DVD review (region 2)
Directed by Jonathan King
Starring Nathan Meister, Danielle Mason, Peter Feeney, Tammy Davis
Release date 31 March 2008

An outbreak of a genetically engineered virus at a sheep farm turns the placid woolly creatures into ravenous flesh-eaters…

Director Jonathan King is obviously au fait with his Bad Taste and Braindead, for this New Zealand effort bears more than a passing resemblance to those earlier comic gore fests. Mind you, Black Sheep is a much slicker affair, boasting decent production values and excellent special effects from Weta, the masterminds behind the FX in The Lord of the Rings (suggesting that King owes just as much to latter day Peter Jackson).

While you can’t help but miss the slightly shambolic nature of Bad Taste, Black Sheep nevertheless succeeds as both a splatter flick and an oddball rom-com. On the one hand it doesn’t skimp on the gore, delivering an onslaught of gleefully disgusting moments (a worldwide delegation of businessmen being torn apart by the ravenous flock is one highlight). On the other hand, it’s the rather sweet love story between a shy sheep-a-phobe and a would-be militant animal rights activist, likeably played by Nathan Meister and Danielle Mason.

It’s in the handful of scenes when Black Sheep really goes over the top that the film comes into its own, including a punch-up with a giant sheep-man hybrid and a zombifed sheep careering off the edge of a cliff at the wheel of a car. Judging by his baarmy debut, King could have a bright future in the genre.

The DVD extras include a commentary by King and Meister, deleted scenes and a detailed ‘making of’ feature. Matt McAllister

VERDICT: 7/10
Sweet-natured zombie sheep flick.