Anna and the Apocalypse (2018)

After building up a reputation at conventions and late night film festival screenings, Anna and the Apocalypse storms into mainstream theatres, but maybe that's not quite where it belongs. While a zombie Christmas musical might play well with the crowds at a festival or con, it isn't necessarily the sort of thing that mainstream audiences might flock to. And the film falls heavily onto the B-movie side of things. It's almost the sort of thing you want to see at an event and not at the mall megaplex.

Despite its too smart for its own good premise, Anna and the Apocalypse isn't quite as subversive as one would assume. Anna and the Apocalypse is fun in how it all comes together but its ambitions are fairly mainstream. This isn't Shawn of the Dead or even Doctor Horrible. The closest the film gets to being radical is a saucy little holiday tune sung before any of the gore gets going. Sure it's a damn charming zombie film and it remains rather enjoyable but it's not the nerdy Christmas miracle I was expecting.

Still it is a fun and quite effective mix of modern musical (the songs might be a little on the Glee side), fairly standard teen angst dramedy, with zombies thrown in. The film goes for the gore, but in a digestible way. It's beautifully filmed and well acted by a cast of general unknowns. So in the end it's fun but not a game changer. Yet you could do worse if looking for a little holiday magic.

Anna and the Apocalypse 
Starring: Ella Hunt
Director: John McPhail
Writers: Alan McDonald, Ryan McHenry