This delicious Kiwi horror comedy has a lot of fun with an inherently absurd premise that, at first glance, seems as daft as killer bunny opus NIGHT OF THE LEPUS until you stop to consider the fact that sheep are, in fact, fairly ugly and intimidating creatures up close. Director Jonathan King is influenced as much by the early gore comedies of Peter Jackson – with which this shares a distinctive, New Zealand-centric sense of humor – as he is by American movies in the same vein, notably AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON. The biggest homage to the latter is a face-stretching transformation scene refreshingly executed the pre-CGI, old fashioned Rick Baker way.
Farmer Nathan Meister has had a life-long fear of sheep since, as a kid, his older brother played a gruesomely cruel practical joke on him involving freshly removed sheepskin. Returning home with the intention of ditching his share of the family business, Meister discovers that his bro (Peter Feeney, enjoyably odious) has been genetically altering – and screwing – his flock, using his own DNA to create a race of “super sheep”. While spiritual “greenie” Experience (Danielle Mason) attempts to sabotage the labs where the experiments have taken place, a mutated, deadly lamb fetus gets loose in the wild, bites her pal and instigates the spread of a virus that turns sheep into flesh-eating hostiles and men/women into grotesque sheep / human hybrids.
A full blown, lush orchestral score and the now familiar majesty of New Zealand’s rural landscapes provide a cute backdrop to the inspired, grisly zaniness of this briskly paced cult movie wannabe. Helping to ground the broader elements of the film are appealing performances from a fine, small cast. Mason is a stand-out as the female lead, pulling off a rare combination of being eccentric, irritating and endearing all at the same time. Meister makes for a likeably beleaguered, unlikely hero and the supporting cast are prone to stealing entire scenes, notably Glenis Levestam as the unflappable, tea-making Mrs Mac.
Old school FX credibly combine with real sheep to create the movie’s vicious woolly monsters. Kudos to WETA FX for an excellent blend of animatronics, puppetry and splattery make-up effects. The earlobe-biting lamb fetus provides an early highlight and Feeney’s inevitably unpleasant fate, following a healthy dose of bestiality, is a real crowd pleaser. The movie hit’s the bulls eye, however, during the massacre staged at Feeney’s posh outdoor business meeting. Assorted guests are rapidly disemboweled and dismembered by a sheep onslaught, with the Monty Python-esque tone of most of the movie neatly summed up by the moment in which a guy chucks his own freshly severed foot at an oncoming sheep.
King’s film has a lot of infectious fun with its concept, from the instant comic gold of its “were-sheep” to some delightful throwaway gags (hurling mint sauce at the sheep, somewhat logically, has the kind of effect holy water has on vampires!). The character banter is well played (“What about the sheep?” “Fuck the sheep!” “There isn’t time for that right now…!”) and, beyond the splat stick, the movie gets good laughs with nicely timed jokes at the expense of the genre. At one point, Experience laments “Oh my god!” upon entering a room, cueing a dramatic pause and the shocking revelation that….the room has really bad Feng Shui! An obvious but amiable final gag featuring a literal sheepdog ends this breezy movie on a suitably sarcastic rendition of an 80’s-style final “shock”.
– Steven West
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
