by Ed Travis
Wyrmwood: Road Of The Dead played Fantastic Fest last year and I reviewed the film then under its original title of simply Wyrmwood. It is now available on home video and streaming on Netflix from IFC Midnight and Scream Factory
One’s enjoyment of Wyrmwood: Road Of The Dead will likely vary greatly based upon one’s tolerance for homage. Drawing heavily from the styles of early Peter Jackson, Sam Raimi, Stuart Gordon, and George Miller (not to mention George Romero), Wyrmwood is a rip-roaring zombie action sci-fi comedy that works in its own right, and is bolstered by the true indie filmmaking grit which brought it into the world.
IMDb Plot Summary:
Barry is a talented mechanic and family man whose life is torn apart on the eve of a zombie apocalypse. His sister, Brooke, is kidnapped by a sinister team of gas-mask wearing soldiers & experimented on by a psychotic doctor. While Brooke plans her escape Barry goes out on the road to find her & teams up with Benny, a fellow survivor — together they must arm themselves and prepare to battle their way through hordes of flesh-eating monsters in a harsh Australian bushland.
Written and directed by filmmaking brothers Kiah Roache-Turner and Tristan Roache-Turner, Wyrmwood was largely shot on weekends over the course of several years. This kind of dedication and resourcefulness is always respectable and deserving of attention. But in the end, the movie has to speak for itself. And Wyrmwood is the real deal.
With just enough clever spin on the classic zombie rules to veer their zombie movie in a Mad Max-like direction, the brothers Roache-Turner may be biting the styles of Jackson and Miller, but they craft a film so stuffed to the gills with fun that some of the most familiar and stale tropes of the genre are easily glanced over, and perhaps even reinvigorated.
Homage is paid to Raimi and Jackson with floating, whipping, kinetic camera work… done well enough to be enjoyable and not eye roll inducing. Story-wise, there’s a wicked scientist plot thread that brings to mind Gordon’s Re-Animator. And in perhaps the most fun twist of all, the zombies found within Wyrmwood are the type who were turned by a mysterious happening from outer space, and there’s something about the Wyrmwood zombies which involves vehicle fuel (being vague to avoid totally spoiling it), giving the film its Mad Max angle in clever way. So through solid writing and character work (granted the “sidekick” role of Benny, played by Aboriginal actor Leon Burchill is more entertaining and interesting than those of lead brother and sister characters Barry and Brooke) on top of clever twists and homage, Wyrmwood can’t help but be a high octane good time that makes no apologies.
Although there are many “rough around the edges” facets to the film which result from shooting on weekends over the course of multiple years, zombie genre fans should find a lot to enjoy here, from cool camera work to great costume, prop and set design, to action-packed set pieces. While this film is remarkably entertaining and satisfying, it’ll likely still leave you hungry for what the brothers Roache-Turner could do with a budget and a normal shooting schedule.
The Package
Extremely pressed for time, I haven’t been able to give all the bonus features of this disc a fully proper spin. Listening to probably an hours worth of the commentary track featuring the Roache-Turner brothers indicates that they’re interesting enough to listen to and offer a number of anecdotes about the production of the film. It isn’t a highly technical commentary so it’s more entertaining than it is educational. At least from what I heard. There’s also a fairly long behind the scenes featurette which was edited with the kind of rock and roll energy that the film is, so it feels akin to the movie it is hawking… which is nice. I also feel like this is a film that looks a LOT more expensive than it likely was, so it is great to see some of the great slow motion shots and speedy Raimi-like shots in high definition on a solid looking Blu-ray.
Being that Wyrmwood is already streaming on Netflix here in the U.S., I’d have to say check the film out there first before any kind of blind buy. But if you end up being “Team Wyrmwood”, the Blu-ray is well worth an investment since it does have kinetic bonus features to match the film’s tone, as well as the commentary track which adds a lot of value over simply streaming it.
Bonus Features
Audio commentary with the Roache-Turner Brothers The Wyrmdiaries: Behind the Scenes of WYRMWOOD featurette Crowdfunding Videos: Wyrmwood Production Pitch Deleted Scenes Seven minute teaser scene Storyboards by the Director
Theatrical Trailer
And I’m Out.