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Darke Reviews | Anna and the Apocalypse (2018)

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From the moment I saw this trailer I wanted to see this movie. I am a theatre geek to begin with, so musicals are always a soft spot. I am THE Horror fan at my job, but one of my employees is a close second, as such Zombies get my attention. I am a sentimentalist and thus a good charming Christmas movie with a twist is always touching. What happens when you mix the three into a single movie? You get Anna and the Apocalypse. What appears to be the perfect blend of the comedy I like, a solid musical in the vein of High School musical, and zombies.  This absolutely should not work.

 

 

But did it?

The movie is a product of Scotland, a country that every day I am considering trying to import myself into, which also gave us the fantastic film Let Us Prey. The writers are also products of Scotland, with Ryan McHenry and Alan McDonald in their first big release in their own country, much less globally. Director John McPhail is getting his first shot at wide screen title as well. The story is as simple as the trailer provides you, where a zombie apocalypse hits a sleepy coastal town in Scotland around Christmas. Anna and her friends have to make it to their school from across town amidst the chaos and undead to find their friends and family and hope for an evac from the local military.  That’s it. The plot couldn’t be more simple, but there is an elegance in the simplicity as the writers were able to focus and spend time on the characters as they deal with the undead, their own lives, and the burdens of growing up. Along the way there is full on musical numbers that are absolutely catchy and I haven’t stopped listening since I left the theatre.

On the topic of the musical beats, at first I thought they were non diagetic, which means that they aren’t “actually” happening in camera and are more traditional to a musical; but there are a few beats that make me question that to the point the movie may actually be having these absolutely absurd sequences happening real time. I honestly like that in this case. It takes the movie with a wink and a nod and brings you along with the fun. Some of the sequences and songs reminded me a bit of something I would see in Rocky Horror Picture Show, while others went full Disney, and even others went full Edgar Wright. Again I am ok with it, because while I can see these influences (due to seeing so many movies) they make it work and also make it their own. The film makes a few obvious references to Shaun of the Dead and this is worthy as you could almost consider this a spiritual successor to that film; and it is also clear to me that McPhail took more than a few influences from Edgar Wrights style of directing. This is something to be encouraged as we need more Wrights in the world and what he brings to the table with his cuts, editing, and camera work.

I in a rare instance get to talk about the singing and performance of our actors. Starting with our titular character Anna, played by Ella Hunt. She’s the perfect lead for this as she is both warm and engaging and her vocals are right in the range that I find pleasing. She gives a truly “human” performance as her character goes through the story and then is screen capturing when she gets her solo songs. Sarah Swire, who plays Steph, and gives the movie some positive Queer representation, has some great moments, but her vocals are just absolutely powerful and as good as Hunt is, Swire’s range and power is incredible. The other main players, Malcolm Cumming, Christopher Leveaux, Ben Wiggins, and Marli Sui all do good jobs, but none of them quite stand out the way Hunt and Swire do. Wiggins, as his character Nick, gets a pretty good “hero” solo in the movie but the character is unlikable so it’s hard to enjoy as much as would be potential if he wasn’t such as knob. The surprising performance comes from Paul Kaye, as Headmaster Savage.  Game of Thrones fans will know him as Thoros of Myr; I thought he was doing his best impression of Bill Nighy to the point I couldn’t recognize him. He even had Nighy’s mannerisms and vocal ticks down in a few scenes so I can’t say if it was intentional or I just need to watch more of Kaye’s work. His songs give me the most feeling of something from Rocky Horror, not in theme but range, tone and style.

For my Gore hounds, I think you will be satisfied with this movie as the effects are good and beautifully practical. I think they could have gone further, true, but they struck a balance with the rest of the tone of the story. My theatre geeks will probably enjoy the overall production and beats and even the stage like performances for songs like Human Voice and Hollywood Ending. The Disney like “I want” song, “Break Away” has a great hook and a damn near addictive property with Hunt, Swire, and Cumming’s leading vocals. The camera work beyond the musical numbers is absolutely solid and shows more command than I’ve seen out of a dozen Hollywood films this year with some great intentional shots and use of motion.

 

TL;DR?

The hype for this one is real folks. I had a blast watching this as did the audience that was there, small as it was. Beyond the funny beats being my kind of funny, the music being well above the average we’ve gotten used to; the movie has one major thing going for it. It’s charming as hell. It isn’t full comedy guys, there’s a real story to it that plays out and you feel with the characters as it unfolds. There is absolute heart here and it shows in the love and care from writing, directing, cast, and crew.

Anna and the Apocalypse, will be in my permanent rotation going forward for my Holiday movie watching.

