12 days of holiday horror: Anna and the Apocalypse gives us zombies, music and dancing

There aren’t a lot of holiday horror films that fall firmly into the subgenre of Christmas-zombie-musical-comedy. That’s a shame really, because Anna and the Apocalypse is such a great example of that mashup.

Anna is in her final year of high school in Scotland, and her father Tony is not happy when he discovers her plan to take a year off to travel before going to University. This has caused a bit of a rift between the two, and many of Anna’s friends are struggling as well.

Her best friend John has a secret crush on her, film student Chris is struggling with his latest assignment, and so on. On the night of the school Christmas show, Anna and John are working at the bowling alley in town, and unbeknownst to them, a zombie virus has spread throughout the area.

The next morning, Anna and John walk to school and don’t even notice the bloody chaos breaking out all around them until they are accosted by a zombie in a snowman costume. Luckily, Anna is handy with a see saw, and they hightail it to the bowling alley, figuring the route to school is too dangerous.

Oh, did I mention the singing and dancing? That’s right, kids, this is a musical after all, so the students and adults featured in Anna and the Apocalypse perform multiple, very infectious song and dance routines. The choreography is fantastic and the songs are catchy (and sometimes poignant), which the theater kid inside me loves.

At school, teachers and students are just trying to stay alive, and Anna’s father is there as well. As always, I don’t want to give away too much of the story; I hate spoilers. But, believe me when I tell you, Anna and the Apocalypse is a holiday horror film that will make you laugh, cry, jump and snap your fingers. The storyline with Anna and her father is sweet and touching, and anyone who has wanted to go out and seek adventure after high school can relate to the teen’s plight.

There is a decent amount of blood in this film, too, so horror hounds can rest assured that Anna and the Apocalypse takes its horror seriously, even if the script is often laugh out loud funny. You can watch it on Tubi, Pluto and Shudder.

Do you think zombie musicals have a place at the horror table? We want your opinion in the comments section.