Can't bleat shear black comedy; BLACK SHEEP (15) VERDICT: ***.

FLOCK ME! Don't let anyone pull the wool over eyes about Black Sheep.

It's the funniest comedy horror since 'Shorn' of the Dead and redifines terms like animal husbandry and, er, Gone With the Wind.

A New Zealand farm has been experimenting with 'Frankensheep'.

With one bite from a sheep enough to turn anyone into an equally bloodthirsty predator, it seems like nobody will be on safe ground for long in a country with 40 million of the things.

Brothers Angus (Peter Feeney) and Henry (Nathan Meister) already have their own personal issues to deal with.

Then along comes environmental campaigner Experience (Danielle Mason), farm hand Tucker (Tammy Davis) and a delegation of international investors.

Directed by Jonathan King last spring on a six-farm set stretching from Wellington to Wairarapa, Black Sheep has plenty of ham in its lamb.

Part of the film's ovine charm is that it was shot like an episode of Emmerdale meets Babe. But there's nothing cheap about the effects. They're designed by Weta Workshop's Richard Taylor, the five-times Oscarwinning talent behind Lord of the Rings and King Kong.

With their sharp hooves, lizard-like eyes and dodgy teeth, these sheep are evil little bleaters.

While the film's lovely touches include humans growing sheep body parts, you'll never look at a lamb chop in the same light again.

Watch out... it might bite YOU!

Website: www.blacksheepthemovie.com