Moving on from the Tim Burton triple-header, Nightmare opened the door to a number of possibilities but we’re going to stick with the theme of horror-themes Christmas musicals and introduce one of my favorite movies of 2017: Anna and the Apocalypse.
Directed by John McPhail
Screenplay by Alan McDonald & Ryan McHenry
Starring: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Ben Wiggins, and Paul Kaye
When a sudden zombie outbreak puts an end to Christmastime in the small town of Little Haven, a group of secondary school kids must fight (and sing) their way through hordes of the undead to make their way back to the remaining survivors who are barricaded inside the school with the maniacal headmaster.
If you could imagine Shaun of the Dead meets High School Musical, John McPhail’s movie fills that uniquely entertaining in that niche. Alan McDonald and Ryan McHenry adapted the screenplay from Barry Waldo’s novel and McPhail helped bring it to life in incredible fashion. It’s paced remarkably well as it goes through the familiar motions of high school while the imminent threat slowly develops in the background. Once the two worlds collide, it becomes a bloody musical-comedy backed by strong makeup design and effects that make for some outlandish but highly-enjoyable moments.
Ella Hunt stars as Anna and she’s got the right combination of attitude and style to pull it all together as a compelling lead. Plus there’s a distinct unrequited love angle that plays out between her and her best friend John, played by Malcolm Cumming. Sarah Swire is also very good as Steph who’s an outcast of sorts and not exactly friends with any of the other characters, but the relationship grows over the course of the movie in a way that makes her role one of the more enjoyable ones. The group of kids works well together but Paul Kaye as the creepy and bizarre Mr. Savage steals the show.
There are plenty of good things about this movie, from the performances to the choreography, but it’s not unfair to say the star of the show is the original music by Roddy Hart and Tommy Reilly. After all, it’s a musical and it wouldn’t get far without a good soundtrack but “Hollywood Ending” has to be the crown jewel.
I was waiting to find the right place to drop this movie on the list and now seems like the perfect time. Don’t let the R-rating turn you off, it’s pretty tame but does have moments of unrealistic zombie violence. You can stream Anna and the Apocalypse on Hulu and rent it through video-on-demand.
Keep Calm and Sing Along! Happy Holidays!