Customer Reviews

Black Sheep (Unrated)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(47)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

When I first rented Black Sheep I thought that I might get a few laughs from the film and that would be that. When I finished the film I had done a complete 180, thinking how this reminded me a lot of a newer Dead Alive. This isn't to say that the two movies are similar in plot because they aren't, but the two have a lot in common. Here we have a simple premise, genetic mutation, applied to a beastie that isn't really something you normally think "monster" with. That worked out well, too, because sheep weren't just fluffy little abominations to contend with. Depending on the size of the beast, the fluffiness, and the amount of teeth it is willing to lend to the shout, they can seem quite deranged - especially when they're double-dipping into a vat of humanity. We also have a main character, a troubled main character, with issues locked both in the past and the present.
And then we have the humor, bizarre and cuddly and terrible all on its own, making a beautiful butterfly to watch buzz the skyline.

One thing I have to say about Black Sheep is that the previews really didn't do it justice. I'm not sure you could do it justice, either, but having such a good movie on your hands and having it spread by word-of-mouth is a sad affair when you think about it. I suppose that's been the blight of a lot of great dark comedies in their time; you have an idea that seems odd but that works, an audience that will grow to love it once they see it, and a bunch of film critics that will herald it the wrong way. Such can be expected, but so much the pity when the product is worth seeing. The acting is good, the prosthetics is good, the sheep fighting humans is funny, and the little plot pieces hiding here and there kept everyone I know rolling because it seemed so beautifully constructed. I honestly never imagined myself as a fan of a sheep body checking someone until I saw it.
I really needed to watch it twice just to get enough.

Granted, this isn't for everyone. It does have its fair amount of gore, a style of humor that is dark and yet light at the same time, and it makes fun of a lot of different types of people. Hippies suffer the film wrath here, for instance, and so do the varied lot of journalists and business class people. That's pat of the beauty of it, too; not everyone will enjoy it but, if the idea seems to be funny to it, it will be sooo much better than you expected.
Highly recommended for anyone interested (you already know who you are).

Black sheep has ingredients from all kinds of classic horror films sprinkled heavily with dark comedy, tons of gore, and great scenery, horror fans get a rare treat in this direct to video fangoria seal of approval film.

INGREDIENTS:

One part mad scientist messing with nature film; two brothers, one the prodigal son with a fear of sheep returns to take his share of the family farm and the "black sheep" evil brother who is conducting experiments in his laboratory with sheep genes. And no doubt the experiments go baaaad.

One part zombie film; a cross between 28 Days Later and Shaun of the dead. More so Shaun, but the animal rights people getting involved has the 28 days influence. When these mutated sheep are free they turn into blood thirsty beasts hungry for flesh. Perhaps all zombie films with their messages borrow from sheep, like Dawn and the aimless zombie like people mocking our consumer hungry society at malls, maybe there not zombies or people but; sheople.

One Part Were wolf movie; when a sheep bites you instead of becoming a blood thirsty zombie you actually transform into a sheep and then go looking for food. There is a part at the end reminiscent of the classic werewolf movie An American Werewolf In London.

Throughout all this we get two of the most extreme sides of animal rights. On one side we have the attractive greenie who believes the food we eat and farts we make contribute to the greenhouse effect, and her boyfriend who in trying to help causes more death. Then we have the evil scientist who throws all the genetic mutations in a hole labeled official dumping site and is willing to kill for money and profit. It pokes fun at the extremists in a fun way.

If you want a great newly released horror comedy along the lines of shaun of the dead with sheep this is for you. If you like man v. nature tales and like them serious and filled with actual frights check out Isolation also direct to dvd this year and great as well.

The dvd looked great and far from low budget but it's the soundtrack that stands out. My rear speakers worked so effectively at one part I though something had fallen off the wall.

Picture this: Genetically mutated monster sheep run amok on a remote New Zealand farm. The concept alone is enough to get B horror fans excited. But can a story about killer sheep really provide enough entertainment for a feature film without running out of gas? Writer/director Jonathan King, with special effects help from Peter Jackson's WETA workshop, proves that it can in.

When two animal rights activist's attempt to steal away with some lab specimens, they do more harm than good, releasing a dangerous experimental sheep fetus-monster whose bite is infectious in a style reminiscent of the Sumatran rat-monkey bite in Peter Jackson's gory classic Dead Alive. Infected sheep turn into rabid human-hunting carnivores; imagine a 28 Days Later where it's the sheep that are infected with rage. Meanwhile, humans that get bitten slowly morph into gigantic powerful were-sheep creatures. In both cases, the special effects are incredible. Very little CGI is used, making for more realistic monsters and more intense deaths, both of which fans of the genre will cheer for.

