[Editorial] 12 Ghouls of Christmas: Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)

Christmas movies are designed to get us in the festive spirit, and the many entries in the Hallmark movie universe are designed to show us that the holidays can bring families and lovers closer together, no matter what madcap situations you get yourself into. 

It may seem that there’s no room for horror movies at this time of year, as most people are looking for festive fluff that will bring them joy and remind them of the true spirit of Christmas. However, Christmas is the perfect time for a slice of horror, as the darker Christmas movies show us that some things don’t go to plan. Fate doesn’t care if it’s Christmas or not, and nasty things happening at what is meant to be a happy time of year means they hit that little bit harder. If you need a good cry this holiday season, a Christmas horror movie is probably the best place to start.

Anna and the Apocalypse (2017) is not just a Christmas movie, it also fits into the typical teen movie tropes as we follow our main character, Anna, who has dreams of escaping her little town for a life much bigger than what her father has planned for her. There are the typical characters of the best friend who’s secretly in love with Anna, the overbearing single father, the loved-up couple, and the angsty outcast. However, Anna and the Apocalypse manages to turn the tropes of a festive film and a teen romp on their heads by adding in a zombie apocalypse to mix things up.

In the town of Little Haven, preparations for Christmas are well underway and presents are being collected for those in need. The rehearsals for the school Christmas show have almost wrapped up. And John, Anna’s best friend, is happily rocking his light-up Christmas jumper for all to see. However, under the surface, problems are bubbling, just as they would at any other time of year. The added pressure of Christmas only makes these issues worse, rather than acting as a magical band-aid as it does in so many other Christmas movies. 

We discover that Anna has dreams of travelling around Australia next year instead of heading off to university as her dad, Tony, had hoped. John is doing his best to support her, but as he’s so in love with her, the situation is taking a huge emotional toll on him. And while Steph is trying to focus her energies on helping the local homeless shelter, it turns out she’s trying to distract herself from the fact that neither her parents or her girlfriend are remotely interested in spending Christmas with her.

Because of this, none of our main cast of characters are particularly in the festive spirit, even if John is trying to put a brave face on things. In fact, Anna seems to have already detached herself from life in Little Haven, as she stares longingly at the plane ticket pinned up in her locker. She opts to miss the Christmas show, to pick up a shift at the local bowling alley and add to her travel fund. We can forgive Anna for being a little selfish, as she’s not entirely happy in her current life, and all she can think about is looking forward to what’s to come. 

However, this level of self-absorption causes Anna to miss the signs of the upcoming apocalypse. She turns off the car radio the minute the news comes on, she literally bangs into zombies on the way home but is too emotional to register this, and the entirety of ‘Turning My Life Around’ takes place as Anna sings about her life while her neighbours are served up for dinner in the background.

This is a typical feature of a teen movie, where high school feels like the be-all and end-all, and any problems that you have to face as a teenager seem to resemble the end of the world. And after an encounter with a man-eating snowman, Anna soon realises what the end of the world actually feels like. With most of the responsible adults locked in the school to avoid the horde, Anna and John are left to fend for themselves. Again, this is typical of teen movies, where adults are usually largely absent as they are portrayed as having no understanding of what it’s like to be a teenager. This also works well in the crossover into horror, where groups of teens are frequently seen battling serial killers and monsters without any real help from the older generation. 

Anna and John soon meet up with Steph and their friend, Chris, at the bowling alley. While they have to fight for their lives against a zombified bowling team, the friends are mostly unbothered by the apocalypse and spend time hanging out in the ball pool wondering which celebrities have been turned into zombies. However, as night falls and explosions start to erupt across the skyline, the severity of the situation soon hits them. This is brought home even further by the fact they are unable to reach the ones they love after the mobile networks go down. They realise they need to make their own way to the high school to reunite with their friends and family, hoping that the adults will know what to do next.

This journey between the bowling alley and the school is life-changing for Anna. Up until now, we’ve seen her struggling with making solid decisions. She drifts from being so sure of herself to questioning everything so quickly. She fights for her right to travel while talking to her dad, and then seems confused about what she wants during ‘Break Away’. And while she seemed to have firmed up her decisions about travelling during ‘Turning My Life Around’, the minute the apocalypse hits, her resolve is knocked again. 

Her turning point comes when John is bitten by a zombie and sacrifices himself to save her. Moments before, John declares his true feelings for Anna, and she has to admit that she only thinks of him as a friend. In a turn from the usual friend to lover relationship that Christmas movies often take, Anna makes her feelings clear in an instant. John is her friend, and she doesn’t want to hurt him or string him along. Men and women are allowed to be friends without there being any romantic result (and the friendzone does not exist), so it’s refreshing to see Anna not automatically be paired off with John for the sake of a happy ending.

Having to process so many feelings, and knowing how long John must have had to hide what he really felt from her, Anna realises that she needs to fight for the things she wants rather than going back and forth. She makes the most of her ability to be strong and brave, and channels that into murdering as many zombies as possible with a giant candy cane. 

In the end, only Anna, her ex-boyfriend, Nick, and Steph are left alive as the zombies take over the school. Even on the brink of certain death, Anna has still found the ability to believe in herself and her decisions as she sings ‘I Will Believe’. Luckily, Steph manages to get her car keys in time to swing by and drive all three of them to safety. 

Teen movies and Christmas movies are pretty much guaranteed to have a happy ending, but for the climax, Anna and the Apocalypse leans into horror by giving us a twisted version of what the main characters may consider a happy ending.

Anna manages to escape town with Nick, the boy she’s still pining over, but they could be two of the only three people left alive. Her dreams of travel are shattered, and while she’s left Little Haven behind for good, she has no idea where she’s going. Steph has finally found friends, but it’s grief and fighting for their life that pushed them together. Chris and his girlfriend, Lisa, got their wish to be together forever, but they’re stuck wandering the school halls as zombies. It’s an almost happy ending with a zombie twist. 

As Anna and her friends drive off in the car, it feels like a slightly bloodier version of the car flying into the sky in Grease (1978). It almost feels like a good ending but we’re not really sure what life now looks like for Anna. She’s made it through these problems but what does the future hold?

Anna and the Apocalypse ends as the snow starts to fall, and shows us that stuff doesn’t magically get fixed just because it’s Christmas. It also shows us that getting what you thought you wanted isn’t always the key to happiness. It takes elements from Christmas movies and the teen drama genre and proves that it doesn’t matter what time of year it is, or how much you’ve dreamt of something, there is no guarantee that everything will get wrapped up with a bow for you. Something, potentially zombies, is always lurking, and you need to fight and take control of your life to take the first steps towards a true Hollywood ending.

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