Black Sheep is Jonathan King’s outlandish comedy-horror about zombie sheep on the rampage on a New Zealand farm. “Juxtaposing gore and sheep made me smile,” the filmmaker tells Matt McAllister...

What filmmakers have had a big influence on you? Black Sheep seems to recall the work of early Peter Jackson...

I was definitely influenced by people like Sam Raimi, George Romero and Peter Jackson for Black Sheep. But also people like Terry Gilliam, Orson Welles, the Coen brothers and Hitchcock really shaped how I see films - and the world!

Where did the idea for Black Sheep come from?

Take films by the directors that I mentioned, watch in a country where sheep outnumber people ten-to-one and stir vigorously ... It kind of popped into my head! After that it was about structuring and developing all the stuff it suggested to work as a 90-minute film.

What’s the key to a successful horror movie? Do you think that a comedy-horror is harder to pull off?

I think the key to a successful horror movie is a distinctive idea that hasn’t been done before (even if it’s riffing on things that have), and a compelling execution of that idea that can draw people in and carry them along for the length of a movie. Easier said than done!

A comedy horror is not necessarily easier to do: both aspects have to work. I don’t think you can say, ‘don’t worry about the horror, it’s a comedy’ or vice versa. If either falls flat you have a failure.

You must have been excited to have Weta on board to do the special effects…

Are you kidding? It was amazing, a dream come true. Richard Taylor read the script really early on and said he wanted to be involved. That really made it possible to make the film – from both a practical and investor-confidence point of view. They took all the expertise and creativity they’d honed on Lord of the Rings and King Kong and poured it into animatronic sheep!

There’s a lot of gore in the movie yet there’s also a sweet love story at its heart. Did you find it important to strike a balance between the two?

Gore was something that I always wanted the film to deliver on - juxtaposing gore and sheep was the thing that made me smile to start with. But I knew that it would get tired real quickly if there wasn’t a human story to follow through the film. I have a huge affection for the characters and their story and I think they’re partly what sets the film apart from others.

Do you think it’s easier to direct material that you’ve written yourself?

For me, I think so, yes. You have to know, love, inhabit every aspect of the story and principally try to please yourself. I think that could be harder if you’re working on something you had no hand in creating. Having said that, if I found something that really spoke to me, I’d love to have a go.

Have you been pleased with the reaction of the movie?

I’ve been over the moon. I never expected it to travel so far, so well or so quickly as it has. The best thing has been people enjoying it in the way that I intended it and having it appeal wider than just a hardcore horror audience.

What’s next for you?

Next up I’m making a dark and scary fantasy called Under the Mountain. It isn’t a horror film, but has definite horror and sci-fi elements ... and I’m working with Weta Workshop again. That will be out next year.

Are you interested in making Black Sheep 2?

Only if I could do something really different with it - I wouldn’t want to tread the same ground. And I’d get the second unit to shoot all the sheep!

Black Sheep will be released on DVD (region 2) by Icon Home Entertainment on Monday 31st March 2008.