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#597 - Wyrmwood
Kiah Roache-Turner, 2014
When a meteor shower causes a zombie apocalypse, an immune survivor into the outback to search for his missing sister.
Every time I watch a film like Wyrmwood (so named for a falling star from the Book of Revelations, which is explained in-story yet feels kind of pointless when the film's subtitle "Road of the Dead" would be a much more honest and comprehensible choice), I do find myself questioning exactly how sincere the film is in its homage to cult cinema. More importantly, I find myself wondering whether that has any bearing on my appreciation of the film anyway. Wyrmwood mashes together two distinct sub-genres for its plot; the main genre is zombie horror, with the film taking place the day after a meteor shower results in the majority of the population becoming infected with a zombie virus. There is a small collection of survivors who appear to be immune to the airborne version of the virus, though they are still susceptible to infection via zombie bite.
The plot focuses on Barry, a survivor who is still grieving over having been forced to kill his infected wife and daughter. Together with fellow survivors Benny and Frank, Barry sets off in search of his sister Brooke, whose own immunity has resulted in her being kidnapped by a crew of gasmask-wearing soldiers and being subjected to vicious experiments by a scientist who would probably have to work his way down to "mad". So far, so standard. As for the second genre, well, when the film even starts in medias res as its heroes attempt to hold off a swarm of zombies, it indulges said genre through their appearances and goal. Our heroes, decked out in hockey masks and motocross outfits, are busy trying to shoot their way out of a crowd of zombies; it's not long before they've created their own armoured vehicle and are tearing off down the road. That particular brand of vehicle-centric post-apocalyptic fiction informs the rest of Wyrmwood, especially when that series' main conceit about fuel becoming scarce feeds into the plot in a bizarre way.
Making a zombie film is always a bit of a gamble, especially in an era where they all need some sort of angle to justify their contribution to an over-saturated sub-genre. To its credit, Wyrmwood changes up its zombie mythology enough to be halfway-interesting - all conventional fuel sources stop working, which forces the heroes to improvise a system where their vehicle is powered by the noxious fumes that the zombies exhale. There's also the pay-off to the entire sub-plot where Brooke is experimented upon by the mad scientist, which doesn't really deserve to be spoiled even though it does make for a somewhat innovative twist for the film's third act. Of course, the film's twists to the zombie rules don't do much to compensate for the film choosing to force some more predictable tropes into the mix. Barry is an embittered protagonist mourning the loss of his family, while Benny is his comical sidekick who exists to spout funny one-liners and occasionally provide his own dramatic weight (such as his own back-story involving his own lost family members). Brooke may be a strong female character but that comes at the cost of Barry's other female family members being killed off for dramatic reasons. The mad scientist and his military accomplice also play into their villainous roles that make them out to be far worse than the mindless flesh-eaters, and though the former hams it up considerably by dancing to disco music and grinning maniacally throughout his scenes it can't help but feel forced.
The attempts to do appropriately gory and practical effects are a nice touch but there's not a whole lot of inventiveness to the film as it uses a lot of exploding heads and spraying squibs. Even the moments that are generated as a result of the film's more left-field elements (such as the zombie-fuelled cars or the fact that their blood is flammable) generally don't pay off - not even the twist that happens in the third act that at once promises something different yet also feels a bit too convenient for the heroes. Camerawork is somewhat competent given the limitations, though the film is frequently prone to moments of video blur, especially when it opts to go in for either slow-motion or too-quick camera movements. Scenes such as Frank giving a detailed monologue about the Biblical phenomenon that gives the film its name do little to intrigue; likewise, the various throwaway gags that play up Australian stereotypes for laughs (such as some survivors keeping an infected mate in an icebox full of beers, which they still have no problem grabbing and drinking, or the first-aid kit containing nothing but beer) fail to be particularly amusing. Given the material, the actors are tolerable enough and nobody is too wooden to be a major impediment, though not enough so for that to loop around to being entertaining either.
It becomes very easy to doubt the sincerity of movies such as Wyrmwood, especially when they wear their very obvious influences on their proverbial sleeves. It isn't totally unwatchable, but it does feel like yet another film that tries too hard to earn a cult following (and really, there's no better way to ensure you don't earn a cult following). Of course, here the angle seems to involve mashing up zombies with a Mad Max-style film about road warriors dressed in black and racing around in heavily modified vehicles. It's also interesting how, in addition to the Spierig brothers' debut Undead, this marks yet another Australian zombie film that's been created by a pair of brothers (written by both Roache-Turner brothers, with Tristan producing and Kiah directing). Wyrmwood's angle seems to be by filtering its zombie uprising through a mishmash of influences without doing anything significantly innovative in its own right. It's sort of the same problem I had with Kung Fury - though Wyrmwood doesn't slavishly try to replicate its influences like that particular viral sensation did, it doesn't bring enough new stuff or personality to the table to be significantly good in its own right. I can respect some of the effort involved and will admit that hearing there's a sequel in the works is not a total affront, but it's just such an underwhelming piece of work when all is said and done.