The underlying story about a young man with a crippling sheep phobia, the result of a traumatizing impish prank from his childhood, is decidedly light, but still makes for decent cinematic fare. Obviously, he has to overcome his improbable fear over the course of the film, while buckets of blood and guts are poured on everyone in sight. As the DVD case clearly states, this film is "not for the weak of stomach." Though the gore gets pretty intense, Black Sheep is still a good-natured comedy romp at its core and the jokes and sight gags keep the film from settling into generic B horror complacence.

"Can a schlocky horror comedy about weird sheep be perfect? Why not?" asks a WETA workshop prop maker in the information-rich "making of" featurette included on the DVD. It's a good question and not a simple one to answer; though this comedy/horror hybrid has its flaws, fans of low-concept B horror movies will be hard-pressed to find a more expertly executed example of the nature-gone-wild creepfest.

IF YOU ARE A FAN OF AUSSIE HORROR ( WHICH TENDS TO BE SPOTTY AT TIMES FROM GOOD "DEAD ALIVE " TO TERRIBLE "UNDEAD " )HERES A REALLY CLEVER TALE .
TYPICAL OF NATURE GONE MAD FILMS LIKE "FROGS" OR "FOOD OF THE GODS" THIS ONE REVOLVES AROUND A FAMILY / CORPORATION WHICH GENETICALLY TRIES TO IMPROVE THEIR SHEEP FARMING WITH DISASTEROUS RESULTS .
THE TRULY INSPIRED IDEA THAT SWEET LITTLE SHEEP CAN BE A THREAT DOESNT WEAR THIN IN EITHER THE LAUGHS OR THE GORE . THIS FILM SIMPLY IS FUN . THE LAUGHS ARE SELF SERVING AND SILLY SURE BUT IN AN EVIL DEAD 2 KINDA WAY .
BELIEVE ME IM NOT A BIG FAN OF HORROR PLAYED FOR LAUGHS (ITS WAY OVERDONE AND OFFENSIVE TO REAL HORROR FANS ) BUT THIS FILM REALLY IS SO OVER THE TOP ITS JUST WORKS .
BY THE TIME THE HERO QUAKES WITH TERROR AT THE SIGHT OF HUNDREDS OF SHEEP COMING OVER A HILL THE ABSURDITY AND HILARITY WILL SURELY OVERCOME YOU AS IT DID ME .
WELL WORTH A LOOK AND FOR THE COLLECTOR HORROR FAN A FINE ADDITION TO YOUR COLLECTION .A WINNER .

this movie treads that fine line of a horror comedy that actually works pretty well. for the most part.

if you think killer mutant sheep sounds funny, then you'll like the movie, otherwise.. well, why would you be here otherwise...

if it sounds like your cup of tea, you're in for a fun ride. basically the outbreak started because of genetic modification of the sheep. also.. if you're bitten and you survive, you become a sheep.

the movie works mostly and has some hilarious scenes of carnage. although, the joke was wearing a little thin at the end, and the climax was about as lame as it gets.. also they had too many scenes that tried to be suspenceful. i really dont get anything out of a mutant sheep slowly stalking around. there should've been more footage of the carnage, because when there was, it was great. i just expected more from the studio that made Dead Alive and Bad Taste(some of the bloodiest, slimiest movies ever made) and they let me down. there should've been a lot more over the top gore, with less focus on the mutation and the human sheep hybrids, it just didnt work for me.

other than that, the movie was good. the camerawork was good, there were great shots of the New Zealand fields and hills(it really makes sense that Peter Jackson filmed most of LOTR there, that country is beautiful) acting wasnt bad, and the gore effects(should've been more) were great.

Black Sheep (no, not the Chris Farley and David Spade starring movie from the mid-90's) is a movie that has to be seen to be believed. Taking place in New Zealand as a sheep-phobic man (Nathan Meister) returns to his old family farm to make peace with his brother (Peter Feeney) who just so happens to be genetically altering the sheep that populate the land. These sheep end up with a hunger for human flesh, and those they bite turn into monstrous were-sheep (yes, were-sheep), and before you know it, they're running amok. Yes, Black Sheep sounds absolutely ridiculous, and by all means it is, but the film is so enjoyable that you can't help but admire it. Not to mention the brilliant gore and creature effects courtesy of Peter Jackson's own WETA workshop team, as rookie writer/director Jonathan King throws one visual gag right at you after another upon heapings of gore. It doesn't come close to the irreverent horror/fun of Shaun of the Dead per se', but for what it's worth, Black Sheep is bloody good fun that fans of comedic horror should definitely check out.

