Baa baa bloodthirsty sheep

Amazingly, ‘Black Sheeps’ was made on the same budget as the first film was twenty years ago. “My favourite thing about filmmaking is all of it, except the waiting around to try to get the money; that’s the hardest thing,” says Jonathan. “What I like about low-budget filmmaking is we’re like, ‘we’re starting, we’re doing this thing.’ You just start making stuff and keep it going as long as you can.”

Wellington cinema certainly has an affinity with blood and gore. The city is home to socially awkward vampires, brain-eating zombies, gruff werewolves, and of course, murderous sheep. Jonathan King is the writer/director of the iconic 2006 horror/comedy ‘Black Sheep’ and its 2026 sequel, ‘Black Sheeps’.

After having its world premiere in Spain at Sitges Film Festival, ‘Black Sheeps’ came home to the Roxy Cinema in Miramar for its New Zealand premiere. Supported by Screen Wellington, a grass carpet was rolled out and a sheep-worshipping cult greeted moviegoers at the doors. “It’s such a Wellington film,” says Jonathan. “The Roxy was where we announced the sequel at Terror-Fi. It felt like a real homecoming.”

Filming of ‘Black Sheeps’ returned to the same picturesque Wellington locations as the original. There is also a familiar cast, and even the sheep who appear in the film are descendants of the original zombie flock. “Everything was shot in Wellington; our studios were in Avalon. Our locations were all out on the Coast: Ohariu Valley, Boom Rock Station. It feels like you’re in the middle of nowhere, but you're only thirty minutes from the city.”

Despite the familiar setting, the sequel is anything but a predictable rehashing of the original. It follows Oates (Tabatha Killick), a young scientist who returns to her rural hometown searching for evidence of an outbreak, only to discover a sheepish cult, wild conspiracy theories, and misinformation.

The cult status of the first film made the decision to go ahead with the sequel an easy one. “’Black Sheep’ sold really well around the world, but I think it’s lasted in a way that a lot of films don’t,” says Jonathan. The film not only brings Wellington’s landscape to the big screen, but it resonates with Kiwis self-deprecating humour. “New Zealanders often squirm at seeing themselves on screen. Many New Zealand films will only show New Zealanders as kinda munters. We’re comfortable laughing at ourselves.”

While it had been quite some time since Jonathan had made a feature film, the sequel was a clear no-brainer. “I felt incredibly match fit, and that proved to be true when we made the film. It went super well.” Key to that success were the many Wellington partners the production drew on. “Wēta Workshop made the creatures again. We had an emphasis on practical effects. It was exciting to see what the technological advancements meant for practical creatures, in terms of lighter materials and animatronics.”

As well as Wēta, the production drew on Wellington artisans for handmade effects. “The gore effects were done by a guy called Bill Hunt. Miniature work was done by Scale Studios, and there’s a stop-motion sequence that we had a whole lot of help on too.”

When he’s not making films, Jonathan is a senior lecturer at Massey University in Wellington. “Massey was very supportive. We shot some pickups in the green screen stage, and we had a camera from Massey.” Jonathan thinks there’s no better place to make films than Wellington. “I love living in Wellington, and I love making films in Wellington, and I'm certainly going to continue doing that. There’s an amazing film community, and I’m really proud to be a part of it and to see a new generation of filmmakers coming through.”