Kiah Roache-Turner, 2014
When a meteor shower causes a zombie apocalypse, an immune survivor into the outback to search for his missing sister.
Every time I watch a film like Wyrmwood (so named for a falling star from the Book of Revelations, which is explained in-story yet feels kind of pointless when the film's subtitle "Road of the Dead" would be a much more honest and comprehensible choice), I do find myself questioning exactly how sincere the film is in its homage to cult cinema. More importantly, I find myself wondering whether that has any bearing on my appreciation of the film anyway. Wyrmwood mashes together two distinct sub-genres for its plot; the main genre is zombie horror, with the film taking place the day after a meteor shower results in the majority of the population becoming infected with a zombie virus. There is a small collection of survivors who appear to be immune to the airborne version of the virus, though they are still susceptible to infection via zombie bite.
The plot focuses on Barry, a survivor who is still grieving over having been forced to kill his infected wife and daughter. Together with fellow survivors Benny and Frank, Barry sets off in search of his sister Brooke, whose own immunity has resulted in her being kidnapped by a crew of gasmask-wearing soldiers and being subjected to vicious experiments by a scientist who would probably have to work his way down to "mad". So far, so standard. As for the second genre, well, when the film even starts in medias res as its heroes attempt to hold off a swarm of zombies, it indulges said genre through their appearances and goal. Our heroes, decked out in hockey masks and motocross outfits, are busy trying to shoot their way out of a crowd of zombies; it's not long before they've created their own armoured vehicle and are tearing off down the road. That particular brand of vehicle-centric post-apocalyptic fiction informs the rest of Wyrmwood, especially when that series' main conceit about fuel becoming scarce feeds into the plot in a bizarre way.
Making a zombie film is always a bit of a gamble, especially in an era where they all need some sort of angle to justify their contribution to an over-saturated sub-genre. To its credit, Wyrmwood changes up its zombie mythology enough to be halfway-interesting - all conventional fuel sources stop working, which forces the heroes to improvise a system where their vehicle is powered by the noxious fumes that the zombies exhale. There's also the pay-off to the entire sub-plot where Brooke is experimented upon by the mad scientist, which doesn't really deserve to be spoiled even though it does make for a somewhat innovative twist for the film's third act. Of course, the film's twists to the zombie rules don't do much to compensate for the film choosing to force some more predictable tropes into the mix. Barry is an embittered protagonist mourning the loss of his family, while Benny is his comical sidekick who exists to spout funny one-liners and occasionally provide his own dramatic weight (such as his own back-story involving his own lost family members). Brooke may be a strong female character but that comes at the cost of Barry's other female family members being killed off for dramatic reasons. The mad scientist and his military accomplice also play into their villainous roles that make them out to be far worse than the mindless flesh-eaters, and though the former hams it up considerably by dancing to disco music and grinning maniacally throughout his scenes it can't help but feel forced.
The attempts to do appropriately gory and practical effects are a nice touch but there's not a whole lot of inventiveness to the film as it uses a lot of exploding heads and spraying squibs. Even the moments that are generated as a result of the film's more left-field elements (such as the zombie-fuelled cars or the fact that their blood is flammable) generally don't pay off - not even the twist that happens in the third act that at once promises something different yet also feels a bit too convenient for the heroes. Camerawork is somewhat competent given the limitations, though the film is frequently prone to moments of video blur, especially when it opts to go in for either slow-motion or too-quick camera movements. Scenes such as Frank giving a detailed monologue about the Biblical phenomenon that gives the film its name do little to intrigue; likewise, the various throwaway gags that play up Australian stereotypes for laughs (such as some survivors keeping an infected mate in an icebox full of beers, which they still have no problem grabbing and drinking, or the first-aid kit containing nothing but beer) fail to be particularly amusing. Given the material, the actors are tolerable enough and nobody is too wooden to be a major impediment, though not enough so for that to loop around to being entertaining either.
It becomes very easy to doubt the sincerity of movies such as Wyrmwood, especially when they wear their very obvious influences on their proverbial sleeves. It isn't totally unwatchable, but it does feel like yet another film that tries too hard to earn a cult following (and really, there's no better way to ensure you don't earn a cult following). Of course, here the angle seems to involve mashing up zombies with a Mad Max-style film about road warriors dressed in black and racing around in heavily modified vehicles. It's also interesting how, in addition to the Spierig brothers' debut Undead, this marks yet another Australian zombie film that's been created by a pair of brothers (written by both Roache-Turner brothers, with Tristan producing and Kiah directing). Wyrmwood's angle seems to be by filtering its zombie uprising through a mishmash of influences without doing anything significantly innovative in its own right. It's sort of the same problem I had with Kung Fury - though Wyrmwood doesn't slavishly try to replicate its influences like that particular viral sensation did, it doesn't bring enough new stuff or personality to the table to be significantly good in its own right. I can respect some of the effort involved and will admit that hearing there's a sequel in the works is not a total affront, but it's just such an underwhelming piece of work when all is said and done.