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World War II epic LADY DEATH currently in production in South Australia
03 July 2026
Production is underway outside Adelaide in South Australia on Kiah Roache-Turner’s action horror Lady Death, supported by the South Australian Film Corporation.
Produced by Blake Northfield and Michelle Krumm for Bronte Studios (Beast of War, Wyrmwood franchise) with SA co-producer Julie Byrne (I Am Mother, The Babadook), the film is the next instalment of writer-director Roache-Turner’s riotously entertaining horror movies which include the beloved Wyrmwood franchise, spider horror Sting and his previous, Pacific-theatre shark movie Beast of War which lives in the same heightened, epic and gore-splattered WWII universe as Lady Death.
Lost in a primeval forest on the Eastern Front, a crack team of British Commandos are forced into an unholy alliance with Soviet sniper, the legendary ‘Lady Death’ (newcomer Masha Basman), and two demented SS officers – and twins – played in gleeful dual roles by German actor Robert Maaser (Blood & Gold, Ballerina).
Together the unlikely team must navigate the perils of the forest, including its most ferocious residents: wolves, born of an ancient bloodline, horrifically outsized, led by a giant alpha and remorselessly hunting as a pack. Only with Lady Death – herself an apex predator, and inspired by the real-life heroine Lyudmila Pavlichenko, who notched some 309 Nazi kills during the war – do the team have any chance of surviving the forested hellscape.
Minister for the Arts, the Hon Kyam Maher MLC visited set to welcome the production to South Australia:
“It was fantastic to visit the set of Lady Death and see the scale of the production on location. The economic impact of screen production supports South Australian crews, cast, businesses and suppliers and the Labor Government is proud to create jobs for South Australians through investment in the state’s world class screen sector. With the production utilising the Adelaide Studios facilities and filming underway at Kuitpo Forest facilitated by Forestry SA, Lady Death will highlight South Australia’s reputation as a film friendly destination.”
The cast includes newcomer Masha Basman as ‘Lyudmila’/’Lady Death’, Xavier Molyneux (Amazon’s Bloodaxe, Take My Hand) as ‘Billy’, Bart Edwards (Netflix’s The Witcher) as ‘Monty’, Robert Maaser (Ballerina, Blood & Gold) in dual roles as Nazi twins ‘Hans Bothman’ and ‘Gunner Mengele’, Jake Ryan (Netflix’s War Machine) as ‘Smiddy’, CJ Bloomfield (Mortal Kombat franchise, Furiosa) as ‘Butch’, George Pullar (Evil Dead Burn, Posthumous) as ‘Bird’ and Sam Parsonson (Beast of War, Fear Below) as ‘Cunningham’.
Photos by Ian Routledge
Shot entirely in South Australia, the film is expected to create more than 100 local jobs across cast, crew and extras. The film’s Heads of Department include South Australians Director of Photography Jonathan Baker (Talk to Me), Production Designer Rachael Gates (Wolf Creek: Legacy) and VFX Supervisor Grant Lovering (La Brea) alongside Head Of Production Sandra Tahmasby Baxter (Beast of War, Take My Hand, Wyrmwood – Apocalypse), SFX coordinator John Sanderson (Mortal Kombat, Wolf Creek: Legacy), stunt coordinator Danny Baldwin (Beast of War), Hair and make-up designer Billie Weston (HMU credits include: Apex, Elvis, Danger Close: Battle of Long Tan) and costume designer Tracey Rose Sparke (Primitive War, Beast of War).
Executive Producers include Bronte Studios, Kiah Roache-Turner, The Post Lounge, Todd Brown, Bart Edwards, Calum Gray, Max Pirkis, Jeff Harrison, Ari Harrison (Umbrella Entertainment), Chandler Heinz Laun and Jaswinder Singh Ahluwalia (Obsidian Creek Capital) and Laura Stejskal (Winter Tree Productions).
Australian SFX outfit MEG Studios (Apex, Talk to Me, Furiosa) is bringing the wolfpack to life, together with South Australia’s Resin (Mortal Kombat, Elvis, Hotel Mumbai), who are handling the film’s VFX.
SAFC Acting CEO Leanne Saunders said “Some of the most iconic genre films in Australian film history have been made in South Australia, and once again the amazing locations available within a short drive of Adelaide are able to double for any number of settings – this time, 1940s Europe! Congratulations to Co-producer Julie Byrne on bringing her considerable skills to this outstanding creative team, and Adelaide-based post-production house Resin who will deliver the VFX.”
Writer/Director Kiah Roache-Turner said: “There’s something wonderfully cinematic about throwing a legendary sniper, a squad of commandos, Nazi villains and giant wolves into the same story and seeing what survives. Lady Death is exactly the sort of movie I love making — ambitious, dangerous, funny in all the wrong places and completely unafraid to get blood all over the screen.”
Producer Blake Northfield said: “South Australia offers such an incredible variety of locations supported by hardworking and fantastic crew. It’s our absolute pleasure to team up again with Kiah Roache – Turner. Lady Death is a film like nothing we’ve ever seen before and the entire team are thrilled to be bringing this story to life.”
Financing for the movie comes through Obsidian Creek Capital, and Hinterland, with support from the South Australian Film Corporation. ANZ Distributor is Umbrella Entertainment. Architect are handling worldwide sales.
Lady Death will hunt down audiences in 2027.
Photos by Ian Routledge