I don’t know what it is about filmmakers from Down Under. Be they the groups of siblings to hit the ground running over the past 10 or so years like the Spierig brothers with “Undead” or the Cairns boys with “100 Bloody Acres”, or the stand alone fear-bringers like Jennifer Kent with “The Babadook”, Dru Brown with “The Suicide Theory” or Greg McLean with the “Wolf Creek” franchise, with few exceptions, Aussie filmmakers know how to better give thrills and chills and celebrate the beauty and fear of terror than almost any American filmmaker out there. Now joining these illustrious ranks are brothers Kiah and Tristan Roache-Turner who, with WYRMWOOD: ROAD OF THE DEAD, bring us the most original and freshest spin on the zombie apocalypse than anyone to come before them. Quite frankly, WYRMWOOD is bloody brilliant!
Barry is the perfect family man. Devoted to his wife Annie and their adorable daughter Meganne, Barry is a good provider, husband and father. Handy with the tools, he is an ace car mechanic to boot. Late one night he gets a frantic phone call from his sister Brooke who, at first blush, is everything Barry is not. A designer/photographer with a goth, hip edge to her work and her personal style, Brooke is in her studio – a converted garage/Quonset hut – when her model suddenly turns into a maniacal flesh-eating zombie. Frantic, Brooke turns to Barry for rescue. Unsure of what he’s heard, but knowing Brooke is hysterical and also being a devoted brother, Barry is ready to head out to aid her when Meganne comes in the bedroom to tell him, “Dad, there’s someone in the kitchen.” With Annie hot on his heels, Barry finds a zombie raiding his refrigerator. With Barry and Annie battling the monster and hearing similar noises outside, it’s apparent the whole family has to make a break for it.
Unfortunately, during the fracas with the zombie, Meganne and Annie are both exposed and start to “turn” during the drive to help Brooke. Left with no alternative, Barry must kill them in order to secure his own survival and, hopefully, that of Brooke.
But while Barry is fighting his battles, Brooke is fighting her own when she is taken hostage by some mercenary military outfit who have their own agenda – providing exposed humans to a mad scientist doctor who is performing mind control (and other blood-filled) experiments with the zombies. Not yet knowing what has happened to Brooke, Barry learns of the mad militants running around the desolate bushland from Aborigine Benny, himself a survivor of a zombie attack and witnessing the black garbed and gas-masked militia, and a group of other men led by the crusty but likable Frank holed up inside a well-apportioned metalworks garage. According to Benny, everyone is being turned into zombies as the result of Wyrmwood – a falling star that holds the powers of destruction found in the Bible in the Book of Revelations. Benny saw the flashing light and given his natural attunement with nature, is certain the light was Wyrmwood.
Knowing their only hope is to escape the zombies now surrounding the garage, not to mention Barry trying to save Brooke, the men use what’s at their disposal to create body and vehicle armor to rival anything of “Mad Max”.
While the boys bust out of their confines to make a blood-soaked beeline to Brooke, Brooke has taken matters into her own hands and escaped the clutches of the yellow-garbed madman, but only after being injected with the mad doctor’s concoction that has given her the power to mind control the zombie masses. As each is heading towards the other, new revelations break at every turn – noxious zombie breath can be used as fuel, zombie blood burns, zombies can be frozen, zombies sleep during the day, and Brooke is controlling an army.
One may be inclined to think that a zombie film is going to merely be stereotypical genre fodder with genre typecasting, relying on blood and gore effects as opposed to story and performance. Such is not the case with WYRMWOOD: ROAD OF THE DEAD. From story to effects to performance, writer/director Kiah Roache-Turner and co-writer Tristan Roache-Turner, turn the genre on its head with top notch work on all fronts, starting with the performances.
New to American audiences is Jay Gallagher who show with his performance as Barry, he is leading man caliber on all fronts, bringing not strength of character and fantastic physical presence and action skills, but a moral compass and emotional resonance. So strong are his martial arts and stunt skills that without looking at the credits, at first blush one may think the actor is Scott Adkins. Gallagher is a face, and a force, to be reckoned with and certainly someone I would like to see again not only in a continuation of the WYRMWOOD franchise, but stepping into a more global action arena.
Cinema has always run hot and cold when it comes to kick-ass women so it’s quite refreshing when someone like Bianca Bradey steps into the cinematic horizon. Following in the footsteps of fellow Aussie Sharni Vinson who blew us away in Adam Wingard’s “You’re Next”, Bradey is, as Brooke, nothing short of kick-ass intensity.
Equally entertaining is Keith Agius as the crusty Frank. Providing the slightly “elder” voice of reason, Agius brings a lightness and acceptance to the flesh-eating banquet that bodes well for a chuckle here and there.
The scene stealer of WYRMWOOD: ROAD OF THE DEAD, however, is Leon Burchill. Endearing, charming, fun-loving and funny, as Aborigine Benny, Burchill perfectly captures the kitschy tongue-in-cheek moments while imbuing the film with a palpable sincerity. Adding to the fun of Burchill is his chemistry with Gallagher, which brings a lovely buddy road picture element to the proceedings.
Co-written by Kiah and Tristan Roache-Turner, WYRMWOOD: ROAD OF THE DEAD doesn’t lack for originality. As mentioned, zombie mind control, zombie bad breath as gas, burning zombie blood, putting a zombie on ice in the freezer with the beer. What is not to love! The Roache-Turner brothers put a whole new spin on zombies with some great maniacal twists. They demonstrate a keen storytelling ability both from story and script standpoint with fully realized visual execution.
Talking about the visual execution, it’s difficult to believe that not only is this Kiah Roache-Turner’s feature directorial debut, but that of his cinematographer ,Tim Nagle. Lensing is intense and in-your-face, literally and figuratively, putting us in the fray with Barry, Benny, Brooke and Frank while remaining crisp and unfettered. A color-stripped desaturated palette allows for great bloodletting and splatter to achieve maximum effect while the FX with the noxious zombie breath is quite simply, awesome. And where much of the exteriors are desaturated, the interiors have varying degrees of saturation, warmth and vibrancy, not the least of which is the mad doctor’s mobile lab trailer – the bright yellow suit of the doctor contrasted with the bright red blood on white metal walls all done in a blue wash is beyond enticing and metaphoric. Editing, in true lo budget/no budget fashion, is done by Kiah Roache-Turner in rapier fashion, designed to capture the frenzied nature and tension of the situations at hand.
Production design, also done by the bothers, is equally impressive as one takes note of the details within the quonset hut garage, Brooke’s studio, the doctor’s mobile lab, not to mention the “Mad Max” modified caged and armored truck. All is inventive, creative and believable with design incorporating everyday materials fashioned into something other than what they are. VFX is minimal with effects and zombie make-up done practically wherever and whenever possible.
Icing on the cake, or final drop of blood on the zombie, is Michael Lira’s score which implements industrial sound into the music mix, creating an original and unique sound for WYRMWOOD: ROAD OF THE DEAD.
Kiah and Tristan Roache-Turner have raised the bar and made me thirsty for more. I am wild for WYRMWOOD!!!!
Directed by Kiah Roache-Turner
Screenplay by Kiah Roache-Turner and Tristan Roache-Turner
Cast: Jay Gallagher, Bianca Bradey, Leon Burchill, Keith Agius
