Four years ago, the Roache-Turner brothers, Tristan and Kiah, set out to make a film similar to the action and horror movies that had dominated their youth. Now, after countless hours of work, the complete transformation of a yellow Toyota Hilux into a zombie-fuelled death machine, and the setting of a man’s head on fire (in strictly controlled stunt conditions), Guerilla Films is about to release the high-octane zombiefest set in the Australian bush,Wyrmwood: Road Of The Dead. The BRAG caught up with one half of the team: producer, production designer, co-writer and occasional zombie extra, Tristan Roache-Turner.
With Wyrmwood displaying such a love of Ozploitation and horror, it is easy to identify thefilmic touchstones that the brothers hold dear. Mad Max is the obvious comparison, but there are strong horror influences. “It has to be Evil Dead II and Bad Taste,” says Tristan. “I watched both those movies as a young fella. Evil Dead II was really scary, but had mad production values. It had that maniacal sense of humour that I really appreciated. Bad Taste from Peter Jackson – I just fell in love with that movie. That was what really gave myself and [director] Kiah the self-belief that you can make a movie off your own back and find a following for it.”
Hence, with a minuscule budget, the brothers set out to make the film they wanted to see. “It was difficult but it was so much fun. That made it easier,” says Tristan. “Looking back, I’m amazed we got it done in four years. There were definitely times it was very hard. We had a cast and a crew that – well, none of them were getting paid upfront, everyone was there for the love of filmmaking. It just gave us the team we needed to get everything done.”
Of course, with a shoestring budget, Tristan found himself wearing multiple hats on Wyrmwood. “[I] produced it, wrote it with my brother, designed and built a lot of the props and costumes,” he says. “I did a lot of crew work on set, production managing and making sure everyone was on time, and organised – but by the end of the day I’d have a tool belt on, running around repairing things in between shots … I was a zombie multiple times, I performed a lot of small-scale stunts, and I was safety as well.”
Due to his background as an electrician, Tristan was indeed highly safety-orientated on set. So when it came time to actually light a man’s head on fire as part of the climactic end battle, Tristan was part of the stunt team. He was also responsible for bringing many of the distinctive visuals of the film into reality, including the zombie-mobile. After buying an appropriate base from eBay, it just required some salvaged scrap metal, a few trips to Bunnings and the help of a couple of tradie mates to “transform it from an average yellow Hilux to the beast it is today”.
As for what’s next for the Roache-Turner brothers, as much as they would love to do a sequel for Wyrmwood, they have other priorities in mind.
“Any plans for [a sequel] are on the backburner as we have a kick-arse ghost story planned,” Tristan reveals. “Sort of an R-rated Ghostbusters.”
Wyrmwood: Road Of The Dead(dir. Kiah Roache-Turner) is incinemas Friday February 13.
