Wiwille's movie reviews part 89

Most horror films have never been my thing, but horror comedies, like "Dead Alive" and "Adventureland", are a real treat, mostly because they don't take their nonsense seriously, and therefore; create a better suspension of disbelief. Plus the scripts get to laugh at themselves, which allows the audience to look aside the stupid formulas and cliches all scary movies use.

"Black Sheep" has all the elements of a good horror comedy, but takes it a step further with one of the most ridiculous concepts ever conceived. Set in New Zealand, a seemingly gentle boy (Henry) is riding a bike through a sheep ranch, when he comes across a cruel prank by his older brother (Angus), who slaughtered a sheep and wore it as a cape in order to frighten the young lad, which apparently worked. Fast forward fifteen years later. After being gone from the family ranch for years Henry develops a phobia of sheep, but returns to sell his share of the ranch to Angus, who is now running it like an evil corporation.

Angus is genetically modifying the sheep with his own DNA, for reasons that are entirely clear, turning them into carnivores. Not only do they feast on flesh, but if they bit someone, they in turn to into some human/sheep hybrid of sorts. Henry comes across two environnmental activists who steal a lab subject, which escapes and infects all the sheep at the ranch, turning the whole place into some zombie sheep ranch. It's up to Henry and his new activist friend to save the day!

Sure the whole damn thing is silly, but that's the point. Zombies themselves are stupid, so having them as sheep isn't really much of a stretch. The characters are a bit thin, and the villain Angus is wholly without motivation beyond doing evil for the sake of it, and it's somehow supposed to be profitable, never mind how. The photography is beautiful at times and the actors do their best given the material. It's gory, memorable, and really just a laughable good time. There will be moments when you're laughing at the movie than with it, but it's still enjoyable.

Thanks to Justin for submitting this. Wanna see a film reviewed by Wiwille? Drop me an email or comment and you'll see it soon on One Bad Apple. Rules are posted here.

"Lush photography of the beautiful New Zealand hills combines with skin ripping mayhem and over-the-top humor to make one of the funniest of the new wave zombie satires yet." - Ron Wilkinson