Violence of the lambs

They're mad, they're baaad, they're dangerous. And they're sheep.

Bizarre though the killer lambs in the picture are, they've got a good cinematic heritage - they were created by the team behind the Lord Of The Rings films, Weta Workshop.

One of the team, Dave Elsey, was recently nominated for an Oscar for his work on Star Wars, Episode III.

But their latest creations in the bizarre film Black Sheep are more woolly than wonderful.

The movie, from first-time Kiwi director Jonathan King, centres on a family farm where a herd of mutant mutton develops a taste for human blood.

Actor Nathan Meister plays sheep-phobic Henry, whose brother Angus is secretly running a genetic engineering project on the farm.

Naturally it all goes wrong and threatens to turn New Zealand's 40million sheep into rampaging carnivores. The movie, which received a rapturous reception at the Toronto Film Festival, will be released in New Zealand next year and will hit cinemas here soon after that.

Bet it won't get a ewe certificate...