Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead

Dir: Kiah Roache-Turner

2014

****

The zombie genre has been done to death, excuse the pun. Coming up with an original idea is one thing, executing it and making it into a watchable film is quite another. First you have to choose whether your zombie film is a serious horror or a comedy horror. You then have to decide whether the zombies can run or not, how they became zombies and methods in which they spread their disease. You then have to work out the situation and the location, whether survival is the only end point and whether or not it is going to be more of a creepy thriller where less is more or an all-out gorefest. Deciding who our protagonist is and who the zombies are also need careful consideration, both points, particularly that of the zombie's original identities, are so often overlooked (before you ask, the hare Krishna zombie from the original Dawn of the Dead is my favourite). So much to think about and so much competition from the independent film making community, it is a wonder how so many get funded or indeed, get made. So it's nice to see director Kiah Roache-Turner doing things a little differently and very much his own way. Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead has moments of comedy, surprise and deeply disturbing horror and they all work together surprisingly well. The film took four years to make, largely down to the fact that it was only filmed at weekends. That's dedication for you. One character's particularly early departure is the only sign that things didn't go 100% to plan but all things considered, it's amazing that it got to 99%. Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead is unlike most zombie films, not that it does anything particularly different, it just has a totally different feel about it. It's completely unpredictable and all its quirky experiments are rather effective, when I can't imagine they sounded great on paper. New zombie films are all about adding new elements, Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead adds two that could influence the way these films are made from now on. The two new elements are completely different from each, on totally different spectrum and yet they both fit in the same film somehow, such is the nature of the film. I think a few tricks were missed but personally I hope things are saved for a sequel and I believe the film deserves one. I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again but the Australians make brilliant horror movies, fans of Evil Dead, Re-Animator and Mad Max will love it. It's not just for zombie/horror fans either, I would argue that action fans who don't usually dabble in horror will probably like it too.