Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Boobirt Stylish but barely mediocre overall

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

SteinMo What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Spikeopath 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

Nathan Haskew I have to say this is an extraordinarily difficult title to review. I of course went into it expecting one of those movies that's so bad that it's funny (you know the ones--we all watch them eventually.) But what I got was so much more.Don't get me wrong, you still have to use that basic mentality and not take anything seriously, but the weird thing is...I think that's what the movie makers were doing as well. I swear, if you're one of those people who makes a ridiculous prediction, you will see most of them come true. Here were some of mine and a rough summary of the movie.A couple of annoyingly pro-environmentalists (complete with aggravatingly hipster girl and douschie boyfriend) steal some sort of demon/mutant/fetus sheep in a glass jar (literally directly in front of the scientists working on them.) Now I bet that fetus sheep's going to attack them. 10 minutes later, dousch-man falls, breaks jar, and gets his ear bitten off by a puppet/mutant/fetus sheep.Now, since this is some sort of sickening genetic experiment, I bet the man is now infected. Turns out he was! I bet he'll turn into a sheep-man. Slowly through the movie, we see him turn into...a MINOTAUR...I mean, a sheep-man. To be honest, they look kind of the same (not that minotaurs appear in the movie--that would be absurd.) And by that, I mean, the sheep-man actually looks badass, and is able to send the main guy (who coincidentally has an intense phobia of sheep--he had a messed up childhood) flying across a room with a minor backhand.Anyway, the fetus mutant sheep ends up mixing with a normal flock of sheep and, you guessed it. They all get infected. The hoard of demon sheep can now begin to take over the world. But we'll get there.As it turns out, the head of this scientist team (who I'm still not entirely sure what they are trying to do) turns out to be the douschy older brother of the main guy. He plans to present what I think is supposed to be the perfect sheep to a convention of scientists from around the world. But on the way there, he gets infected by the first sheep-man and eventually shares his fate. Rather than freak out, he accepts it fully. Fully to the point of heavily-implied bestiality with the "perfect sheep" which may or may not have been concocted from his own sperm.Somehow, his little brother also gets infected, and if you're guessing climactic, sheep-brother battle in the ruins of a sheep demon world, you'd guess right. I can't give too much away, but just know if I could recite this entire movie back to you, I would. This is truly a movie you just HAVE to see.As far as putting it through the movie gauntlet rating, I'd say it ranks pretty high. Acting: ranges from creepily good to laughably bad. Effects: surprisingly good and occasionally laughably bad (you're working with sheep demons here, give them a break.) Storyline: fairly ingenious (I couldn't best it if I had to use sheep as my antagonists.) Cinemaphotography: excellent. The wide shots of New Zealand grasslands are incredible at setting the mood. Climax: ultimate pay-off. You'll laugh until you cry.So overall, I'd say yes, I am a fan of Black Sheep. Looking at it from the perspective of a movie-maker, I find it inventive and entertaining. If you're someone who needs to analyze the psychological aspects or take notes on the motivation and backstory, this movie isn't for you (and you may have a disorder of some sort.) But if you're someone who can suspend your disbelief and just enjoy the absurd, you will love Black Sheep. I guarantee it.

MrGKB ...as befits a tongue-in-cheek B-movie horror comedy about ovine monsters, "Black Sheep" turns out to be a bit different from what its trailer represents, but that's not a bad thing. The leads are strong (if otherwise unrecognizable to American audiences, and so what?), pretty much across the board, and production values are high, with very nice camera-work by (predominantly second-unit) DP Richard "Avatar" Bluck, fine fx work from Weta "LotR" Workshop, and solid helmsmanship from Kiwi writer/director, Jonathan King, who wisely surrounded himself with plenty of talented people with whom he's previously worked. There's a droll sense of humor that permeates "Black Sheep," and, for me at least, it worked nicely. It's not quite in the same league as films like "Shaun of the Dead" or "Dead Alive" or "Fido," but that doesn't detract from its charms. Its tale of woolly experimentation gone awry mines a great deal of familiar territory (I won't bore what few readers I'll get here with yet another recap), but the central conceit of docile ruminants transformed into carnivorous beasties along with their human prey leaves plenty of room for thematic jokes (eg. the effects of mint jelly on weresheep) within the beautiful environs of New Zealand. Recommended to fans of the comedic horror genre; those looking for serious chills will be disappointed.

