Coming to theaters March 7, 2025, Night of the Zoopocalypse will squishily make it’s way into the Kids Horror genre. After a meteor unleashes a virus that turns zoo animals into mutants, a mountain lion named Dan (David Harbour) and a wolf named Gabbi (Gabbi Kosmidis) lead a team of surviving animals to stop the virus and rescue their zoo. Featuring zombie-like animals, chase scenes, and jump scares, Night of the Zoopocalypse will be a case of animal vs zombie virus in a spooky animated feature by Viva Pictures.
I got the chance to watch the film and here is what I thought
Note: SPOILERS BELOW!
Night of the Zoopocalypse starts with a chase scene and our main protagonist running for her life from what looks to be a blob with many eyes. At first, I thought, “hey we are getting the age old horror story troupe of here is where we are now, but then flashback to how we got here.” Nope, turns out, she was running for her life from her own pack in an effort to help teach the other wolves how to work as a team to takedown their pray.
We learn pretty quickly that Gabbi is not a team player, and like a cliché teenager, she complains about how boring the zoo is and that nothing dangerous will ever happen. Famous last words.
While resting that night, Gabbi watches as a giant meteor begins falling to earth, and then quickly becomes a pink speck. It hits every single item that will cause the most chaos, including knocking over a large light that destroys the wall to her wolf enclosure. It really is a ‘what are the odds’ scenario for that meteorite. I laughed as it basically ricocheted it’s way into the bunny burrows.
Honestly, after watching the Secret Life of Pets, we know that bunnies can be vicious. So this supposedly radical idea of turning something cute into the ultimate monster has been done before. But you know what, I am here for the irony. Who doesn’t want to see bunnies running amuck?
Unlike the recent movies from Disney, this one unlucky bunny that is affected by the meteorite…because it ate it… is not here to make friends. It’s here to take over the zoo and beyond. It takes on the appearance of a 1980s gremlin that had been fed after midnight or got wet. He chuckles, snickers, and appears to be conscious about it’s intent to make more zombies. The ultimate antagonist is a bunny gremlin trying to take over the zoo.
So, as we all know by the title, this one gremlin bunny begins running around turning other zoo animals into zombies making it a Zoopocalypse. However, our not-so-friendly bunny doesn’t make just any zombies, it makes gummy zombies. Yup, you read that right. The zombies look to be made of green/blue rubbery gum or Jell-O and have a moist sound when they walk or roll. My guess is that this gooey choice was made to make it less gory. Jell-O goo is less horrific than loads of splattering blood, gashes, and protruding bones. The gummy zombies are not a ‘death and reanimation’ creature, they are more of a chemical change. They also feature glowing green eyes (even though the meteorite was pink) and what appears to be a lack of brains; in many scenes we see them licking windows or chilling at lamp posts. And Just like zombies from more iconic films such as Resident Evil or Zombieland, when these gummy creatures come apart, they are still animated, and when you get bit, you become one. All standard knowledge when it comes to a zombie apocalypses, just with gum.
These gummy creatures begin to completely take over the zoo, until there is only a small ragtag team of animals left. Gabbi takes it upon herself to save her family and the zoo before she too, is changed by the rising amount of zombie creatures. With the help of Dan, a wild mountain lion, Gabbi starts her journey of trying to become the hero. She quickly learns however, that it will take a team, a pack, to bring back what she loves (oh snap, they circled back). Gabbi will have to work with an unlikely group of animals to bring about her plan and save her beloved home.
This is where the film shows another one of its kid sides. Like most child films, we have lessons to learn and a moral to the story:
Lesson: Never eat pink glowing stones that just fell out of the sky.
Moral: Teamwork is an imperative skill for survival.
I think I nailed those, but if you believe differently, let me know in the comments.
And like most morals, they solve the protagonists problem. She seeks help from the animals left alive, asking for their trust. Realizing that they are all about to meet their doom, the animals follow Gabbi’s plan.
DO NOT READ ON IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW THE ENDING
After Dan becomes a zombie and then turns back to normal once he drank soapy water, Gabbi believes she has found the cure. She starts the plan of getting all the zombie animals to come to the wolf enclosure and make them nearly drown in a soap tsunami. The remaining animals help put her plan into action using a rather large elephant, dozens of boxes of soap, a huge water tower, and a squeaky toy. Trust me, it makes sense in the movie.
Ultimately, the plan is a success but the results are not desired. That is my corporate speak for all hell breaks lose. Instead of curing the zombie virus, the gremlin bunny merges all the gummy creatures together and rampages like a deranged glowing multi-eyed Godzilla. Probably one of my favorite scenes of the whole film.
I won’t tell you what finally cures the zombie virus, but with it being a kid horror, it does end on a happy…and yet very weird… note. The whole film was fun to watch. I enjoyed the characters, the horror aspect was a fun gummy monstrosity that kept me laughing and yet, still adding to the suspense, and the creators kept true to the idea of a zombie virus. It is a fantastic film with excellent voice actors and a fun story featuring nods to a lot of cult classics. This is definitely a SKGaleana approved film.
I do however, want to state, ‘We need some of the plot holes filled!”
- Why was Dan at the zoo? What happened in the wild to get him placed at this particular zoo? I want to know more about his backstory. He is such an integral part of the story and yet we know very little about him. Granted, I understand the reasoning of keeping him ambiguous, but come on, he is my favorite character! I want to know more. We better get a before the Night of the Zoopocalypse story.
- I wanted to see what the humans do when they arrive early the next morning to see the carnage and damage to the zoo. Also, it’s called out the the animals have switched body parts, such as a wolf ends up with a bunny tail. How do they react? There has to be some next level FBI, CIA, or other three letter government agents investigation into this weird phenomenon. Even if there was a short ending scene of a scientist poking at the pink stone, that would have told me, yeah, this isn’t over.
Thank you Viva Pictures for a wonderful film.
