Get ready for the Violence of the Lambs!
An experiment in genetic engineering turns harmless sheep into blood-thirsty killers that terrorize a sprawling New Zealand farm.
Genre(s): Comedy, Horror
Runtime: 87 minutes
Rating: 6.0/10 (11,441 votes)
Release Date: 10 September 2006
Country: New Zealand
Languages: English
Company: New Zealand Film Commission
Sound: Dolby Digital
Director(s): Jonathan King
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Producer(s):
Philippa Campbell - producer
Judith Trye - line producer
Writer(s):
Jonathan King - (written by)
Cast:
Matthew Chamberlain - Oliver Oldfield (as Matt Chamberlain)
Nick Fenton - Young Henry
Sam Clarke - Young Tucker
Eli Kent - Young Angus
Nathan Meister - Henry Oldfield
Nick Blake - Taxi Driver
Oliver Driver - Grant
Danielle Mason - Experience
Peter Feeney - Angus Oldfield
Glenis Levestam - Mrs. Mac
Music: Victoria Kelly
Philippa Campbell - producer
Judith Trye - line producer
Writer(s):
Jonathan King - (written by)
Cast:
Matthew Chamberlain - Oliver Oldfield (as Matt Chamberlain)
Nick Fenton - Young Henry
Sam Clarke - Young Tucker
Eli Kent - Young Angus
Nathan Meister - Henry Oldfield
Nick Blake - Taxi Driver
Oliver Driver - Grant
Danielle Mason - Experience
Peter Feeney - Angus Oldfield
Glenis Levestam - Mrs. Mac
Music: Victoria Kelly
Posted on: October 19, 2008
November 7th, 2008
I heard about this interesting looking horror comedy film, and I amvery pleased I decided to give it a go. Basically Henry Oldfield(Nathan Meister) has had a fear of sheep since childhood, because hisbrother Angus (Peter Feeney) killed his pet sheep, and now he wants tomove on from the farming world, and is selling his share of the hisdead father's farm. Meanwhile, animal rights activists Experience(Danielle Mason) and Grant (Oliver Driver) sneak into the farm and finda research laboratory, stealing a container, which obviously getssmashed, containing a special sheep foetus, biting Grant, and then anadult sheep. So Henry and his other brother Tucker (Tammy Davis) aregoing about their business, they meet experience, worried about the nowmeat eating (and he used to be vegetarian) Grant, and they soon are onthe run from the growing population of mutated killer sheep. It isAngus that admits to being the head of this experiment to create theperfect sheep, but don't worry, he gets his comeuppance in the end, andthe sheep are cured. Also starring Glenis Levestam as Mrs. Mac, TandiWright as Dr. Rush, Matthew Chamberlain as Oliver Oldfield, KevinMcTurk as Weresheep and Mick Rose as Mike. Think Hitchcock's The Birds,with sheep, mixed with the old fashion zombie or mutant movies, andwith special effects by Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop, you have a verygory, very disturbing and very funny horror comedy movie. Very good!
January 26th, 2009
I can't believe that the NZ Film Commission puts money into trash likethis at the expense of serious film makers, who want to actually makefilms that NZ film makers an be proud of. The best actor was the sheepdog. Plot was okay, but badly acted, pathetic script writing, and badlydirected. Weta of course did their stuff well, but nothing could savethis film.
I suspect this has been a case of someone, knowing someone else thatcould pull some strings to allow this to go ahead. And then putting alltheir mates into the cast and the result speaks for itself.
Am I the only one with the guts to say this publicly? This is exactlywhy I have moved to Australia to continue my film making, where it'staken seriously.
March 19th, 2009
New Zealand eh. Famous for it's beautiful scenery, the accent and . . .. . . . . . . sheep. Lots of sheep. So it was maybe only a matter oftime before a New Zealander made a film about killer zombie sheep.Wasn't it? Writer/director Jonathan King set things up quite quicklyand simply. Two young brothers who grew up on a farm (where one wastraumatised and now maintains an irrational fear of sheep) have toreunite when Angus (the older brother who caused the trauma) buys outHenry (the younger, traumatised one) just before a big presentationthat will show the future of sheep breeding. Unfortunately,unscrupulous Angus has been getting better product from his sheepthanks to the little genetic research lab he has allowed to work awayon the farmland. And as is so often the case, a couple of animalactivists are on hand to sabotage things and set off a chain-reactionthat will lead to loss of lives, meat-eating sheep and more carnagethan you can wave a woolly scarf at.
Of course it's an absolutely absurd premise. Sheep are docile andplacid and completely unthreatening in any way. But that's what makesthis movie so much fun. Sheep have not been so funny in a horror moviesince one was blown up in "Bad Taste" (ANOTHER NZ film from PeterJackson, who must have a statue erected over there already, surely).You will like this movie only IF you can go along with the ridiculousconcept, IF you find it hilarious to see someone taken offscreen by aflying ball of wool and IF you laugh when shown a sheep standing in acorridor underscored by particularly menacing music. The juxtapositionworks so well for the most part, and it's helped along by a number ofscattered gags about bestiality, damaged bodies and . . . . methane. Nohigh class horror here, no way.
With effects work from WETA (the Oscar-winning guys behind the LOTRtrilogy) you are also guaranteed fun in the eye-popping carnagedepartment. After a rather sedate build up I can assure you that theblood and gore start flying around with both gross and comic effect.Not to be watched while eating, for instance, a lamb casserole but it'scertainly good enough for even the staunchest gorehounds.
As for the actors involved, they're all good enough and bravely goalong with their character's predicaments but this is about the sheep.The deadly, killer sheep. And a movie like this doesn't come alongevery day, as some of you will be thankful for.
See this if you like: Braindead AKA Dead Alive, One Man And His Dog,sheep.
March 24th, 2009
Isn't it great when you go into a film expecting very little and itturns out to be excellent? Black Sheep could be described as a zombiemovie with sheep instead of zombies; but that wouldn't really be doingit justice. I wouldn't go as far as to say that this film is completelyoriginal; it certainly takes influence from the zombie genre as well as'nature gone wild' films such as The Birds; but the numerous crazyideas and the wacky way in which everything is presented ensures thatwhat we have here is a film that's not quite like any other – andthat's a real big compliment when you consider all the dreary remakesand rip-offs being released en-mass nowadays! The plot focuses on afarm somewhere in New Zealand. The owner of the farm has decided tolook into genetics in order to create a better sheep. Meanwhile, hisbrother and co-owner (who has a bad case of ovinaphobia as a result ofa childhood prank) is on his way back to the farm. It's not long beforeit turns out that there's something wrong with the sheep; the cutewoolly animals have turned into vicious killers!
Of all the animals to base a film like this on, SHEEP are surely one ofthe last that would come to mind – but surprisingly it works so wellit's almost unbelievable! The usually docile animals look right at homewhile 'on the attack' and it makes for some really great horror!Obviously a film like this is never going to be serious and so you'vegot to expect some humour. I've seen many horror films ruined byhumour, but Black Sheep even gets that right! Some moments of the filmare absolutely hilarious (the sheep driving a truck is a particularhighlight) and the weird and wonderful atmosphere benefits the film onseveral occasions. The special effects are just great and serve inmaking the film believable; despite the strange goings on. The filmalso takes the idea of genetically mutated sheep much further than youwould expect; and some of the ideas in this film are borderlinebrilliant. It all boils down to an amusing and satisfying ending and Iwill say that if you're a fan of horror, you need to track this down.Black Sheep is an absolute blast from start to finish – don't miss it!