Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead

Wow! Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead is a glorious achievement for which I send out my thanks and congratulations to all involved. Not only does it deliver 98 minutes of pure, wicked entertainment but manages to do so with uncommon pace, humour, style and energy.

With deft cinematics, competent CGI, solid acting and buckets of gore it has a stand-out quality that's rare and hard to bottle - especially on a modest budget. There are after all few genres that can boast such a catalogue of pure stinkers as can 'the zombie flick.' The storyline isn't necessarily one to explore too deeply but that doesn't really matter. This movie revels in its' own nonsensical journey. Bizarre characters and zombies are hurled at us non-stop, with a side-order of break-neck road chaos and a good few laughs - this viewer was left sated.

Somewhat in the spirit of such splatterfests as Feast (2005) or The Rage (2007), Wyrmwood doesn't take itself seriously but it's abundantly clear that the film making process was. Serious talent is on display here and I for one will be keeping an eye on the Roache-Turners to see what's next.

**geek alert**

As a working photographer myself I must mention the pleasing and somewhat unconventional style of cinematography - particularly the use of wide-angle. I thought the grading, editing and post production generally to be superb. I was surprised and overjoyed to later discover via IMDb that this was in fact shot using the Canon 5D (presumably Mk III). Amazing results. I had presumed this was shot on Reds.

I finished this movie about an hour ago and already I can't wait to see Wyrmwood 2! Great stuff! 7/10

Having watched many zombie films of all different types over the years, I am happy to say that Wyrmwood is an interesting take on the genre. I can't say too much about why I like this film and I would suggest going into it without doing much research into it.

What I will say is that there is a decent amount of action and some very unique and creative twists on the zombie phenomena. Some of these work better than others, though to be fair the film has a somewhat playful dynamic so the unorthodox creative liberties will be appreciated fans who enjoy a bit of silliness.

The bizarre plot devices and comically stoic characters like Frank (Keith Agius) contrast well with the always sombre lead Barry (Jay Gallagher). That said, the character development of Benny is a bit problematic. What starts out as cringe-inducing stereotyping quickly moves to what might be construed as racism. It could be the case that this is an attempt at a deeper social commentary on the genre or Australian film, but that might be a stretch given the overall tone of the film.

The practical effects are decent and the use of CG, while not perfect, doesn't take away from the experience. There are some gory shots but these are nothing that more skirmish viewers wont be able to handle if they are familiar with the genre.

There isn't really too much in the way of character development and the plot is fairly light, but the pacing and the way the film jumps between a couple of different story lines makes the film enjoyable to watch.

One of the things that makes this film stand out is the somewhat surreal and often mysterious cast of characters. It might be the case that the filmmakers left the characters underdeveloped on purpose. Either way the somewhat larger than life characters work well with the overall ambiance of the piece, especially when reflecting on a certain theme revealed by Frank. The Doctor in particular stands out (just how long has it been since the dead started rising again?).

In the end viewers are likely to be left with some unanswered questions, but it is forgivable if we take this to be a slightly different zombie universe than we are used to. Ultimately Wyrmwood is a fun and enjoyable film that will be particularly enjoyable for zombie fans, partially because it unapologetically refuses to be held back by the unspoken rules of the genre.

Although the film is not perfect, I salute the filmmakers for taking some risks and ultimately producing an interesting take on an otherwise tired genre.

It's great to see not only the spirit of DIY filmmaking but Ozploitation cinema alive and well in the form of the Roache-Turner brothers (Kiah the director, Tristan his co-writer) blood filled and over the top zombie carnage horror/actioner Wyrmwood: The Road of the Dead, a film that was clearly a labour of love for these aspiring filmmakers and a film that in recent months has grown quite the reputation on the festival circuit that has seen the filmmaking duo well and truly become the next big thing in the local industry.

Filmed from my understanding over a number of years on a budget that was more than likely made up of family, friends and everyone else in between, there is no questioning that this is an unpolished film but at the same time a film that you can't help but appreciate on a level where you understand that the limitations set before the filmmakers failed to derail a film that is at its core a hugely energetic and often fantastically inventive tale. While we all know that the zombie genre of film and TV has virtually been done to (pardon the pun) death over many years Wrymwood has enough OTT ideas, violence and the Aussie humour we all know and love to keep us glued to our zombie guts covered seats for it's pretty quick fire 90 or so minute run time and in an age of films that look to cover up there budgetary flaws it's a joy to see Wyrmwood reveal in its roots.

Every part of Wyrmwood feels as though it could've been made in your backyard and in anything but a negative it gives the overall sense that this is a film that is truly its own beast. It's glorious to see the Roache-Turner brothers use the locales at their disposal to great effort from the wilderness through the "road of the dead" this is a tale that feels Australian and benefits from it while the movies performances range from impressive through to never passing acting school yet it doesn't bring the film down, it in fact brings it to a new level of enjoyable even though what your witnessing is akin to watching a friends high school media production.

With some off the wall ideas (mind controlling zombie hordes, zombie blood as a new source of fuel, just to name a few) and with an impressively constructed yet whole heartedly home grown production Wrymwood is indeed a film in a league all of its own. There are myriad problems with the film, mainly some downright lame scripting and some pretty lacklustre acting but when things click in this blood splattered ride they certainly work to a very high level. On the back of this effort you'd suggest that the Roache-Turner brothers most certainly do have a career ahead of them that hopefully sees them given a much bigger stash of play money that would no doubt see them craft some wickedly inventive and entertaining cinematic moments.

3 pieces of steak to the face out of 5

The plot of this movie was very neat and well orchestrated.I felt each one of the characters roles fit perfect.The writers and directors went above and beyond what i felt was a normal movie script and for having no real budget made this well planned movie. Wyrmwood is a good movie if you like a zombie action movie with a actual plot and great camera work.I did enjoy the idea behind the zombies special power and with each person in the crew taking a hit.The use of slow-mo during this movie is well placed and did not take away from the movie and acting at all.Watching this movie with a friend or a loved one is recommended for the laughs.

Okay this is the best zombie action I've seen in some of time; whereas The Battery was hip and careful, this is sloppy, has verve and gleefully throws itself around, it has a carpenter's love for things you can build with your hands that I like and just an overall air of messily practical filmmaking in the best spirit of Evil Dead and Braindead that just wants to revel in blood it throws up.

And this means that it doesn't try to make too much sense. A zombie apocalypse has taken place overnight following a meteorite shower, but the mythos is schematic and unserious, we see a few soldiers roaming the countryside in a van and a deranged scientist conducting zombie experiments in the back but this is so we can have these characters roaming around. The notion of a girl who comes to control zombies and emotive moments here and there I could do without.

And New Zealand is the ideal backdrop for the appeal this aimed to have; we see no cities and no cohesive social fabric being torn, there are only roads through sparse New Zealand bush, a garage here, a tunnel there, forests, so it all adds to that feeling of a bunch of young people letting loose with no larger narrative in mind other than the adventure of making up things in the wild.

Creativity here is not intellectual or really concerned with style, or bogged down in somber atmosphere; it is practical and freewheeling, the joy of splashing blood on a floor, slipping on it and filming the goof, what Raimi and Jackson did so well once upon a time. By the end the only fault I see is that they didn't push this gory slipperiness more, that they didn't make the sparse setting more iconic (Evil Dead and Braindead, and really every horror classic, are rooted in extremely memorable space) but this is still horror I endorse.