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#677 – Wyrmwood: Apocalypse (2021)
Wyrmwood: Apocalypse (2021)
Film review #677
Director: Kiah Roache-Turner
SYNOPSIS: With a zombie apocalypse raging on, soldier Rhys takes survivors and delivers them to the Sugreon General to help them find a cure. Unknown to him is that the surgeon is killing them and turning their fluids into a secret formula that makes him more powerful. When Rhys delivers a woman to the surgeon and uncovers the truth, he teams up with her Sister with a plan to rescue her and put a stop to the surgeon’s evil plans.
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Wyrmwood: Apocalypse is a 2021 Australian post-apocalypse film and the sequel to 2014’s Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead. The film starts with the introduction of a new character, a former soldier named Rhys, who takes people to a surgeon who he believes is trying to find a cure, but in reality is killing the people and extracting a fluid from them to make himself more powerful. A separate intro sequence does reintroduce the characters Barry and Brooke from the first film, but they don’t show up again until half way through the film, meaning we’re left to focus on the less interesting new cast. On the whole, Wyrmwood Apocalypse does a lot of the same things as its predecessor; mixing high energy action and gore, but brings a more conventional narrative to the forefront, which slows everything down a little.
Continuing the Roache-Turner brothers filming style, the film is full of quick cuts, close-ups, and loud noises that keep the action flowing. As mentioned, the newer characters don’t really have much presence, and and less interesting than the characters from the original that reappear half-way through the runtime. having the main antagonist again being a mad surgeon or doctor does feel like a bit of a re-tread of the original, and I think there was scope to try something new. Given a seven year gap between the original and sequel as well, it is a long time to reintroduce the characters and its different quirks; the sequel goes half-and-half by making new story and characters, but also adding in the cast from the previous film half way through, and it probably should have stuck to one or the other. Overall though, Wyrmwood: Apocalypse is very much more of its predecessor: plenty of action, gore and over-the-top nonsense that is stylish and entertaining, but the new cast and a more typical story format does slow it down a little, making not quite as enticing as the original.
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#676 – Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (2014)
Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (2014)
Film review #676
Director: Kiah Roache-Turner
SYNOPSIS: After an airborne infection from a meteor shower turns the majority of people into zombies, Barry and his family try to escape, but Barry is left as the only survivor. He goes to try and find his Sister Brooke, who unbeknownst to him has been kidnapped by a mad scientist and his goons, and is being experimented on…
THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead is a 2014 Australian zombie film. The film starts off with a meteor shower that releases an airborne infection, turning many people into zombies. Barry, a mechanic, tries to escape with his wife and daughter, but they don’t make it. Having only his sister Brooke left, he goes to try and find her, but little does he know, she has been kidnapped by a mad scientist who is performing some strange experiment on her. While there’s a lack of a cohering plot that ties everything together, Wyrmwood provides plenty of action, gore and energy to keep things interesting. It is, at its core, a a zombie film, and there’s a lot of zombie films out there, and I don’t think it makes itself stand out completely from the rest. The film is constantly on edge, with you never knowing really what is going to happen next, or who is going to get their face blown off, and as such, it keeps things entertaining until the end.
There’s a decent balance of gore, suspense and action that should satisfy a wide range of viewers, combined with some colourful Aussie humour too. The second half of the film brings a more clearer focus to the story, but not too much: it’s still a gorefest. Despite the low budget, there’s a good balance of physical and practical effects that are convincing enough, and the fast pace means that a shot doesn’t linger too long on anything to critique it. There’s not too much of substance to critique in Wyrmwood: it’s just a wild ride of dismembering zombies for a good ninety minutes, often without rhyme or reason: do you need a reason to go to town on the undead though? It doesn’t distinguish itself too much from the hordes of zombie films out there, but at least it’s loud, messy, and fun with plenty of flair and style. The story is a bit more linear and centered this time around, but the trouble with this is that isn’t isn’t very fresh or interesting, and thus brings the energy down a bit. Rhys just isn’t that interesting as a character
