Anna and the Apocalypse: "It's a musical zombie at Christmas"

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AFP

It was a trailer for High School Musical that inspired Ryan McHenry.

The Scottish director felt that the only way he could enjoy the film was "if all the cast was eaten by zombies".

This sparked an idea for the movie Anna and the Apocalypse, which will be released in theaters Friday, more than three years after the death of Dumfries, 27, a cancer.

Director John McPhail is in charge of the project to make it happen on the big screen.

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Flaming Griffin

"It was Ryan McHenry's original idea," he said.

Ryan wrote and directed a short film titled Zombie Musical which won a Scottish New Talent Bafta.

"Then it was taken over to be developed by Black Camel in a feature film."

However, Mr. McHenry – the man behind the award-winning video of Ryan Gosling, does not want to eat his viral videos on cereals – has not been able to carry out this project.

"Unfortunately, Ryan was diagnosed with cancer and sadly passed away in 2015," said McPhail.

"His longtime friend and producer, Naysun Alae-Carew, did not want the project to go away and wanted to keep that kind of memory, so he started looking for directors.

"They were watching horror directors and musical directors and unfortunately, they had not found what suited them."

Then they saw Mr. McPhail: Where are we going from here? – a romantic comedy in a retirement home – at the Glasgow Film Festival, and it's at that time that he's involved.

He added that his latest project surprised the audience.

"It's a fun and charming film that contains very serious messages and nuances – it's all about children facing death and that kind of youth," he said.

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"People are a little on the back because they do not expect to end up crying.

"They are laughing and crying and cheering that it's only about this happy movie – it's just wonderful."

He stated that he had been "blown away" by the reaction of film festivals and hoped that he could have broad appeal.

"It's not just a children's movie, neither for horror fans, nor for music fans," he said.

"We wanted to make a film so that everyone could enjoy it, feel happy and feel good and leave the cinema animated and excited."

Scottish location

Mr McPhail described the appointment of a Scottish Bafta as Best Feature Film earlier this year as "unbelievable".

"It's zombie music at Christmas, it's crazy," he said.

The film is also proud of its roots and location in Scotland.

"Port Glasgow was perfect for us and the people there were also brilliant," said McPhail.

"We will be out in the wind, the rain and the snow – no matter what we are there, that's what we get.

"That's what we're aiming for, that's what we're working on."

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Flaming Griffin

It was however a challenge for actress Ella Hunt, who plays the role of Anna.

"Scotland is a great place to turn and we have an amazing Scottish crew," she said.

"One of the biggest challenges was dealing with the cold weather because we were shooting in February 2017, so it was really cold."

Nevertheless, she stated that it was a role that she wanted to get from the start.

"I love crazy concepts – the most daring is the best in some ways," she said.

"I was really looking for teenage roles that did not marginalize the teenager experience and that were three dimensional.

"Anna is so many things at the same time that she was the most fantastic opportunity, so in fact, I started in the race to win it immediately."

The film's music was provided by Roddy Hart and Tommy Reilly, who described the project as "totally intriguing" from the start.

"We had never written a musical before, so trying to get into that style of writing was a whole new world," said Reilly.

He described it as a "total musical freedom".

"I think what we liked most is such an ambitious project," added Hart.

"It's a zombie comedy with comic elements in Scotland, I mean what could go wrong?

"Every time we watch this film, we find something new – it's a magical film."

& # 39; Really chuffed & # 39;

The finished film is dedicated to Mr. McHenry – and the man who assumed the role of director thinks he would have liked it.

"I can not make the film of someone else, I can not realize the vision of someone else, I can only do mine," said M McPhail.

However, thanks to the friends of Mr. McHenry who participated in the film, he thinks that he honored his memory.

"Just because of their reactions, I know he would be proud of it and also very impressed," he said.

"For someone who was a total joker, such a funny guy and such a nice man, it's a real tribute."