Should I watch it?

If you can. The movie has gotten a limited release here in the US, but if you have a showing in your area take the opportunity. For my less Horror inclined, I don’t think the movie offers much in the way of the scares or the spooks and I think it is really accessible for wider audiences if you can handle the more gory beats.

It isn’t perfect. There’s a few things I am not a fan of, but they don’t detract enough from the overall for me to degrade my recommendation.

Would you watch it again?

In theatres. At full price. No regrets

Buying it?

How else am I going to put it in my rotation? I’m even getting the soundtrack.

Are you going a bit overboard here?

Ok I’ve had a shite week. Like full on rubbish. This movie put me in a happy place with how genuine it felt and refreshing it was. It’s not mainstream by any stretch, but I don’t think it should be. It’s right where it belongs and the only thing it deserves is reciprocation of the love that the Cast and Crew clearly put into it.

Now excuse me while I see if I can put an Anna cosplay together.

What a time to be alive.

 

Darke Reviews | Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (2010)

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This is one of the more recent films I am reviewing this month and was unfortunately only a direct to DVD release. Even with that it wasn’t advertised and hard to hear about if you don’t peruse movie insider sites. I happened to come across this one back in 2007 when Superman Returns was still in the popular conciousness and Brandon Routh was cast as the title character. It as also based on an Italian comic series which makes it one of the rare Horror comic adaptations.

There’s not much to say about director Kevin Munroe, who has mostly done video game work and the 2007 CGI Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie; which will still likely be better than what Bay makes. For a rank amateur in the scheme of things he shows a surprising sense and appreciation of 1930’s and 40’s Noir films. He captured that pulp feel that came with the Private Dick character type and executed it better than most directors who have tried it. Rian Johnson’s “Brick” being one of the few exceptions.

The writing deserves some credit as well, a two writing team who tend to work together on other projects as well. Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer, also responsible for A Sound of Thunder and the new Conan movie; with rumored work on Doctor Strange coming. While the dialogue and scenes aligned in the script are not particularly inventive, they don’t have to be to be entertaining. They found a way to blend humor, pulp and horror into a single film and do it well. The abomination that was RIPD this summer needed to use Dylan Dog as a basis. It may not have been an abyssmally horrific film had they even watched DD.

The story moves around a Private Investigator named Dylan Dog (Routh), a human who was once a mediator and policeman for the supernatural creatures of New Orleans. He gave up the game and became a normal P.I. His time away could not last as his assistant Marcus (Sam Huntington – Fanboys, Being Human (U.S.)) gets him into a case trying to solve the murder of the father of beautiful Elizabeth (Anita Briem – The Tudors). He finds himself thrust into the world once more and is forced to confront the monsters of his past, both literal and figurative. The vampires of New Orleans are lead by Vargas (Taye Diggs – Chicago, Private Practice) while the Werewolves are lead by Gabriel (Peter Stormare – a lot!). Can he uncover the mystery of the killer and solve the case and maybe save the world of monsters & men.

Routh is an absolute natural in the film who comes across as a man who truly was part of the supernatural world for many years. He handles every situation with a kind of Laissez-faire or Blase attitude while those around him, especially Huntington, react the way normal people do. Even the delivery of his voice over lines that add to the pulpy detective feel show a keen attention to the nature of the role. He almost seems to channel Bogarts style of “I’ve seen it all” as he goes through the investigation. Even his questioning of Digg’s Vargas, may read as flat to others, but is spot on for the character he is playing. I really think he deserves more work than he gets and that he has a fine sense of timing that is under rated. I also can’t deny seeing him topless a few times isn’t bad on the eyes.

The rest of the cast is fine as well with Huntington providing a humorous counter balance to the dry wit of Routh. Stormare as always is just damn entertaining to watch, his Lucifer in COnstantine is amazing, but he sadly does not get enough screen time. Diggs is a beautiful man and just seems to relish in every aspect of the role he is given. Briem perhaps is one of the flatest performances in the film, but they can’t all be perfect.

As far as the effects and other technicals such as Make up the film does the subjects justice. The weakest effect is the final creature where they depended on CG for a transformation. The rest of the film has some pretty solid Make up work and practical effects. Once again this proves practical is greater than digital when possible.

For the TL;DR crew….

I highly recommend this noir story. It is suitable for people who are squeamish about their horror and has just enough monsters and mystery for everyone else. The movie is not nearly well known enough and I found it rather entertaining.

Thats the key here, it is entertaining. So check out Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, I think you might be a fan.
Tomorrow’s review will warn you to stay off the moors (this is an easy hint!)