New Zealand’s scariest flock of sheep are back, baby.
Rattle your dags, sharpen your shears and somebody check on Oliver Driver, because it has just been confirmed that a sequel for the local horror comedy Black Sheep will start production next year, nearly two decades after the original film became a cult favourite.
Boasting one of the greatest taglines in cinema – “There are 40 million sheep in New Zealand… and they’re pissed off!” – Black Sheep grossed $5 million at the box office following its release in 2007. Directed by Jonathan King (Under the Mountain, The Tattooist), the film is centred around city boy Henry Oldfield (Nathan Meister), forced to confront his childhood sheep phobia when he returns to the family farm to sell out to his brother Angus (Peter Feeney).
But when Henry arrives home, it is clear that something strange has been happening with the sheep. Secret genetic experiments have turned them into flesh-craving carnivores, whose bite will infect the victim and transform them into mutant sheep-zombies. When guerilla greenie activists release a lamb and the biting begins, what transpires is a splattery blood-soaked B-movie romp, described as “every bit as violent and contagious” as 28 Days Later.
Premiering as part of the Midnight Madness series at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2007, the film garnered plenty of positive reviews from critics. Spin magazine said it “doubles as a fable about two grown brothers and triples as a fresh national myth for New Zealand.” The Times praised its “woolly mix of hilarity and horror”, adding it will “put you off doner kebabs for life.” The Observer called it “extremely violent, full of black humour and what might be called shear terror.”
So what do we know about the sequel so far? It’s called Black Sheep 2, and it will follow a young scientist who is convinced that a dangerous new pathogen threatens the population of New Zealand. When she tracks it all the way back to her hometown – conveniently located in the shadow of the remote sheep station where the macabre events of the original Black Sheep unfolded – we can assume that things are probably going to go… baaaaadly.
What else? Jonathan King will return to direct the sequel, which he co-wrote with Matthew Grainger and Rosie Howells. Black Sheep 2 will start production in March/April 2025, and be produced by King and Grainger, alongside James Partridge and Samantha Braun of Terror-Fi Films. Nathan Meister will reprise his role as Henry, and Wētā Workshop is jumping back onboard to ensure that everything looks as disgusting as possible once more.
If you haven’t seen Black Sheep for a few years, it is well worth a rewatch. While being outrageously funny and gory, with glorious special effects and skin-crawling body horror, it’s also not afraid to get to the guts of some big slippery issues. There’s environmental concerns, the trappings of Kiwi masculinity, generational trauma and the rampant greed of capitalism, all while asking the most important question of all: just how long could you last in an offal pit?
As luck would have it, it’s available to watch now on TVNZ+, and is enjoying a 4K re-release across the country this month as part of the Terror-Fi Film Festival. Just don’t plan to eat a succulent lamb roast – or anything else for that matter – while you are watching.