Anna and the Apocalypse – Toronto After Dark 2018

A group of singing high school students try to survive a zombie apocalypse during the holidays in Anna and the Apocalypse. Anna (Ella Hunt) is a high school senior in the sleepy British town of Little Haven. A zombie apocalypse breaks out on Christmas Eve and the majority of the non-infected find themselves trapped in Anna’s high school. Along with fellow surviving friends John (Malcolm Cumming), Steph (Sarah Swire), Chris (Christopher Leveaux), and Nick (Ben Wiggins), Anna sets off towards the school, in an effort to save her father Tony (Mark Benton).

With Anna and the Apocalypse, director John McPhail and writers Alan McDonald and Ryan McHenry presents a genre mash-up that is like High School Musical that is interrupted by a zombie apocalypse. The film features a number of songs with tongue-in-cheek lyrics written by Roddy Hart and Tommy Reilly. The drama of the plot involves Anna and her friends trying to reach the high school to save her father, as well as Chris’ girlfriend Lisa (Marli Siu), who are being held against their will by the school’s sadistic headmaster Mr. Savage (Paul Kaye).

Without any doubt, I can say that Anna and the Apocalypse is the most entertaining high school zombie Christmas musical I have ever seen. The musical element of the film add a lot of comedy to the film. For instance, there is musical number in the film that has both Anna and John singing in the street, while oblivious to the carnage happening around them. The film also features some creative and gory zombie kills and even pulls on your heartstrings a bit. Overall, Anna and the Apocalypse succeeds at being a crowdpleasing good time.