Black Sheep

Unique villains in horror movies are becoming increasingly rare.  All the classics - vampires, zombies, werewolves, ghosts, masked madmen - have dominated countless films.  Even killer sharks, alligators, dolls, snowmen, and plants have made their appearances.  But one thing the genre was lacking was an army of killer sheep.  Fortunately, writer/director Jonathan King realized this, and gave us Black Sheep with its genius tagline "There are 40 million sheep in New Zealand... and they're pissed off!"

Henry (Nathan Meister) returns home to find his brother Angus (Peter Feeney) has been experimenting with genetically-engineered sheep.  Of course, the experiments go awry, resulting in a flock of mutant sheep who are hungry for human flesh.  It's up to Henry to save the day, an intimidating task since Henry's been suffering from ovinophobia, or, as he puts it, "just a completely unfounded and irrational fear that one day this is gonna happen!"

The effects are done by WETA Workshops, known for their work on the films of Peter Jackson; Black Sheep, in fact, is reminiscent of some of Jackson's earlier work, like Dead Alive.  Blood and guts and limbs all fly freely, literally at some times:  a man throws his own severed leg at an approaching sheep.  The gore is well-done and fun in its over-the-top way, and it leads to more laughs when you think about the fact that sheep are causing this mayhem.

In one intense sequence, a sheep attacks the driver of a vehicle, with a fierce battle ensuing before all the passengers escape onto the back of the still-moving truck; one character belatedly wonders, "Who's driving?".  Cut to a shot of the sheep behind the steering wheel.  To top it off, as the sheep is about to drive off the cliff, the people jump off the truck and into a field; supposedly, their dog does as well, though he is obviously thrown into the shot.  Other highlights include "menacing" shots of a single sheep, ominously shadowed and bleating, staring down its potential victims, and a vegetarian hippie, the first human to be bitten by the sheep, who tries valiantly to resist his urge to eat flesh.  There are also fart jokes and sexual innuendos ("Fuck the sheep!"  "No time for that, bro!"), but not enough to be tiresome.

Black Sheep is immensely funny and entertaining, succeeding in balancing its horror and comedy elements.  The film does run out of steam a bit, relying mainly on its ludicrous premise for laughs, but it's still a fun ride.  Black Sheep is a silly, knowing send-up of horror films and clichés, never taking itself too seriously, but providing good laughs and splatter.