Funny and intermittently exciting, but it's never scary.
Black Sheep (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:87
Fresh:62
Rotten:25
Average Rating:6.4/10
Consensus: With an outrageous premise played completely straight, Black Sheep is a violent, grotesque, and very funny movie that takes B-movie lunacy to a delirious extreme.
Theatrical Release:Jun 22, 2007 Limited
Synopsis: This blood-soaked horror comedy is the story of Henry Oldfield (Nathan Meister), a New Zealander with an unfortunate phobia...of sheep. When Henry was a boy, his father was killed in a herding... This blood-soaked horror comedy is the story of Henry Oldfield (Nathan Meister), a New Zealander with an unfortunate phobia...of sheep. When Henry was a boy, his father was killed in a herding accident on the land, and Henry fled to the big city. Now, years later, he has returned to sell his half of the farm and--at the behest of his therapist--to face his fears. Meanwhile, Henry's sadistic older brother Angus (Peter Feeney) has taken over the family business, and become widely known for his controversial genetic experiments on the animals. When two animal activists release one of Angus's genetically-altered lambs, Henry's trip quickly turns into his worst nightmare, as the lamb's zombie-like bite turns sheep and people into vicious flesh-eaters. Henry joins forces with one of the animal activists (Danielle Mason), and together they try to escape the sheep and find an antidote for the virus. Director Jonathon King cleverly plays on the silliness of the normally docile, dimwitted lamb as terrifying monster, and his shots of the sheep swarming over the hills induce equal parts thrills and laughter. However, the storyline could perhaps have benefited from a bit less action, and a bit more plot, as the suspense and jokes begin to fizzle by the end. The excellent WETA WORKSHOP (known for its work on the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy) delivers hilariously gory special effects. Faces are eaten off, humans throw their own limbs, and heads explode, culminating in a raucous bloodbath that will likely earn BLACK SHEEP cult status among the EVIL DEAD crowd. [More]
Starring: Nathan Meister, Danielle Mason, Peter Feeney, Tammy Davis
Starring: Nathan Meister, Danielle Mason, Peter Feeney, Tammy Davis
Director: Jonathan King
Director: Jonathan King
Screenwriter: Jonathan King
Producer: Philippa Campbell
Studio: IFC Films
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Reviews for Black Sheep
Like Snakes on a Plane, the whole movie is essentially contained within the title. All the picture itself does is to repeat that concept for 87 minutes.
It's still relatively early in 2007, but this wry comedy about sheep gone baaaaad promises to be the best vampire-flesh-eating livestock movie of the year.
The only people who are likely to feel hard done by are vegetarians, farmers and those whose stomachs are weaker than their sense of humour.
Veteran music-video director Jonathan King's first feature film mixes black humour and over-the-top gore in an old-school horror romp that harkens back to the early films of Peter Jackson.
There are lots of clever ideas in Black Sheep, which spins out endless variations on what sounds like a one-joke premise but isn't.
Once the novelty wears off, we’re left with a poorly-made black comedy with plenty of gore but little suspense and even fewer laughs.
Black Sheep is essentially a silly, grisly elaboration of a simple idea: What if sheep started feasting on human flesh and turning their victims into huge ovine zombies?
Stunning vistas of New Zealand's rolling countryside aren't enough to carry this lame 2006 horror spoof about a lab experiment gone awry.
Jonathan King's film is an intentionally moronic mash-up of horror clichés bound to delight all fans of grade-Z entertainment.
Shaun of the Dead has set the bar pretty high for this sort of thing; Black Sheep just isn't nearly as funny or suspenseful.
The most gruesomely satisfying spectacle for hard-core environmentalists would be that of a group of foreign investors in the evil enterprise being gobbled up by a flock of rampaging sheep.
For his first feature, the director has started with a simple joke -- the incongruity of sheep being threatening -- and embellished it wittily enough to keep us chuckling throughout.
Dopey editing, ropey pacing, hokey story structure, scrappy sound, rubbish rubbery gore and acting that would shame a toddlers’ nativity play.
While it's rarely fall-down hilarious, it's witty enough to please horror fans in search of a light-hearted tribute to splatter flicks of old.
The farce maintains a rollicking pace and the performances are more accomplished and likeable than a film of this sort generally musters.
Latest News for Black Sheep
October 09, 2007:
RT on DVD: 28 Weeks Later, Reign Over Me, and Surf's Up!
Horror fans are in luck, since a number of new DVD releases this week (28 Weeks Later, Black Sheep) offer critically acclaimed thrills and chills -- and we know how rarely that... More...
June 21, 2007:
Critical Consensus: "Evan Almighty" Is All Wet; "1408" Is Worth A Visit; Jolie Shines In "A Mighty Heart"
This week at the movies, we've got Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman in the big-budget Bible comedy "Evan Almighty"; John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson in the haunted... More...
April 26, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
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