No one does break down of society cinema better than the Aussies and this mischievous mash up of Mad Max and Brain Dead makes a fine edition to the antipodean apocalypse sub-genre.
Wyrmwood:Road of the Dead is set in the aftermath of a zombie inducing meteor shower. We follow the trials of mechanic Barry as he tries to find his kidnapped sister Brooke amidst the ensuing flesh munching madness. Throw in some shady government activity and more than a few surprising twists on established flesh eating tropes and we get a thrilling outback roller coaster ride that screams out of the blocks and only looks back to check you are keeping up.
The cast put in a more than decent shift, throwing themselves wholeheartedly into believable performances both in terms of physicality and the delivery of the witty machine gun fast dialogue. Leon Burchill(Stoned Bros) is particularly brilliant as Benny a superbly well written cult movie character.
Over 200 litres of fake blood was sloshed about during the making of Wyrmwood and it certainly delivers in this key area for fans. The impressively large gore department was supervised by special effects coordinator Gavin Kyle(Sick)and the results are deliciously practical, unnervingly realistic and humorously original.
Wyrmwood was a project that was carefully nurtured and had a four year gestation period .Props and costumes were made by friends and crew who like all great indie zombie epics also doubled up as the walking dead.
The elongated shooting schedule and homespun production methods do not hamper the over all vitality of the movie. At times it does give the impression of flitting from one encapsulated set-piece to another but the general pacing of the film more than makes up for this gripe.
Discovering fresh angles with which to develop zombie lore is at the pulsating heart of creating a reanimated corpse flick that inspires cheers instead of yawns. This boisterous slice of modern day Ozploitation from brothers Kiah and Tristan Roache-Turner is more than aware of this and relentlessly splatters the screen with clever ideas, boundless enthusiasm and unadulterated affection for the undead.
★★★★
Genre: Horror, Splatter, Action Distributor:Studiocanal DVD Release Date:11th May 2015(U.K.) Rating :18 Director : Kiah Roache-Turner Cast: Jay Gallagher, Bianca Bradey, Leon Burchill Buy:Wyrmwood: Road Of The Dead [DVD]
