Wastelander Panda

Why -hasn't- a live-action post-apocalypse Australian wasteland survival story starred mutant pandas before?

Be warned: it's not a comedy.  But it's spectacular.  Available as a web series later this week.

Wastelander Panda

2014, 71 minutes, directed by Victoria Cocks

Wyrmwood

The result of a four-year, self-funded shoot, Wyrmwood looks and feels like a classic ozploitation film, complete with badass zombies, a colorful cast, government baddies, and a kick-ass brother-sister duo in Barry and Brooke.  Both immune to the Zombie Infestation, the siblings take wildly different paths to find each other, acquiring friends and special skills on the way.

I can't wait for the sequel.

Wyrmwood

2014, 92 minutes, directed by Kiah Roache-Turner

Patrick

I didn't get to see You're Next at Fantastic Fest a few years ago, but really liked it during its encore screenings this spring at SXSW.  Amazingly, this is Sharni Vinson's next on-screen work, albeit in a more traditional role as a female heroine in a suspense/horror film.  Sharni is Kathy, a nurse who takes a recently-opened caregiver assignment as the mysterious Roget Clinic, where doctor Roget cares for and works to cure deep coma patients.  One particular patient is the focus of his attention - Patrick - and Kathy is drawn to his blight.  Wait, is he communicating with her?  Indeed, for Patrick is developing psychic powers, and has a secret plan that threatens Kathy, the clinic, and everyone she knows.

This is a remake of a campy 1970s horror, rewritten for modern pacing.  I probably would hate the original, but this one was pretty good.

Patrick
2013, 95 minutes, directed by Mark Hartley

Encounter at Raven's Gate

Close encounters in the Australian outback, filmed and set in the 1980s amidst small-town drama.  It baffles me.

Encounter at Raven's Gate
1988, 94 minutes, directed by Rolf de Heer