IMDb plot summary: 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.
Directed by John McPhail. Starring Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, and Sarah Swire.
Anna and the Apocalypse is a Christmas zombie musical, which is an amazing combination. The titular Anna is in her last few days of high school, where she is making big decisions about where to go next, and when a zombie apocalypse breaks out, she, her friends, and her family have to try and survive together. On paper, this is SO MUCH FUN. Audio-only, this is SO MUCH FUN. But I found myself, to my disappointed surprise, not at all impressed by the visual interpretations of the songs. The horror fight scenes and chase scenes are filmed with so much energy and oomph, and then the songs are performed with the laidback stand-offishness of a "too cool to do anything" music video. It feels like a musical made by someone who didn't actually like musicals and wanted to downplay the musical emotions as much as they could visually. The only fun I had was during the principal's villain song -- he knew the assignment and RAN with it, maybe too far in the campy direction, but I at least was having a good time. Without the songs it'd be a fun zombie flick regardless, but with the songs, the pacing is disappointingly uneven.
How it entered my Flickchart:
Anna and the Apocalypse > The Keep
Anna and the Apocalypse < Munich
Anna and the Apocalypse < Hereditary
Anna and the Apocalypse > Scrooge
Anna and the Apocalypse < Strictly Ballroom
Anna and the Apocalypse > My Date With Drew
Anna and the Apocalypse > Wet Hot American Summer
Anna and the Apocalypse < The Exorcist
Anna and the Apocalypse > Jackie
Anna and the Apocalypse > Anna and the King
Anna and the Apocalypse < Rabbit Hole
Final spot: #1465 out of 3563, or 59%.
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