by jon bosworth
Mix American Werewolf in London with Night of the Living Dead and The Island of Dr. Moreau (with a healthy dose of Shaun of the Dead) and you get Black Sheep. Angus Oldfield is the heir and third generation farmer of the Oldfield sheep farm in New Zealand and the black sheep of his family in this IFC independent film. Henry Oldfield is the estranged brother that left the farming business to pursue an IT career in the city due to his phobia of sheep. A phobia he developed at the hands of his brother.
Henry's therapist has recommended that he return to the family farm and face his fears. To make double-duty of his trip, he is also selling his portion of the farm to Angus, who is still, even fifteen years after Henry left the farm following the death of their father, jealous of Henry's status in their dead father's eyes. Henry means to collect his money and head back to the city, but that was before he ran into Experience.
Experience is a hippie and animal rights activist that has snuck onto the Oldfield farm with her partner in activism, another hippie named Grant. They are on a reconnaissance mission to capture photographs of the scientists under Angus' employ violating International law with their illegal genetic experiments on sheep. In a digression from the activists' plan, Grant nabs a jar containing a sheep fetus that is marked for disposal. During their run from the lab assistants he stole the fetus from, he falls and the fetus comes to life and attacks him.
For the rest of this film expect the most preposterous and hilarious horror film you have seen in years. From Grant's guilt-ridden bloodlust to Angus' unnatural love for sheep, this film has all of the elements of a camp film with the subtext of opposing genetic modification in farming. Like Bloodcar, which played in the film festival this year, this film plays on the progressive left's strength - making a joke of something serious. Black Sheep is a considerably better funded film than Bloodcar, and because of its awareness of the standards in this genre, its satire is much cleverer.
After Experience and Grant are split up, as Grant deals with his transformation from being bitten by the sheep fetus, Experience finds Henry getting a tour of the farm he grew up on by Tucker, his old friend and the farm manager. Experience tries to take the two hostage but is quickly outsmarted, as the hippie knows little about operating guns.
Eventually Experience helps Henry overcome his fear of sheep as the two run for their lives from the bloodthirsty flock. A desperate pursuit that ushers them into a love affair. A love that eventually has to stand up against Grant, the mutated man-sheep that held a flame for her.
As the two uncover Angus' illicit laboratory practices, Henry decides against selling off his portion of the farm. As consumers from all over the world assemble at the Oldfield farm to see Angus' advancements and the sheep of the future, the bloodthirsty flock is also converges on the assembly. The gore is only equaled by the humor of watching it happen at the bleating bloody mouths of sheep. Making the archetypal "peaceful" animal into a horrifying superbeast is the ultimate in satire, but the real beauty of this film lies in the formulaic telling of this Frankenstein-ish tale.
The blond son is the good one, while the dark haired son is the black sheep. Of course the one with a phobia of sheep is the one that the fate of the world relies on against the plight of genetically modified sheep. And in the end, a glorified fart joke saves the day.
Catch Black Sheep at the San Marco Theatre at midnight on August 17th and 18th and be prepared to laugh until beer shoots out of your nose.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
