Ok, there’s one trope we see in the second film… sort of… and we can retrofit a trope into film 1 at a push… but it is my excuse to get the Australian zombie series par excellence on to the blog. My blog, my rules, as they say. So, this 2021 Kiah Roache-Turner helmed flick is the sequel to the fantastic Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead. In the first film, Barry (Jay Gallagher) is an ordinary Aussie dad when the zombie apocalypse happens. Both his wife and daughter turn – as anyone not of a certain blood type (A -ve) turns – unless they are able to use gasmasks.
He seeks out his sister, Brooke (Bianca Bradey), and whilst doing so we discover that the zombies expel an inflammable gas through their mouths and gasoline has become inert like water (leading to zombie powered vehicles in both films). The zombies, unfortunately, only expel the gas during the day and use it to fuel themselves at night when they are stronger, faster and more agile. During the day they are still dangerous but less high powered and we can consider this as a trope (at a push) recognisable in the vampire genre if we remember that the novel Dracula has the vampire able to be active in the day time but without supernatural powers. But overall they are still zombies. Anyway, Brooke has been taken by creepy Government types to experiment on and, in doing so, they trigger a hybridisation within her that means she is still herself, despite the zombie side, but is able to control zombies.
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| drinking blood |
So, the sequel starts with Barry and Brooke, along with sisters Maxi (Shantae Barnes-Cowan) and Grace (Tasia Zalar, Dark Place). It seems Brooke is having trouble maintaining control and the sisters part company with her after she bites Grace (turning her into a hybrid) whilst in a rage. Now, this is where the trope comes in. To calm her Barry has a vial of blood and after drinking it her rage subsides, she ceases to be feral and is human (or in control and sentient, at least) once more.
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| Shantae Barnes-Cowan as Maxi |
The film doesn’t explain why this is the case and it doesn’t go as far as to suggest that it is down to it being the blood type of the blood supplied, though that would be logical especially when we discover the source of the antivirals that none A -ve survivors are using. The concept also feels inconsistent if you give it too much thought as, surely, she is getting blood if she bites someone (as well as flesh). However, in the thick of the action it doesn’t matter. The second film also expands our understanding of the zombie gas by having to feed the zombies to have them maintain the production of gas and, when it comes to the day night aspect, we see light used as an apotropaic by having powerful electric lights used to keep night time zombies at bay.
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| Bianca Bradey aa Brooke |
The sequel does not quite match the brilliance of the first – the marvellous premise of the first, and its splatter punk mentality, is still there but no longer as original, plus the move to make this science based (talking about a virus) doesn’t sit with the surrealistic religious overtone (Wormwood is a star of ill omen from the Book of Revelations) and the inertness of gasoline etc. The primary characters in this are Maxi and Rhys (Luke McKenzie) – twin brother of a character killed by Barry and Brooke in the first film. The performances are very good but the characters not a patch on characters from the first film; Barry, who is somewhat side-lined in this, and (especially) Benny (Leon Burchill) who sacrificed himself in the first film but was a cracking character. That said, this is still a great film and absolutely worth watching if you are a fan of the original movie. The trope connection is thin but the films are great. The imdb page is here.
On Blu-Ray @ Amazon US
On Blu-Ray @ Amazon UK
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