Black Sheep

Though the film doesn’t quite live up to the promise of its admittedly irresistible premise, Black Sheep nevertheless possesses enough positive attributes to warrant a mild recommendation. First-time filmmaker Jonathan King wisely resists the temptation to infuse the movie with an over-the-top sensibility (eg last year’s disastrous Evil Aliens), and instead emphasizes the inherently horrific consequences of such a storyline. Set in the mountains of New Zealand, Black Sheep follows several characters as they’re forced to battle bloodthirsty sheep after a genetic experiment goes horribly wrong. King’s tendency for bogging the proceedings down with needless subplots becomes a problem early on, as it’s generally impossible to care about most of this stuff and one can’t help but wish that the director would’ve just focused on the killer sheep. That being said, there’s a fantastic sequence that comes about midway through involving a gleefully brutal attack on a group of business executives that’s probably worth the price of admission.

**1/2 out of ****