Black Sheep (2007)

Dir: Jonathan King

Genetic experiments gone awry create a flock of mutant sheep, hungry for human flesh. If you've read any pulp novels from the 70s or 80s, you'll have heard this plot more times than you care to remember, featuring any animal from crabs to pigs and back again. When you factor in that this is a New Zealand film, the use of sheep becomes depressingly obvious. However, much kudos to first-time writer/director King for taking such a tired idea and actually making it fly. "Black Sheep" is great. The characters, although stereotypes, are fleshed out enough to make you care. The dialogue is sharp. The jokes are way more hit than miss (including one scene in a truck that had me, literally, in tears with laughter) and there's an intelligence, even to the dumbest of fart gags, that forces the film to restrain itself when in risk of going too far. Throw in some well- orchestrated scenes of tension and horror, gooey prosthetic FX and slick cinematography and you've got a winner. This low-key little movie is far closer to Edgar Wright than it is to Peter Jackson. A nice effort and I look forward to seeing what comes next from these guys. ***