It’s rare to find a film that gradually gets better with each act. Typically films peter out by the third act, leaving much to be desired. During the final twenty minutes of Wyrmwood: Apocalypse, I was grinning ear to ear, just savoring the absolute insanity of it. This is the best shit I’ve seen in ages and I need more. Apparently this film is a sequel to Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (2015). You better believe I’m about to rent the first film on Amazon Prime and have the motherf*ckin’ time of my life.

Also the fact that this sequel worked perfectly fine as a standalone film for me, someone who went into it knowing nothing about the lore of the previous film, only speaks to its genius. Directed by Kiah Roche-Turner and co-written by the director and Tristan Roche-Turner, this Aussie spin on zombie apocalypse films is everything I’ve been looking for. 

Rhys, a soldier, spends his days capturing survivors of the zombie apocalypse to deliver to The Surgeon, who is allegedly looking for a cure. When Rhys finds out that this was a lie, he and a ragtag group of fighters (I’m assuming from the first film) band together to stop The Surgeon once and for all. 

All of the actors in this film are amazing, hands down. But two shined above the rest: Nicholas Boshier as The Surgeon and Bianca Bradey as Brooke. Not only did Boshier absolutely sell it as a mad scientist-esque character, but his physical comedy was unbelievably good. It reminded me of Bruce Campbell’s physical comedy in Evil Dead 2 when Ash’s hand is possessed by the Deadites and it tries to kill him. 

Then there’s Bradley as Brooke, the zombie-human hybrid with telepathic powers over other zombies. Her character is a force to be reckoned with and is the muscle of the group. Since she’s part zombie, she spends a lot of time growling menacingly. This type of performance could very easily veer into cringey, since the only practical effect help she’s getting is all-white contacts. But her performance is solid the entire time. Something about the energy Bradley puts into this character and how it translates into Brooke’s demeanor, completely sold it for me. In fact, Brooke is an absolute badass in this film. 

Tasia Zalar (Grace) has a couple smaller scenes where she absolutely kills it, cementing her memorability on-screen despite her lack of screen time. I’d love to gush more over her performance but I’m afraid that would spoil too much. 

Tim Nagle’s cinematography went full Evil Dead 2 in the third act and I loved every minute of it. Lots of canted angles and the camera rushing about the scene that evoke imagery of the Deadite POV shots in the Evil Dead series. For the first two acts, I was hoping the cinematography would go more batshit. I felt similarly about the score, composed by Michael Lira, during the first two acts. Not quite insane enough. It felt like the film was holding back. Then at the film’s climax, the cinematography and the score barrelled me over with their manic energy. So either I’m an impatient viewer or it was planned all along and they played me like a fiddle. I’d wager it’s the latter. Wyrmwood: Apocalypse is pure insane genius. 

With a zombie apocalypse/sci-fi horror/action horror film like this, it’s naturally difficult to dive deep into character development. This film still manages to, albeit not as much as I was hoping. This is not a criticism – 90 minutes is not enough time for this film to be as f*cking amazing as this was AND have in-depth character development. Wyrmwood: Apocalypse needs the TV treatment and if Netflix or HBO Max doesn’t jump at the chance to turn this into a several-season show, I have faith that Shudder will. 

Everyone needs to keep an eye out for when Wyrmwood: Apocalypse becomes available to order on May 17. In the meantime, we can all watch the first movie on Amazon Prime and get caught up on the lore. 

10 out of 10 Zombies With Halitosis (I don’t know the lore, I’m so sorry)