#johnmcphail

I used to be a fanatic about zombies. Devouring everything and anything that involved the gruesome dead. Some of my all time favorite horror films are Night Of The Living Dead, Dawn Of The Dead and Zombi. When The Walking Dead premiered I was in horror heaven… but then with each season debuting we got more and more zombie films… we have other shows that play with the zombie mythos… we have an over saturation of zombie options. I stopped watching The Walking Dead because ultimately I got bored. I tend to skip over a lot of zombie films on streaming services only because my interest in them as a threat has waned which is unfortunate because among those many zombie titles I’ve heard there are a few gems. But there is such a notion as there being too much of a good thing. I say this so you fully understand that my interest and love for zombies was, until recently, dead. And then ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE arrived.

John McPhail’s hybrid genre film is one I’ve been waiting for ever since word started dropping about it from film festivals. I’m a musical fan. I’m an even bigger horror musical fan. Not so many titles in that sub-genre. And then images started dropping with zombies and gore and they looked fantastic. The trailer finally dropped and I was sold. FINALLY the film debuted in my area (you’d think California’s Bay Area would see a lot of these films sooner) and I enthusiastically went to go see it.

It’s a love/hate relationship with this film. But thats not a bad thing.

The look of the film fires on all cylinders for me. From the color palette to the cinematography everything has a wonderful holiday glow to it and the colors pop. The set designs are fun and creative considering the budget and the choreography of the music numbers utilizes these sets nicely. The story is one young people will connect with; a group of high school seniors getting ready to part ways emotionally and physically from each other as they set out on their own paths but of course a zombie epidemic hits putting a halt to their dreams and fears of the future and doing what we all should do and be in the moment… fighting zombies. And the zombies look great, again consider the budget since it wasn’t a big one. Couple that with some solid gore scenes and the horror side of the proceedings made me happy. Casting was also solid with actors who make their characters very likable and have you rooting for them. The story gives all the characters a moment to shine with heroic, emotional, and funny moments. And its an eclectic group of young people whose characters have traits and emotions and concerns that are very real and easy to connect with. The stand out is of course Anna played by Ella Hunt who not only can sing but can convey care & concern, intensity, confusion, and an array of emotions so naturally. Anna’s journey in this film is layered and feels real as she is the one who wants to leave what she knows behind and take on something new and distant from home all the while dealing with a sadistic head master, a douche ex, a best friend in the friend zone, and a widower father. I couldn’t take my eyes off the performance and seeing as this is her first major film project I can’t wait to see how her career progresses with future roles. This is her movie and she owns it with ferocity and intelligence.

Everything about this film worked for as you can obviously tell but what glaringly keeps me from absolutely loving it is the music…

Its a musical. There are a lot of musical numbers and a few worked for me but the rest just took me out of the picture a little too consistently. I definitely don’t want to take away from the people who wrote the numbers. The lyrics I quite liked; very witty and intelligent. Its the actual music behind the lyrics. The production of the sounds just didn’t do anything for me. The sound is akin to a High School Musical sound. Poppy and safe. And this music lover is not a fan at all of that sound. There are bound to be many viewers who will undoubtedly enjoy the music but unfortunately since I’m not a fan of music like that every time a number began I had to focus on just the lyrics and ignore the musical cues that were being hurled my way. I did enjoy the High School Christmas segment the students put on for their family as its incredibly funny and sharp but everything else was a battle for my attention which when in a theater watching a movie can be very trying.

With that said I appreciate this film. I’m glad I got to see it on the big screen. Its a horror musical staged during Christmas with zombies. Its amazing a film like this exists and made it to the big screen. And again I don’t want to take anything away from the musical side; I enjoyed the lyrics I just didn’t enjoy the sounds and music production but thats me and I know many will appreciate the music more than me. But what I took away from the film is a renewed interest in zombie horror which I couldn’t imagine another film doing right now. So thank you Anna And The Apocalypse… your style and passion made me a believer in the zombie genre again.