Last season the New Zealand filmmaker started a career in the comedy genre and turned to horror to direct The Lord of the Rings. While this fact alone should make audiences sit back and watch Black Sheep, the new horror film from New Zealand director Jonathan King’s debut, which is the first contender for best picture of this year, is quite another.
After a long absence Henry Olfield returns home to the family farm but to be hired by his brother Angus. Working with some of South Pacific‘s most talented genetic engineers, Angus conducted an experiment to create the perfect sheep. When one of the labs failed experiments is released by some better environmentalists, the rabid creatures quickly turn hundreds of farm animals into predatory, murderous flesh-eating creatures.
Chalk full of “clipping” madness, Black Sheep is a fantastic sugar rush of a campy film. Filled with great gags, fantastic practical effects and buckets of gore, Black Sheep does an incredible job of blending several genres of horror into one uniquely entertaining romp.
Taking cues from Frankenstein, Night of the Living Dead, The Evil Dead and The Living Dead, Jonathon King has selectively summoned up some of the best horror has to offer. The king had a difficult challenge to turn a perfectly harmless yellow ball into something that would strike terror, and while you don’t see a crowd of sheep squabbling over innocent human victims, you must first give credit to the ruler. pursuing them really fiercely.
key to success to create a baaad sheep (I couldn’t resist pity) is obviously graphic violence. The members are viciously torn, disembowelled and castrated as some are treated as ghoulish in the audience, but not all. The film plays up the tensions and fears that surround genetic engineering, so brilliantly that it undoubtedly will kill everyone over-the-top. It is a spark of discussion.
Properties:
With Weta Workshop’s Peter Jackson at the helm of the special effects, you better believe there’s a plethora of small action games waiting to be found on Black Owl DVD. Extreme Dimension has done a fantastic job putting together a CD that has an amazing amount of content for a single disc release.
Jonathon is the king of the movie geek at heart, and hearing the tumultuous uproar from the star of Black Sheep, Nathan Meister, for the feature comment was exhilarating. As morbid and outlandish as the premise may seem, Black Sheep’s story is told by a film aficionado in a dying king to roll it out into the world. You can’t help but be captivated by the killer sheep.
While the gag-reel is pretty standard stuff, it was refreshing to see deleted scenes with some substance. With added commentary from King and Meister, the two explain exactly why these scenes were edited and how their inclusion will affect the overall film.
The highlight of the disc is Party of the Black Sheep, an almost hour-long documentary that sheds some light on how King and WETA connected to some seriously scary sheep. The doc features great behind-the-scenes shots that are interspersed with fantastic cars, unforgettable bits of gore and some good old fashioned New Zealand charm.
Over:
A must-see genre film for anyone who fancies over-the-top gore, Black Sheep is a rare cinematic gem that appeals to its specific demographic. Run the scissors pointed at you and grab this disc, because this funhorror-films are few and far between.
– Joe Russo (www.MoviePulse.net)
