Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)

(Netflix Streaming, March 2020) I liked Anna and the Apocalypse, but it’s a shame I couldn’t like it more. A blend of zombie film, senior high school drama, Christmas setting and musical comedy, this is a film that clearly operates in its own specific reality, with gore vying with songs as highlights. We’re clearly so far along the rise and fall of zombie movies by now that it’s a wonder there haven’t been more zombie musicals until now, and this one does nicely, never compromising on either the musical or the horror halves of the result. Ella Hunt is not bad as the titular Anna, although she regularly gets the show stolen from her during musical numbers—Marli Siu delivers a blistering take on saucy Christmas songs with “It’s That Time of Year,” while Ben Wiggins has a strong showing during “Soldier at War.” As a fan of classic Hollywood musicals, however, I’m not quite as happy with Anna and the Apocalypse as I should be, and I suspect that this has a lot to do with the bleak ending. I can’t say I wasn’t forewarned — “Hollywood Ending” is all about not expecting the best. But even so, the final body count is too high, and made even worse by the school’s headmaster being a cartoonish antagonist that could have been removed without much alteration to the rest of the story. Zombies are terrible enough—why throw in a human antagonist? The ending barely showcases any hope, and that seems like a miscalculation even for a horror musical. Still, Anna and the Apocalypse is worth a look, especially for horror crowds looking for something just distinctive enough to be interesting.