BLACK SHEEP (2006)

BLACK SHEEP And The Dr. Ian Malcolm Effect

I bet you’re wondering what the grosstastic horror comedy BLACK SHEEP (2006) written and directed by Jonathan King, has to do with Dr. Ian Malcolm from JURASSIC PARK (1993). That’s fair. BLACK SHEEP has no dinosaurs, and JURASSIC PARK has no sheep. They both have a character named Muldoon though! But the real common threads are gene splicing and what I call the “Dr. Ian Malcolm Effect”:

“Your scientists were so preoccupied on whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

BLACK SHEEP is a horror comedy about mutated sheep that develop a taste for meat and violence. It takes place on a prosperous farm in New Zealand, and the gorgeous landscapes add another layer of horror because of the insanity happening against its serene beauty. The film is self aware and takes advantage of the opportunity for a few well-executed puns. The puppeteering, practical effects, and gore are well done. The acting is solid. The transformations are enjoyable. It may be purposely dumb, but it doesn’t feel cheap. BLACK SHEEP is a fun watch on a rainy day if you want to laugh. I am going to take that a step further and argue that this film is far better crafted than it gets credit for and deserves flowers for massaging a lot of crazy horror themes into one grotesquely lovely monster.

From the beginning, the strained relationship between Angus Oldfield (Peter Feeney) and his younger brother Henry (Nathan Meister) feels darkly heavy and reminiscent of THE GOOD SON.

This feeling carries through the entire film. Throw in the easy trope of managing the family farm together and boom, here’s some sibling drama.

The movie doesn’t waste time getting to mutant sheep. The creature they develop is a terrific mix of science experimentation gone wrong, werewolf curse, and zombie infection.

It reminds me of THE FLY (1986), IN THE COMPANY OF WOLVES, and 28 DAYS LATER. Later in King’s film, audiences also get hints of THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, JURASSIC PARK-like hunted scenes, and some NIGHT OF THE LEPUS flair as our heroes are chased across this massive farm. All of these different themes and references work together to keep the story interesting, fun, and fast-paced.

Throw in GREMLINS-esque creatures, EVIL DEAD II camp, blood, and gore, and you have a true amalgamation of all the best parts of horror.

This is the Dr. Ian Malcolm effect in full bloom. Let’s take everything cool and put it into one super cool thing. It rarely succeeds. It’s usually a catastrophic failure. Think of all the movies you’ve watched that were hampered by trying to do too much. Yet in BLACK SHEEP, we have this rare opportunity to see it thrive.

I don’t know if Jonathan King sat down and said, “I’m going to write and direct a horror movie including all my favorite themes.” Society would’ve told him that’s not wise.

But maybe he simply wondered if he could.

Maybe he stood on the shoulders of giants and said, “let’s make one uber giant!” However BLACK SHEEP came to be, I thank you for it, Mr. King. Thank you for believing that sheep could go there.

BLACK SHEEP was an indie horror I first saw when I didn’t realize how much I loved the B-Horror genre. My initial experience with it was so memorable that even though I didn’t remember everything that happened in the film, I remembered laughing a lot and squealing with delight at the gore. Now having since seen many other films in the genre and its various sub-categories, I was concerned that it wouldn’t live up to my original rating when I sat down to revisit it. My concerns were way off the mark. Not only do I still love BLACK SHEEP, it is because I’ve seen so many other titles that I can appreciate how truly special and legitimately good this one is in particular.

Aside from being a beautiful mess, this movie has other high notes that should be celebrated. Climate change weighs heavily upon our minds these days, and the environmental theme in BLACK SHEEP still feels important. It blends the consequences of empty and shallow activism while commenting on the very urgent problems of the unregulated farming industry. This film also has one of my favorite non traditional final girls of all time in Mrs. Mac (Glenis Levestam), the older caretaker of the house. When one of your character’s lines is “I haven’t shot anyone since Christmas!”, then you know she’s a firecracker.

If you’re into chaos theories like Dr. Malcolm and delight in seeing some crazy shit go down, or just a casual horror fan who wants to watch something high quality, BLACK SHEEP should be on your list. It’s smarter than it seems, which is a nice change from dumber than it thinks. As I write this, it is currently streaming on TUBI for free. Don’t be so preoccupied if you could, go ahead and watch it because you should.