I'll make this short, Black Sheep was a film about killer sheep so it's not meant to be taken too seriously and it was a decent horror/comedy film that I thought was not to bad however there were a few scenes that I didn't find interesting and some of the humor didn't work. This film comes from New Zealand and was inspired by Dead Alive and some of the characters were pretty dumb but I guess it was part of the charm that this film has.

It does have some great special fx like that huge weresheep and some of the gore was fantastic and very bloody, watching some of the sheep attacking and eating humans and turning the tables was interesting and funny and watching them hunt in packs looked great but it soon loses a bit of steam especially towards the end.

The fx were done by WETA who were the same people who did Dead Alive but I felt like the film was a bit uneven. Overall I would have to say that this film was worth watching but don't expect it to be a masterpiece. Black Sheep was released by Dimension Extreme who have been releasing some good titles lately and this flick was decent at least turned out to be better than the that awful Diary of The Dead.

OK, I just couldn't resist seeing this strange looking film! I watched this film with my wife and we both found it very entertaining. The funny thing is....it could have been played completely straight and worked! Sheep are freaky looking critters and I found myself a little creep-ed out, looking at them up close! This is a very dark comedy/horror film all the way and they pull it off. With a 85 minute running length the film ends before the jokes get old. Very good FX and some gratuitous gore for my gore-hound buddies keep this film from becoming too silly. The film does have some very good scares too, so If your looking for something different maybe 'Black Sheep' is just your Baaaaagggg! ;-b

I've been anxiously waiting to sink my teeth into this horror comedy since it arrived at my house a few weeks ago. The premise is pure genius! It's a movie about killer...sheep. Amazingly the filmmakers were able to contract special effects wizards, Weta Workshops (the lads who did work on the Lord of the Rings Trilogy) to create the "Were-Sheep" designs. Did I mention it was about killer sheep? The recipe for this film is practically flawless.

Too bad the final product didn't turn out as nearly as tasty as the recipe sounded. I wanted to love this film, I really did. For the first 25 minutes I was entertained. Yet once all the sheepish mayhem began I couldn't wait for it to end. The movie is simply boring. It has one simple gag...cuddly sheep turning evil and killing people is funny. Don't get me wrong it's hilarious when it first starts, but the movie is a one trick pony.

The paper thin plot consists of Henry (Nathan Meister) coming back to his family's sheep farm to sell his portion to his older brother Angus (Peter Feeney). However, Angus has been performing genetic experiments to create some form of super sheep without his brother's knowledge. Of course said experiments go horribly wrong and the results are the evil Were-sheep (unbeknownst to Angus). Toss in some hippie environmentalists, who inadvertently trigger the sheep invasion, simmer for an hour and wait for it to end. Seriously, this movie isn't meant to be scary so it needed to bring the funny. Unfortunately, after a few hilarious scenes in the first act, we are left with unfunny (not to mention mundane) gore effects. For all you gorehounds, I hope you like seeing sheep rip out intestines because it's an effect that gets reused ad nauseam. The final straw was that the human sized Were-Sheep were utterly silly looking. Oh, and apparently, once you turn into a Were-Sheep all you can do is punch people in the face with a vicious right hook (you'll see what I mean). I might have been able to forgive some of this if the grand finale was extraordinary, but the resolution was pretty awful.

Black Sheep desperately tries to recreate the same greatness as Peter Jackson's earlier work such as Bad Taste and Dead Alive. This movie is nowhere near that level of entertainment. If you find basic gore gags and sophomoric farting jokes to be funny then this movie might be for you. I'm not above low brow humor (that's an understatement) but this movie bored me to tears. A great premise does not make a good movie and Black Sheep is certainly proof of that.

Final Grade: D+

*** and 1/2

Have you heard about an attack of carnivorous mutant sheep? Well, they are in New Zealand, and they happen to star in this movie. "Black sheep" is a black comedy horror film that stands out from the herd. Given the number of horror movies released these days, that is no small feat.

Everything begins when Angus (Peter Feeney), the owner of an idyllic ranch, decides to genetically alter his sheep in order to earn more money. Things get out of hand, though, due to a freak accident that releases an experimental fetus, whose bite turns normal sheep into deranged ones with a lot of extra teeth and an unhealthy apetite for human meat. As if that were not enough, people bitten by these contaminated sheep turn into monsters that join the killer herd. Angus' sheep-phobic brother Henry (Nathan Meister) is the unlikely heroe that will try to save the day.

This is obviously a ridiculous plot, but it is original and carried out in such a way that makes you laugh despite yourself. I'm not a fan of horror movies, but I really liked this one. There is a lot of gore, but there are many funny spoofs that help you not to take it too seriously.

On the whole, I can say that I liked "Black sheep", and that I'm certain that writer/director Jonathan King is highly likely to make many interesting movies in the future, if he continues along the path he has begun with his debut feature. Recommended...

Belen Alcat