Wyrmwood (2014)

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 and experimented on by a psychotic doctor. While Brooke plans her escape Barry goes out on the road to find her and 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.

Genre : Horror
Country : Australia

Cast :
Jay Gallagher : Barry
Bianca Bradey : Brooke
Leon Burchill : Benny

Director : Kiah Roach-Turner

My Opinion

“Oh shit, he wasn't a zombie?
No he fucking wasn't!
Is he alright? Is he ok?
His head is fucked!”

Are you sick of zombie movies? That´s understandable when you look at the amount of zombie movies that flooded the horror landscape recent years. There were some excellent movies that tried to handle the subject in a creative way like "Maggie", "World War Z" and "Dead Within". But most of what I´ve seen however, was plain bad and not really innovative. Instead those movies transformed me in a zombie-like appearance while watching at the screen in an empathic way. "Buck Wild" is an example of this. Is "Wyrmwood" groundbreaking? Nope. Is "Wyrmwood" different than other zombie films? No, actually not. Is it more shocking than other movies with those flesh-eating, bloodthirsty undead? No. The million-dollar question is : Is it worthwhile to watch it? And my resounding and enthusiastic answer to that is "YES".

It´s not as if this subgenre is reinvented here, but this is a splatter film of the first rank. A rollercoaster through zombie land full of unrestrained gory scenes, ruthless massacres and with sometimes absurd and tasteful humorous contributions. All this taking place in the bushes of Australia: That´s why it feels like a version of "Mad Max" mixed with the "over the top" absurd, madcap humor of "Evil Dead 2". From the first second I knew this was going to be a storm flood of flying limbs and helpless victims brutally butchered by blood-soaked, slow moving creatures. The group of men who tried to drag a jeep inside at the beginning dressed as post apocalyptic warriors, looked as if they had played in "Mad Max: Fury Road". And the horde of zombies looked frightening (I was about to say "lifelike").

The part in Brooke's (Bianca Bradey) workshop wasn't so great, but from then on it only got better. Brooke is the sister of Barry (Jay Gallagher), who, after killing his turned wife and daughter in an inhuman way, is on a mission to rescue and save his sister out of the hands of a crazy scientist. Expect a splatterfest of exploding zombie heads and unabashedly tearing apart of bodies. And this interspersed with absurd, hilarious moments. The zombies are highly flammable and when properly installed they can be used to drive vehicles: This was an extremely inventive approach. And the gift Brooke has in the end to make life (uh, yeah) difficult for those damn zombies, was highly entertaining. I am convinced that those who have written this script, were amazed by the fact they could come up with stuff like that.

So, you are a huge fan of this type of film and you´re a little bit tired of the soft, romanticized approach? You certainly can´t skip this one. It has been a while since I saw such an energetic and enthusiastic homemade zombie flick. It's a low-budget movie and was made over a period of three years during the weekends. But it exudes passion. The only thing missing was a mad, bloodthirsty kangaroo. In my opinion, Australia is the new source of great horror films.