‘Tis may be the season for romantic comedies set in idyllic English cottages or whimsical tales of elves lost in New York, but if you’re in the mood for something a little more gory, we’ve got your back.
We guide you through 14 days of Christmas Horror. It’s all about hitting those high notes as we take a look at the festive and gory musical, Anna and the Apocalypse.
We could probably count The Nightmare Before Christmas as a musical, but Anna and the Apocalypse is the festive musical you’ll want to watch this Christmas. And it comes with added zombies!
Brits aren’t exactly known for musicals, but there is a case to be made for the UK as the leading producer of classic Christmas films and perhaps even horror films. Anna and the Apocalypse, hailing from Scotland, is a rare film that combines horror, musicals and Christmas and somehow makes it look easy.
It’s a delightfully cheesy film; the titular Anna is about to finish school and plans on doing a bit of travelling before going off to uni, not that she’s told her dad this. Her whole group is dealing with problems, ranging from relationships to absent parents and your other basic teenage stuff, but all those will have to wait until the zombie apocalypse is over.
Credit: Orion Pictures
Turns out, Anna and her friends are surprisingly adept at fighting off bloodthirsty zombies, but perhaps the biggest monster in the school is one of the humans after all.
Anna and the Apocalypse also gifted us Ella Hunt in her breakthrough role. The actress has since gone on to star in Apple TV+’s Dickinson as Sue Gilbert as well as appearing in Netflix’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Hunt is effortlessly charming in the lead role, pulling off the vocals as well as providing some much needed heart into the film that can otherwise be a little too goofy for its own good.
The film, directed by John McPhail, is in no means scary, but does feature a few properly good gory scenes as zombies and people are impaled, slashed and devoured in equal measure, all while singing and dancing. As you do.
One of the standout sequences in the film comes early on as Anna is on her way to school and is listening to music, completely oblivious to the apocalyptic happenings around her. The production did not skimp out on the fake blood, which leads to some truly great set pieces.
Credit: Orion Pictures
There’s a few proper tunes on the soundtrack, too. ‘Hollywood Ending’ is a certified banger and ‘Soldier at War’ is hilarious in just how serious it is. Anna and the Apocalypse isn’t a film to be taken seriously. While films like The Lodge and Inside are almost traumatising in their brutality, Anna and the Apocalypse is wonderfully festive in all its bloody spectacle.
At the heart of the film is a recognisable story of wanting to escape the constraints of a small town and becoming your own person. Most of us don’t need a zombie invasion to finally be able to become our most authentic selves, but Anna’s fight to leave Little Haven, Scotland is still inspiring stuff.
