David Pierdomenico
The words “zombie”, “Christmas”, and “musical” seem like a very peculiar combination. Any two of them would work just fine, but all three together seems downright strange. Yet somehow, Anna the Apocalypse manages to pull it off seamlessly. It has well written characters, upbeat and contagious songs, and plenty of gory zombie killing. So let’s take a look at this brilliantly entertaining gem from across the pond!
Genuine Musical
The films begins as what seems to be a coming of age high school dramedy with musical numbers. We are introduced to Anna (Ella Hunt), her best friend John (Malcolm Cumming), and her father Tony (Mark Benton). Anna dreams of going on a trip to Australia after she’s done with school, but her father insists that she go straight to university like society suggests. It’s quite clear that her family has been struggling, following the death of her mother.
But Anna isn’t the only student feeling alone or left out. We also meet Steph (Sarah Swire), an American, whose parents have ditched her for Mexico during the holidays. Together, they, along with a few other friends, contend with the overbearing and dictatorial headmaster Mr. Savage (Paul Kaye). Part of what makes this film compelling is that long before any of the horror sets in, it establishes the characters and everything they were already going through. Even if the zombies never came into play, this film was setting itself up to work as a great musical comedy.
The songs are incredibly catchy and help set the mood and tone for each scene. During the musical numbers, they’re not really singing to any other character, more so just revealing what’s going on in their heads. And one of the only weaknesses of the film is that it shifts from these kinds of songs to random musical numbers breaking out and interrupting scenes later. Towards the end of the film, the characters are communicating via lyrics in the songs. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the first half of the songs were more about characters revealing inner feelings. It’s just a little inconsistent.
All Out Horror
Much to the film’s benefit however, once the horror begins, it holds nothing back. It also continues being a fun musical which is even more entertaining. Aside from a few passing references, the focus isn’t on what caused the zombie outbreak; rather the film deals with these characters and how they struggle to survive. They’re quickly cut off from cell service, only adding to the isolation. It has many similar themes and ideas from other zombie films (Shaun of the Dead in particular), but the fact that the musical numbers continue as they’re fighting off the undead helps bring a fresh take into a genre that’s been done to death (no pun intended) in the last decade.
Christmas Classic?
The yuletide setting may be less on the forefront than the zombie or musical aspects, but it doesn’t make this film any less of a Christmas gem. In addition to Anna using a giant candy cane as a zombie-killing weapon, the film is filled with holiday imagery and themes. At its core, it’s about a group of people struggling with all the normal family driven anxiety that so often comes with Christmas. Anna wants to get away from her overprotective father, who in turn only wants what’s best for her out of love.
Even the stereotypical jock bully Nick (Ben Wiggins) reveals that there’s much more to him underneath, mostly caused by issues with his father. At the beginning each character is dealing with some sort of family related issue, and by the end, the zombie apocalypse has stripped away all the societal norms and expectations, thus allowing for reconciliation. And if that doesn’t sound like the Christmas spirit, what does?!
Overall, Anna and the Apocalypse is fun, compelling, dramatic when it needs to be, hilarious when it needs to be, and has a pretty awesome soundtrack that’s easy to get stuck in one’s head. It would have been so easy for it to feel like one giant gimmick, but it avoids this. Instead it’s an incredibly unique holiday horror film that fans can enjoy every December!
