Sweet Canes, falling snow, and countless carnage? In Anna and the Apocalypse, a little-known 2017 British Christmas film directed by John McPhail, all of that is accompanied by some festive song-and-dance and a ton of zombies. Anna and the Apocalypse primarily follows a teen named (you guessed it) Anna as she fights to outlive highschool and an eventual zombie apocalypse.
The cult basic combines a signature British darkish humor with catchy tunes
by Roddy Hart and Tommy Reilly, together with a number of Christmas tunes, such because the opening quantity, “Christmas Means Nothing With out You.”
Written by Alan McDonald and Ryan McHenry, it’s primarily based on McHenry’s school brief movie, Zombie Musical. McHenry was notably impressed by Excessive Faculty Musical, in addition to movies like Night time of the Dwelling Useless and The Rocky Horror Image Present. From hilarious camp to extreme violence, Anna and the Apocalypse has one thing for everybody from horror to Broadway followers. These days, it has even been positively in comparison with one other zombie comedy basic.
- Launch Date
-
November 30, 2018
- Runtime
-
93 Minutes
- Solid
-
Ella Hunt
, Malcolm Cumming
, Sarah Swire
, Christopher Leveaux
, Marli Siu
, Ben Wiggins
, Mark Benton
, Paul Kaye
Christmas Meets Musical Meets Zombies
What Extra May You Ask For?
Anna Shepherd is a highschool senior in Little Haven, Scotland. She plans to journey the world for a yr earlier than going to varsity, a lot to the chagrin of her father. Her greatest buddy, John, is secretly and unrequitedly in love with Anna. Their buddies, couple Chris and Lisa, couldn’t be extra in love as Chris, a filmmaker, works on a brand new movie. He’s enlisted by Steph, a radical scholar, to assist report and expose the reality behind native homeless shelters when the college vice principal, Mr. Savage, refuses to permit her to report on them for the college paper. Nick, a preferred boy Anna used to hook up with, is not going to go away her alone regardless of her insistence. All the primary characters sing about their needs and must get away in basic musical model (“Break Away,” “Hollywood Ending”).
Nonetheless, the plot takes a flip from the standard razzle-dazzle when a zombie virus breaks out the subsequent day. When Anna and John run right into a zombie wearing a snowman go well with on their method to faculty, they don’t have any selection however to decapitate them with a chainsaw. From that time on, frightful hijinks ensue as Anna, John, and the gang should “sleigh” each zombie of their path and try and reunite with their dad and mom.
There’s an inherent humor in singing upbeat songs whereas brutally killing zombies
, and that is what makes Anna and the Apocalypse so good. In a single particularly catchy rock-n-roll-ish quantity, Nick musically boasts, “Relating to killing zombies, he (I) is the highest of his class,” all whereas annihilating a horde of zombies.
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Comparisons to ‘Shaun of the Useless’
The tone of the movie and a few unrelenting gore have prompted viewers
through the years to attract comparisons between
Anna and the Apocalypse and one other beloved Zombie comedy, Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Useless (2004). Positive, this one is a musical, and set at Christmastime, however one thing in regards to the humorousness feels akin. In actual fact, one evaluate from Alex Billington at First Exhibiting referred to as it “Shaun of the Useless meets La La Land,” which is deeply apt (this quote is even boasted on the movie’s poster).
Followers of Shaun of the Useless know that it doesn’t lack any of the horror or gnarliness of some other zombie movie, however is quite elevated by a further comedic, meta factor. The identical will be mentioned for Anna and the Apocalypse, however largely by the absurdity of including musical theater songs to a zombie apocalypse scenario. The movie is totally self-aware of this aspect, which makes the entire viewing expertise really feel like an inside joke akin to one thing from a seasoned satirical filmmaker like Edgar Wright.
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A True (Creepy) Christmas Movie
Regardless of involving fairly a little bit of blood and guts, Anna and the Apocalypse has turn into a vacation cult basic. Subtitled “A Zombie Christmas Musical,” the movie takes place simply days earlier than Christmas. There’s loads of Christmas cheer and iconography to get pleasure from. Many principal characters take part in and find yourself trapped at a Christmas pageant on the time of the apocalypse, performing Christmas numbers (suppose “Jingle Bell Rock” in Imply Women). Maybe most cleverly, Anna kills Zombies utilizing an enormous metallic Sweet Cane with a sharpened finish.
All in all, it is usually an extremely emotionally poignant film. Anna and the Apocalypse has loads to say about love and loss, factors made much more salient contemplating that Ryan McHenry, the co-writer and creator of the unique brief movie, tragically handed away previous to the movie’s launch.
As each profitable vacation film ought to
, it balances coronary heart, wit, and, the tip of the world as we all know it with some nice unique earworms. At a time of yr after we are supposed to depend our blessings, Anna and the Apocalypse exhibits us what it will be like if abruptly every thing modified (i.e., zombie apocalypse) and, albeit in a quite foolish means, encourages us to savor what now we have. Additionally, with out giving an excessive amount of away, there would possibly even be a zombie Santa to behold.
Anna and the Apocalypse is accessible to stream now on Tubi or the Roku Channel.