Film

Anna and the Apocalypse

A British sixth-form Christmas turns into a zombie apocalypse, and everyone keeps stopping to sing about it. Ella Hunt anchors a genuinely catchy, gleefully gory musical that swings from cheerleader-perky show tunes to gut-punch violence without much warning. It's for people who want their horror-comedy with jazz hands, and who don't mind a film that means its heart as much as its splatter.

TMDb rating3.0

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy a song-and-slaughter mash-up where the gore and the choruses are equally serious about being fun, and the teenage friendships carry as much weight as the zombies.

Skip it if you find zombie gore hard to laugh at, or you want horror that stays scary rather than switching to chirpy singalong energy every time the tension builds.

What it asks of you: Ninety-seven minutes, brisk and tonally restless, flipping between punchline and panic every few scenes; it rewards staying alert rather than sitting back.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Shaun of the Dead2004

The gold standard for British zombie comedy — dry wit, real affection for its characters, and a third act that earns its emotional gut-punches as much as its laughs.

But No songs, so if the musical numbers were the draw, this plays it comparatively straight.

Shaun of the Dead poster

Zombieland2009

American cousin to Anna's energy: fast, funny, rules-based zombie survival with a road-trip heart and a starry, likeable cast having a blast.

But Broader and more slapstick, less interested in melancholy or genuine stakes.

Zombieland poster

Attack the Block2011

South London teens defend their estate from monsters in a film that's scrappy, funny, and surprisingly moving about who gets called a hero.

But Aliens, not zombies, and the thick slang-heavy dialogue takes a few minutes to tune your ear to.

Attack the Block poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Anna and the Apocalypse

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Train to Busan2016

Same engine as Anna — ordinary people, sudden apocalypse, love as the thing worth dying for — with every ounce of comedy and music stripped out to leave pure dread.

A father and daughter fight to survive a zombie outbreak on a speeding train, in one of the most devastating, purely earnest genre films made this century.

But Korean-language, relentlessly grim, and there is not a single joke — let alone a song — to be found.

Train to Busan poster
More like this (8)

Cockneys vs Zombies2012

East End bank robbers and pensioners take on the undead in a scrappy, foul-mouthed comedy that shares Anna's DIY British charm.

But Rougher-edged and cruder humour, without the emotional undertow or the songs.

Cockneys vs Zombies poster

Warm Bodies2013

A zombie falls for a human girl in this soft, funny teen romance that shares Anna's mix of genre gore and genuine sweetness.

But Considerably tamer and more romance than horror — the stakes never bite as hard.

Warm Bodies poster

The Cabin in the Woods2012

A horror-comedy that keeps yanking the rug out from under its own genre, clever and gleeful about deconstructing exactly what you expect.

But Meta and structurally sneaky rather than warm — it's more interested in ideas than characters.

The Cabin in the Woods poster

Little Shop of Horrors1986

The horror-musical blueprint: a killer plant, showstopping numbers, and a tone that swings from cute to grisly just like Anna does.

But Stagier and more theatrical in style, with practical effects that show their age.

Little Shop of Horrors poster

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World2010

Genre-mashup energy of a different flavour — video-game logic, comic-book visuals, and a soundtrack doing a lot of the emotional heavy lifting.

But No zombies, no songs sung by the cast, and its hyperactive style can exhaust as much as delight.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World poster

Life After Beth2014

A quieter, weirder zombie comedy about grief and denial, with a deadpan streak that rewards patience rather than spectacle.

But Much smaller and stranger, with none of Anna's scale, choreography, or crowd-pleasing bounce.

Life After Beth poster

The Rocky Horror Picture Show1975

Decades before Anna, this proved genre horror and showtunes could share a body — same tonal whiplash, wildly different decade and morals.

The original horror-musical mash-up: cheap sets, filthy innuendo, and songs so catchy they've outlived the film's midnight-movie cult status.

But Deliberately trashy, sexually frank for its era, and its plot is barely a plot at all.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show poster

Cannibal! The Musical1996

Same DNA — cheerful songs colliding head-on with graphic violence — pushed to its scrappiest, trashiest, least polished extreme.

Trey Parker's ultra-low-budget splatstick musical about a real cannibalistic prospector is gruesome, ridiculous, and unexpectedly hummable.

But Amateurish on purpose, gorier and cruder, with production values closer to a school play than a studio film.

Cannibal! The Musical poster

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Recommended by

Train to Busan, Once, Little Monsters, Girls Gone Dead