Anna and the Apocalypse (2017) review – Catchy but tonally confused zombie musical

Welcome to Knockout Horror and to another entry into our Festive Frights season of Christmas-themed horror movie reviews. If you are looking for tons of Christmas horror scares, check out our Awful Advent category for lots more. Today we are taking a look at musical zombie horror movie Anna and the Apocalypse.

Wait… What? A Musical Zombie Horror?

Yes, Anna and the Apocalypse is a musical zombie horror movie. What a weird mix of genres, right? I mean, musical horrors are not exactly unheard of. Sweeney Todd definitely counts as one, and I can think of a few others off the top of my head, but it is a fairly uncommon approach to the genre. That’s probably with good reason, though. It’s tough for a movie to actually stay scary when people are belting out into song every five minutes.

“Anna and the Apocalypse feels more like something you would find on the Disney Channel rather than on Broadway… it all just seems a little bit ‘high school production’.”

Anna and the Apocalypse follows the story of high school student Anna (Ella Hunt). After her home town falls victim to a zombie apocalypse, turning all the residents into bloodthirsty undead freaks, she is forced into a fight for survival. Teaming up with friends and classmates, she kicks, stabs, and sings her way through some Christmas carnage.

Anna and the Apocalypse makes its intentions clear almost immediately. Anna breaks out into song in the middle of the high school corridors with fellow students joining in to form a chorus of horror weirdness. If I am being perfectly honest, it is a little bit jarring, and that is why I didn’t review this movie for my Awful Advent feature in 2022.

I find musicals a bit of a tough ask, especially this style in particular. Anna and the Apocalypse feels more like something you would find on the Disney Channel rather than on Broadway. Compounding the issue is the fact that I don’t really like zombie movies, either. There was no way I could have seen myself enjoying Anna and the Apocalypse at all which is, in all honesty, not a fair way to judge a movie.

Some of the songs are pretty catchy but still forgettable

As far as the songs go, some of them are catchy but none stand out. I am not sure whether it was the whisky I consumed or whether they were all just a little bit forgettable. I can barely remember a single one outside of “Soldier at War”.

Dance routines feel pretty average and the whole thing has a distinct sense of the amateur about it. None of the vocalists stand out, there are a bunch of dubbing inconsistencies, and it all just seems a little bit “high school production” as far as the musical aspect is concerned.

Still, it’s upbeat and is quite different compared to the usual slew of zombie movies doing the rounds. It’s when the horror stuff kicks in that the movie starts to feel very tonally confused. That’s not to say these parts of Anna and the Apocalypse don’t work; they do have some merit. The horror elements are okay, if not a little overly familiar and formulaic. The tongue-in-cheek approach to the genre allows for some comedy which keeps things light, and there are a few laughs along the way.

The typical “survivor group teams up to escape” thing is formulaic but effective, and it almost feels like a Goonies style movie for a while there, albeit with zombies and no Chunk. Whereas there is plenty of gore and some decent practical effects, there is so much levity that it really doesn’t feel at all serious. It stays light and bouncy with the action and horror punctuated by the occasional song. That is, until it doesn’t and it completely flips on its head.

It completely loses its way near the middle

Somewhere around the middle part of the movie, Anna and the Apocalypse completely loses direction. It frequently engages in repetitive zombie movie tropes and feels like it starts to go around in circles. As the final third rolls in, the light, bouncy, fun-filled zombie killing action-horror-musical mishmash suddenly becomes very serious. Gone is the levity and, in its place, we have a ridiculous evil headmaster subplot and a whole bunch of characters being bitten for no reason.

“The light, bouncy, fun-filled zombie killing action-horror-musical mishmash suddenly becomes very serious. It completely flips on its head.”

I am not sure why the writers felt the need to flip things so drastically. It adds nothing and acts as a severe tonal shift, making the fact that this was ever a musical in the first place feel completely ridiculous. The two things don’t mesh together all that well in the first place, so when the movie attempts to tap into some deep emotion, drama, and sadness, it feels utterly forced and completely unsatisfying.

Anna and the Apocalypse had a chance to really subvert expectation, but it is so bound to its boring zombie movie tropes that it sinks into predictability. It doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be and it is hard not to see it as anything other than a very middle-of-the-road zombie movie with a tacked-on, subpar musical element that adds little. If every other scene wasn’t punctuated by songs, I doubt anyone would remember this movie in the slightest.

Plenty of strong performances

On the plus side, acting is fairly solid. I am not sure if the actors performed their own songs, I am sure at least one or two were dubbed, but everyone seems to do a nice job. Ella Hunt is a very stiff dancer, but she does well with the acting segments.

People got a bit ahead of themselves after this movie, anointing her as the next big thing. That never really happened and I am not surprised; she is fine but doesn’t seem particularly special. I enjoyed Malcolm Cumming’s performance as John and thought Ben Wiggins was great fun as Nick. Marli Siu did a great job, as well.

“I hated every single, solitary part of Paul Kaye’s performance. He hams things up so much and his vocal delivery is hideous.”

I hated every single, solitary part of Paul Kaye’s performance as Arthur Savage. I have liked him from back when he was Dennis Pennis years ago, but he stinks here. Kaye hams things up so much and his vocal delivery on both lines and songs is hideous. He feels so at odds with how seriously everyone else takes themselves. He reminded me of an over-the-top pantomime villain but, somehow, even more obnoxious. It’s made all the worse by how ridiculous his character is and how dumb his motivations are.

A little side note that bears mention: this movie markets itself as a Christmas horror and it is, sort of. As it stands, however, it could be set at any time of year. It’s a factor that barely plays into the film outside of a few visual gags and to fit the movie into a very specific niche because, apparently, the zombie musical horror genre wasn’t niche enough. Don’t watch this expecting it to feel all that festive.

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