It only took a year, but it finally came time to see this musical zombie apocalyptic, kinda horror movie. I have been wanting to see this for a while now and being reminded it is out there, well it happens to be on Amazon Prime and well, tis the season. Looking for something to watch and write about, because horror has been, well far from my mind lately.
A zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven – at Christmas – forcing Anna and her friends to fight, slash and sing their way to survival, facing the undead in a desperate race to reach their loved ones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and with civilization falling apart around them, the only people they can truly rely on are each other.
Usually I am not a fan of musicals, ever…well there is one, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode is the only exception. Actually director John McPhail actually was influenced from the episode “Once More, with feeling”, among other musicals and obviously classic zombie movies, Dawn of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead and others. The idea of this is pretty cool, but I had a hard time determining whether or not I wanted to add this to the 500 Horror movies in 2019. So, I decided to watch it, zombies, apocalypse, those are words that appeal to me. So, I put it on and my wandering 6 year old daughter came over and watched it with me.
I will say it is very odd, watching the zombie killing, people being eaten while these teenagers are singing along. But it absolutely works, with music composed by Tommy Reilly and Roddy Hart, it is very upbeat and energized no matter the situation. I really love the music and I am sure the movie would work without the musical element as a fun zombie flick from the UK, but why would you want that? The music is fun and stop being a dick about musicals and watch this movie.
The cast is fun and is led by Ella Hunt, who plays Anna. She has a great voice and I think she has the chance to be in some good movies going forward, he has a presence. The rest of the cast works well with everyone and they call kind of follow high school student tropes. This movie has a lot of heart as well, the character development gets to really care for even the most minor characters. Great characters, good gore effects and a wonderful villain, yes more than only zombies.
Anna and the Apocalypse could be an instant Christmas horror classic if it finds an audience. It really isn’t scary, but really that is all tonal. But it is steeped in horror tropes and there are zombie bites and dead bodies and lots of blood, it is a horror musical. I think this is one that needs to be seen be many and get it while it is free to watch if you’re a Prime. Seriously, get on it this holiday season.
IMDB.com has a stupid low score of 6.0
I give Anna and the Apocalype a solid 8.0
