Wyrmwood: Apocalypse – Continues the Mad Max Zombie Style
Director: Kiah Roache-Turner
Writer: Kiah Roache-Turner, Tristan Roache-Turner (Screenplay)
Starring: Luke McKenzie, Shantae Barnes-Cowan, Jake Ryan, Bianca Bradey, Tasia Zalar, Jay Gallagher, Nicholas Boshier, Tristan McKinnon
Plot: In a zombie-infested Australian wasteland, soldier Rhys has dedicated his life to tracking and capturing survivors for the Surgeon General in hopes of finding a cure.
Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Wyrmwood: Apocalypse starts as Rhys (McKenzie) hunts for survivors in zombie-infested Australian wasteland, passing anyone he finds over to the Surgeon General (Boshier) believing they are performing research in search of a cure.
When Rhys crosses paths with a hybrid Grace (Zalar) and her sister Maxi (Barnes-Cowan) he learns the truth, looking to help get Grace out along with Brooke (Bradey) and Barry (Gallagher) who have learnt how to control the zombies through the hybrid abilities.
Thoughts on Wyrmwood: Apocalypse
Characters & Performances – Rhys is the lone hunter who lost his brother in the zombie outbreak, he is based in a secure location, looking to sell the survivors for fuel, believing he is helping find a cure. He gets put in a position where he can do the right thing, or follow in his brother’s footsteps. Maxi is traveling with her sister and must reluctantly work with Rhys to get her back. Brooke is the hybrid that has learnt how to control the infected, using them as a weapon against anyone her needs to get in a fight with. Barry helps keep Brooke in order, because if she loses control, she becomes even deadlier if the blood lust is unleashed. The Surgeon General has been performing the experiments on the survivors, for his own twisted pleasure and desire to survive, he is desperate to get his hands on a hybrid. The do have the returning cast coming back stronger than ever, while the newcomers are great, even if they don’t get unleashed to the same levels as the returners.
Story – The story here follows up the events of the first Wyrmwood movie, showing the apocalyptic world filled with zombies and humans trying to survive, with some being honest, others being twisted. The story will look to build on the idea of having a twisted surgeon in the world, wanting a cure for infection, only to use their position of power to get more. The world does feel hopeless to survive, where everyone is just trying to make it through. The connection a hybrid has with the infected is a nice addition, something we don’t see in the zombie genre. We might not have the most complicated story here, but it is all about the chaos of the world.
Themes – Wyrmwood: Apocalypse is an action horror taking us back to the Australian wasteland, showing how normal life is well and truly ended, with the bases feeling like the evil scientist labs where people look to do illegal experiments, twisted in their mind set. The action sequences are high octane, with the gadget style weapons designed for different things, not only a kill shot, with the long sequences at the end, being chaotic edge of your seat action.
Final Thoughts – Wyrmwood: Apocalypse is wildly chaotic action horror, living up to the original.