Black Sheep (2006)

Time to check out some crazy Australian killer sheep movie. Like there isn’t enough stuff down under that wants to kill you already. They have spiders big enough to eat birds and snakes that bite you and you die almost immediately. That apparently isn’t good enough for some people, so someone decides to genetically modify sheep with horrific and hilarious results. God, I love horror movies.

Things get rolling with a pair of brothers named Angus and Henry. We see them when they are younger as they lose their father when he chases sheep off a cliff. Years later Henry returns to sell his half of the farm to Angus who has stayed on and become a bigshot in the farming business. Henry has a phobia about sheep, as we see early on, so when he gets stuck on a tour of the farm before leaving he isn’t too happy about it.

Things get much worse for him after he gets caught up in his brother’s evil plans. Angus has modified the sheep with twisted genetic experiments that produce both perfect livestock as well as horribly mutated sheep fetuses, one of which gets out due to some hippy save the animals intervention. This genetic abomination infects the other sheep making them bloodthirsty, as well as turning the people who are bitten and survive into homicidal sheep people hybrids! Much blood is spilled, and Henry has to get over his phobia if the farm, and world are to be saved.

Creature effects are cool

Sometimes a movie’s plot is so absurd that it works. Think about the idea of killer sheep rampaging around the countryside. How would that even work as a horror movie? But when we get the shots of the massive flock running over a hill towards an unsuspecting crowd of people it is actually frightening! Of course by then we have seen the mayhem that the sheep can create. Plenty of throats have been torn out and ears chewed off. The following scenes of sheep violence after the flock hits the mob is satisfyingly twisted. Arms and legs get come off, blood is spraying everywhere and those that survive but are bitten start to change. Again, this is such a silly idea but is executed so well that it is a heck of a lot of fun.

They don't skimp on the gore!

There are some CGI shots in the movie, but they tend to be used to add sheep to the flock at a distance and is mostly used to give “volume” to the infected swarm. The attacks and creature effects, basically everything up close, are all practical. Again, here is a newer movie that uses old school effects work to bring the monsters to the screen. From the rubber half-human half-sheep hybrids to the evil sheep fetus it is glorious. These are puppets being manipulated and interacting with the cast members as it should be in a proper monster movie. Black Sheep also has some very gross moments like the offal pit that our heroes fall into trying to escape the sheep. If you don’t know what an offal pit is think a giant pile of guts. There is also a bit with a hippy vegan who gets infected and eats a rabbit. Very gooey and right in your face. As an added bonus it is also really funny.

I could go on, but I think you might already know that I dig Black Sheep. This is a must watch and a recommendation from me. It can be found easily and cheaply online and is well worth your time and money.

© Copyright 2020 John Shatzer