Black Sheep (2006)

An experiment in genetic engineering turns harmless sheep into blood-thirsty killers that terrorize a sprawling New Zealand farm.

Director:

Jonathan King

Writer:

Jonathan King

Stars:

Nathan Meister, Peter Feeney, Tammy Davis

5 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nathan Meister	...	Henry Oldfield
Peter Feeney	...	Angus Oldfield
Danielle Mason	...	Experience
Tammy Davis	...	Tucker
Oliver Driver	...	Grant
Tandi Wright	...	Doctor Rush
Glenis Levestam	...	Mrs. Mac
Nick Blake	...	Taxi Driver
Matthew Chamberlain	...	Oliver Oldfield (as Matt Chamberlain)
Nick Fenton	...	Young Henry
Eli Kent	...	Young Angus
Sam Clarke	...	Young Tucker
Richard Chapman	...	Muldoon
Louis Sutherland	...	Winston
Ian Harcourt	...	Brash

Storyline

Growing up on the family sheep farm was idyllic for smart, sensitive Harry Olfield, except for some knavish mischief from cocky brother Angus, until their dad has a fatal accident. Fifteen years later, Harry has finished sheep-phobia therapy and his ICT schooling and returns. Angus buys him out, all ready to present the genetically engineered Oldfield sheep he bred with a ruthless team. When environmentalist Grant steals a discarded embryo, which has sharp teeth, he gets bitten by it, and thus the first the be infected with predatory hunger and a mechanism that turns any mammal into a werewolf version. Running for the farm men, Grant's mate, student Experience, gets teamed up with Harry and his boorish but gentle pastoral youth friend Tucker. They must survive both the bloodthirsty sheep and their creators, who didn't realize this yet but dispose of an antidote.

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Plot Keywords:

sheep | farm | antidote | genetic engineering | new zealand | 

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Taglines:

A new breed of comedy horror

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

NZonScreen listing

Country:

New Zealand

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 March 2007 (New Zealand)

Also Known As:

Muerte en la granja

Filming Locations:

Wairarapa, New Zealand

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£246,135 (UK) (12 October 2007)

Gross:

£534,415 (UK) (19 October 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Zealand Film Commission, New Zealand On Air, Daesung Group, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The man who is pulled down by a sheep while trying to find the keys to his car is the director, Jonathan King.

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Goofs

At one point a candle flame is touched to a live sheep and it bursts into flame quickly. Actually, wool ignites at a high temperature and has a low rate of flame spread. It is very flame resistant and self-extinguishing.

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Quotes

Tucker: What about the sheep?
Angus Oldfield: Fuck the sheep!
Tucker: No time for that bro. Go go go!

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Connections

Referenced in Dragonetti the Ruthless Contract Killer (2010)

User Reviews

A Nutshell Review: Black Sheep

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.