Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead

This is a clip from the action-comedy-horror zombie film Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead.

The film is about a mechanic and father, Barry (Jay Gallagher), who has to fight his way through hordes of zombies in the bush after his sister Brooke (Bianca Bradey) is kidnapped on the eve of an apocalypse. He teams up with Benny (Leon Burchill), a fellow survivor.

In this clip, Benny describes how he was on a hunting trip with his two brothers when they saw some unusual shooting stars. After a disturbed night, Benny awakes to find his brothers gone – at least until he discovers their fate.

This clip is constructed very effectively. The slow motion and sound design possess a genuinely eerie quality and the first-person narrative draws you in. Benny recounts his experiences almost as if he is being interviewed for a documentary, which lends it a degree of authenticity.

Wyrmwood was the debut feature of director Kiah Roache-Turner, who wrote the film with his brother Tristan Roache-Turner. Their action-comedy-horror-sci-fi follow-up, Nekrotronic (2018) starring Monica Bellucci, received a US release in 2019.

The Roache-Turners join Michael and Peter Spierig and Cameron and Colin Cairnes as another set of brothers who got their start making horror films in Australia.