Reel Review: Night of the Zoopocalypse (2025)

An infectiously charming love letter to genre classics, “Night of the Zoopocalypse” is a funny, brightly-colored delight of gateway horror.

I believe in the importance of gateway horror, which tells kids from a young age that it’s okay to love horror, that there are significant thrills and psychological benefits to being scared, and that genre films often illuminate the human condition and our collective hopes and fears.

There’s something truly magical about the union of animation, known for its whimsy and innocence, and horror, known for its embrace of the dark, dangerous, and mysterious.  It’s the perfect metaphor for life itself—a yin-yang of darkness and light, beauty and monstrosity, joy and pain.

This is all to say that I love seeing filmmakers push the boundaries in this area. I love to see films that cater to children while embracing and celebrating their natural excitement for and curiosity about the things kept hidden in shadows.

The idea of NIGHT OF THE ZOOPOCALYSE, a new animated film about an alien virus that transforms animals into zombie mutants, would be intriguing enough, even without the tantalizing tagline: “From the mind of Clive Barker.”

This CG-animated family feature from Ricardo Curtis and Rodrigo Perez-Castro is based on Barker’s idea involving a kid trapped in a zoo during a zombie outbreak. Writers Steven Hoban and James Kee adapted the story for kid-friendly animation for the indie animated outlet Viva.

After a charming old-school horror-inspired title sequence, the film wastes no time embracing its darker delights.

Opening with an intense sequence involving a harrowing chase through the nighttime woods, we soon discover it’s really a friendly training exercise among a pack of wolves.

At the insistence of Gramma Abigale (Carolyn Scott), young Gracie must participate in this survival skills training with her siblings, ensuring they are prepared to face any danger. But Gracie (Gabbi Kosmidis, Unicorn Academy) finds it all wildly pointless, given that they live in a posh zoo/amusement park where nothing interesting or exciting ever happens.

Soon after, an intimidating-looking beast arrives at the zoo, a mean mountain lion named Dan (David Harbour).

After the park closes for the night, an otherworldly, magenta-glowing meteorite crashes into the petting zoo, where a cuddly rabbit becomes patient zero of a terrifying mutant transformation. Barely escaping her harrowing encounter with Bunny Zero, Gracie tangles with Dan, resulting in the two of them getting captured and locked in cages inside the zookeeper’s office.

There, they meet Xavier (Pierre Simpson), an enthusiastic lemur whose regular solitary stays in the office have turned him into a rabid film buff.

A horror aficionado, Xavier will become their guide during the ensuing chaos—and a clever proxy for adult viewers who will appreciate the film’s winking nod to the staples of the genre.

Before long, the virus spreads throughout the entire zoo, turning all creatures, large and small, into gelatinous, mindless monsters.

A small group of uninfected animals must fight to survive the night and stop the zoopocalypse.

Joining Gracie, Dan, and Xavier are a pretentious proboscis monkey named Felix (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), a no-nonsense ostrich named Ash (Scott Thompson), and a sassy capybara named Friday (Heather Loreto).

Forced into an uneasy alliance and thrust out into the dangerous zoo, Gracie and Dan look for an escape. They find an adorable baby pygmy hippo, Poot (Christina Nova), all alone. Gracie insists they protect Poot, who injects significant charm, heart, and humor into the film. She easily steals every scene she’s in.

Yes, this is a brightly colorful, whimsical spectacle made for young viewers, with a silly Madagascar-style sensibility.

Still, adult horror fans will find it difficult not to be endeared by the reference-heavy love letter to genre classics.

For children who gravitate to things a bit spooky, this is guaranteed to strike the perfect balance between adrenaline-inducing thrills and heartfelt kid-friendly humor. However, it may be too stimulating and scary for young or more sensitive viewers.

The action is pretty relentless, and some scenes may feel intense for the uninitiated.

It’s a film unabashedly dedicated to monsters and mayhem. And yet, there is an equivalent devotion to humor and playful antics that keeps things from getting too dark.

As you would expect from animated family fare, there are some great messages about sacrifice, bravery, forgiveness, and the power of found family and community.

There’s no attempt to pluck at your heartstrings or make you reach for the tissues, and, honestly, the film is all the better for it. It keeps things light and frolicky and delivers sincerity without feeling emotionally manipulative.

The voice talent is firing on all cylinders. The script is fast-paced, furiously fun, and devoid of a single dull moment.

The animation is simple, making spectacular use of a limited budget, but it succeeds in being wonderfully unique and visually captivating. The transformations are both enchanting and hair-raising, and the film’s ooey-gooey gummy atrocities feel as fantastic as they are fearsome.

The wild finale is a dazzling, joyful kaleidoscope of sights and sounds that left me grinning from ear to ear. It’s just twisted enough to give it a tongue-in-cheek edge, and we could all benefit from its message of unity in the face of catastrophe.

A legitimate blast from beginning to end, I positively adore that a film like this exists, and I loved basking in its weird, spooky-yet-sweet neon glow.