About six years ago, I looked at a little Aussie feature called Wyrmwood: Road Of The Dead. Along with thinking it was terrific, and still one of the most all-out fun movies I’ve ever reviewed on here, that particular screening involved a Q&A with the directors, where they got into some of their ideas for a sequel. I said that I’d be right there when that sequel materialised, and lo and behold, they finally made that fucking movie. It is most certainly not the film I was expecting, though.
Like with the original, and Nekrotronic in the interim, Apocalypse finds the Roache-Turner brothers doing what they do best and bringing all manner of ideas to the table to give a fresh spin on the zombie formula. And right from the start, those efforts bear fruit, as we see main character Rhys (Luke McKenzie playing the twin brother of the living matchstick from the original) and what might be the single coolest post-apocalyptic setup I’ve ever seen. It’s not that it’s luxurious or even all that flashy, but it’s the perfect (re)introduction to how this universe works. Namely, because everything from the generators to the sprinklers to the outdoor boxing ring runs on zombie breath. Oh, and it's paired with Nick Cave's Red Right Hand, making for what is either in competition for or flat-out is my favourite film opening of the year.
From there, while it doesn’t go as far into Rule Of Cool as the original (nothing here can really measure up to the iconic revelation that is Ned Kelly armour in a zombie fight), it focuses a lot more on the nuts and bolts of what can charitably be called ‘society’ after the zombies razed the place, with Corporal Rhys as part of a military effort to hunt down hybrids (basically zombies that can be sedated and reverted to human for a time with regular blood-drinking) to try and find a cure for the plague. It feels like the Roache-Turners took the criticism levelled towards Nekrotronic to heart, as they’ve pushed beyond mere fanboy filmmaking and are trying to create something that can stand up to honest scrutiny. And the nuttiest thing about this whole production is that it actually works.
While Jay Gallagher and Bianca Bradey’s brother-sister duo from the original make a very welcome return, and there’s a definite argument to be made that Shantae Barnes-Cowan’s Maxi is the real main character here, Rhys ends up being the face of the film’s larger ambitions as far as the story being told about the survivors of the titular apocalypse. He’s basically the useful idiot for Jake Ryan’s Colonel and Nicholas Boshier’s Surgeon, retrieving test subjects without asking any questions… and then learning the horrifying truth of the existence his work is perpetuating.
Without giving too much away, what Rhys learns brings the very idea of surviving in this world into question, and gestures at some genuinely compelling moral greyness. What’s more, it ends on a note where it could have taken a relatively easy route (and likely pissed me right off, knowing my track record for such… developments), but instead takes the road less travelled and make Rhys confront the idea that being forgiven, that regaining his soul after everything he’s done, won’t come so easily.
I struggle to say this is as fun as the original. But quite frankly, with how much more lived-in this world has become with this sequel, and the sheer fact that this might be the only zombie series out there that will allow main characters to become zombies… and still be the main characters, I’m incredibly happy with how this turned out. The Roache-Turner brothers have hit a serious milestone with this one, emphasis on the “serious”, while still keeping the same sense of fun that gave their first splash the impact that it had. Put simply, this seems tailor-made to be watched right after the original, and once this becomes available to the public (I caught this at a local film festival, an admitted rarity for me), I highly recommend doing exactly that. Meth-breath zombies forever!
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