A high school musical + zombie horror + Christmas + comedy = Anna And The Apocalypse. It may sound like a hot mess but somehow each theme is done really well and they pull it all together to make for a fun flick. The songs are memorable and not cheesy, same thing for the zombies. There is definitely a Shaun Of The Dead vibe happening; because it is a film that is scary undead, run for your life, don’t take it too seriously but yet still deals with the terror and sadness that one might face in an apocalypse kind of cinema.
Anna and her friends are near the end of their high school years and starting to think about the future. Anna wants to travel but her dad wants her to go to university. John wants Anna’s love although he is securely in the friend zone. Steph wants to spend the holiday with her girlfriend; after her parents took off to Mexico she doesn’t want to be alone but even the girl she loves has abandoned her. Nick is a dick in need of redemption. And Lisa and Chris just want to make out.
As morning breaks on a new day, Anna and John dance with oblivious joy on their separate routes to school. John feels love and Anna feels independence, and they’re so caught up in their daydreams they fail to see the devastation happening around them. Blissfully unaware until the zombie snowman shows up and loses his head. They break one of the sillier unwritten rules for movies about the undead when John actually says the word zombie. Because these teenagers are quite aware of what they’re going through, and the changes they’re about to experience in their lives may be even bigger than the ones they experienced before the zombie apocalypse.
As reality sinks in and Anna and John see the smoke rising, they head to the closest safe place they can think of, the bowling alley where they have shitty jobs. There they meet up with Steph and Chris, they are hoping to get on the internet. It is really fascinating how much this means to them, it is a connection to other people. The four of them sing of wanting to hear a human voice while looking at a screen.
They realize they need to save themselves and the ones they love. That is now all that that matters, the people they hold close, just wanting to hear a human voice.
I have many plans already in my head for when the zombie apocalypse hits, it is a question that those of us who love this genre can answer quickly. Please share yours in the non-comments! I know there’s plenty of us here, zombie fans unite. What is the attraction to this type of entertainment?
“Catharsis through chaos.”
Here are some of my recommendations for free zombie entertainment, some are trashy, some are scary, all are fun:
Z Nation (TV series, 5 seasons)
[REC] or Quarantine (I consider these films to be part of the zombie genre.)
Anna And the Apocalypse stars Ella Hunt, Sarah Swire, Ben Wiggins, Malcolm Cumming, Marli Siu, Christopher Leveaux, Paul Kaye, and Mark Benton. Directed by John McPhail.
Anna And The Apocalypse is available for free on YouTube; with subscription on AMC+ and Shudder; free with ads on Tubi and Pluto; free with library card on Kanopy in certain locations; $3.99 in the usual places.
To make requests and see the movie lists and schedules, go to WonkMovie.
The animated short is Rooty Toot Toot created by UPA and John Hubley in 1951. It is not a kid’s cartoon, it is a story of revenge and murder told through song.
Our Halloween Movie Night selection is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), available with subscription on Peacock, AMC+, Prime; free with ads on Tubi, Pluto TV, Xumo Play, and Plex; $2.99-3.99 in the usual places.
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BONUS TRIVIA:
Director John McPhail said that Anna and the Apocalypse was influenced by the films West Side Story (1961), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) and The Breakfast Club (1985), as well as the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode "Once More, with Feeling". McPhail also said that the film includes "nods" to the zombie films Night of the Living Dead (1968), Dawn of the Dead (1978), The Evil Dead (1981), The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001) and Shaun of the Dead (2004). The crop tops and short shorts seen in the film were inspired by the costume design in the slasher film Sleepaway Camp (1983).
That last sentence made some of you really want to watch this!
BONUS TRIVIA:
Something to watch for:
One of the posts seen in the #EvacSelfie bit was from "Ash Campbell" - a mashup of Ash Williams/ Bruce Campbell from the Evil Dead films.