Electrified_Voltage How did I first hear about this horror comedy film from New Zealand? I can't remember exactly, but I do recall discovering its existence not long after its release. I had previously seen another film called "Black Sheep" (though not the first one with that title), which was the mediocre 1996 comedy starring Chris Farley and David Spade, but knew that this film had nothing to do with that one. I started watching this horror comedy about three years ago, I guess not long after it came out on DVD, but didn't get very far into it. I never watched the whole thing until sometime within the past few weeks, and think I found most of it pretty boring the first time, or very close to it. However, watching it a second time just a few weeks later, it did improve.Henry Oldfield is raised on a sheep farm in New Zealand, and one day in his childhood, his older brother, Angus kills Henry's pet sheep and decides to play a cruel prank on Henry with the sheep's carcass! The two brothers are then informed by the farm's housekeeper, Mrs. Mac that their father has just died in an accident. These two incidents traumatize Henry and give him a phobia of sheep. Fifteen years later, the younger Oldfield brother returns to the farm after therapy for his phobia, to sell his share of the farm to his older brother, who is still a piece of work. Angus happens to be conducting genetic engineering on sheep, turning them into vicious flesh-eaters! Environmental activists Grant and Experience come to get evidence to expose this secret experimentation, and Grant manages to steal a mutant embryo! The two activists are separated while running from the scientists, and Grant accidentally releases the embryo, which bites and mutates him! The mutant lamb then goes around and infects flocks of sheep, so being afraid of sheep now won't be such an irrational fear for Henry to have, nor will it be for others on the New Zealand sheep farms! Even during my second viewing, I found some parts that made me laugh a bit around the beginning, but not enough to really satisfy me or convince me I really got it. However, that changed before long. The first really funny part I found was probably the segment which introduces Grant and Experience, as Grant steals the embryo and the two of them must evade the scientists. I even found it funny when the creature is freed and attacks Grant, even though this is one of the gruesome scenes! There are many more funny parts after this, with a sheep driving a truck, some of Experience's environmental talk, Angus' encounter with the mutated Grant on the road, and a number of others, even if they're mostly not HUGE laughs. The characters face a lot of danger on the adventure, so the film also has its suspense. The effects by Weta Workshop for the mutated creatures look pretty hokey, but due to the company's reputation, and that fact that I've seen their work in several other movies, this must have been intentional, part of the movie's campy style. Lots of beautiful New Zealand scenery is featured here, and I didn't recognize any of the cast, but was still pleased with their performances.This movie was released not long after "Snakes on a Plane", and it seems both films are campy ones, with deliberately hokey special effects, and are not meant to be taken seriously. However, when I watched the first film of the two for the first time just a couple months ago, I was still not impressed, and couldn't imagine a second viewing changing that. Even my first viewing of "Black Sheep" was better than that one viewing of the venomous snake movie, and like I said, my second viewing of this film showed an improvement after the first. A major reason why I think this film is far superior to "Snakes on a Plane" is that unlike the more widely known campy flick of the two, I actually found this one funny. I can understand why many would hate this particular film entitled "Black Sheep". Many would probably misunderstand it, plus some scenes are VERY gruesome, so the film is NOT for those who can't stand that kind of graphic violence! It's also possible that I don't quite get this film as much as I might if I knew more about New Zealand culture. Still, overall, I think it's a pretty good contribution to the horror comedy genre, for those who don't mind insane movies!