one joke could have easily carried the film for 90-odd minutes. I think where Black Sheep loses it way is when we are faced with the huge sheep/man monster combo. I just think it was unnecessary. It’s much funnier to see normal sheep hurl themselves at unsuspecting people; much funnier to see a flock running over a hill towards a crowd of people to devour them; so much funnier when a sheep comes crashing through a door, The Shining-style.

Also, although Black Sheep has its share of very funny gags (none of which I want to ruin for you – the trailer did its fair share of that already), there were a lot fewer laughs than there should have been. Which was disappointing. And then there were some gags that just weren’t funny and I was somewhat surprised that this film carried only an R13 rating. Angus’s final fate seemed enough to make it R16. Don’t get me wrong – I like my fair share of gore. But something about certain scenes in this film just didn’t float my boat. Which meant, for me, it wasn’t the laugh-fest I was hoping it would be.

Although you’re not going to remember this film for the fine performances of the cast, I thought they were all excellent. I especially had a soft spot for Tucker (played by Davis) who was, by far, the person I would most want in my corner if the sheep did indeed decide to attack. There is also the interesting underlying theme in the film regarding the evils of genetic engineering and the future of farming. Which I’m sure farming types will find fascinating. Me? Well, I just fancied a nice leg of roast lamb with all the trimmings.

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“There are 40 million sheep in New Zealand... and they're pissed off!”