Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead
Directed by:
Kiah Roache-TurnerCinematography:
Tim NagleComposer:
Michael LiraCast:
Jay Gallagher, Bianca Bradey, Leon Burchill, Beth Aubrey, Sheridan Harbridge, Meganne West, Brendan Byrne, Luke McKenzie, Dane HallettVOD (1)
Plots(1)
In the aftermath of a comet breaking up over Earth, most of the planet's population quickly succumb to a strange disease which turns them into 'zombies'. Few survive, and those who do, quickly discover all existing fuel sources have been rendered useless by the plague. Trapped in a wilderness teeming with living dead and unable to travel to any safer location, survivors have little to live for. One of those survivors, family man Barry, has lost everything except his sister Brooke. But even as the disaster unfolds, Brooke is kidnapped by a gang of paramilitary thugs and dragged off to a terrifying medical lab run by a psychotic 'doctor' who is performing a series of deranged experiments on plague survivors. As Brooke struggles to devise an escape plan, she slowly realises that the doctor's experiments have given her strange powers over his zombie captives. Meanwhile, Barry teams up with fellow survivors Benny, Frank and Kelly, determined to rescue Brooke and protect what family he has left. (Altitude Film Distribution)
(more)Reviews (5)
Spectacularly made, fast-paced, full of gore and conceived as a crazy horror comedy (sub)genre film, Wyrmwood is a
zombified Mad Max with an Australian outback accent, a few cool ideas and a handful of demented ones.
()
A refreshing, dynamic and fun zombie ride from Australia. A lot of nice ideas plus fierce action and editing. In the “low-budget splatter” category it’s basically perfect. For me it has only two (and not totally unimportant) problems: the incredibly annoying aboriginal guy and the climax that, compared to the events thus far, is a drop in quality rather than an improvement. I simply didn’t care about that last fight in the forest.
()
After decades of stagnation, the zombie horror genre is getting some new blood in its veins. The film’s tagline, “Mad Max meets Dawn of the Dead”, is by no means an exaggeration and the result is an adrenaline rush that artfully disguises its low-budget roots and wins the hearts of viewers with its uniqueness, avoidance of the usual formulas and, to a large extent, the local Australian specificity that further refreshes the narrative together with the innovative treatment of the zombie-apocalypse concept.
()
It's not your typical horror movie; comedy is definitely in the mix. But that didn't bother me one bit; there are times when I can appreciate dark humor, even amidst flying bits of human anatomy and bodily fluids spraying everywhere. The Australian filmmakers turning their population into zombies while giving a nod to Mad Max 2, was quite the entertaining ride for me. I think anyone who's ever delved into Racoon City (preferably on PS1) could find some enjoyment here, but I wouldn't recommend it to viewers who don't have a taste for straightforward gore flicks. / Lesson learned: If you don't have blood type A- and you spot a falling star, don't panic. It might not be what you think... yet.
()
"Wyrmwood" is primarily a very well-executed work, with properly rough scenes that you expect, there is dirt that suits it immensely, there are excellent zombies and heroes, with whom you can actually sympathize, even though they are not Hollywood beauties. I like the naturalism of the film, in addition, you also get quite original ideas, which are not seen very often. Australia shows that horror films are definitely close to it. Gradually, I am starting to like their work more and more.
()