ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE


UK, 2017, 93 minutes, Colour.
Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux, Marli Siu, Ben Wiggins, Mark Benton, Paul Kaye.
Directed by John McPhail?.

This is a British zombie Apocalypse story. It is in the tradition of Shaun of the Dead, what might be called a juvenile version, but it is also a musical, quite a number of songs throughout the film, similar in style and lyrics. When released in Britain, the film had some favourable response, especially from younger audiences. Older audiences and more critical audiences might find it rather trying.

The zombies do not appear until almost half an hour into the film. In the meantime we are introduced to Anna, an enterprising and cheerful young student, coming to the end of high school. It is she who introduces the songs, bursting out, surprisingly, at first, but then continuing with the singing, joined by her friend, John, another girl from school who has problems, Steph, another friendly young man – and, finally, the smug young man whom this group dislikes.

Which means then that throughout the film, including the scenes with the zombies, this is a high school musical show, self-assertion, relationships, falling out, along with sequences of Anna’s father, Mark Benton, who works in the school, and the comic figure of the school principal, Paul Kaye, his dominating, manic intolerance, wanting to save his school.

And, then there are the zombies, not many of them in the small town, but enough to cause disruption, give rise to familiar scenes of menace, pursuit of the healthy, and the fight back and deaths, so to speak, of the zombies. It is material that has become familiar, all the variations on stories of the living dead.

The film builds to a culmination, the students defending themselves, Anna’s father sacrificing himself (after singing), a dastardly death for the school principal. And, some of the central group also succumbing to the zombies, leaving a few to find a car and drive away to…?

Sad to note that the principal writer, Ryan Mc Henry, Scotsman who produced Be Musical, died at the time of release at the age of 27 and the film is dedicated to him.

Apparently, an entertainment for younger audiences, but for others…?