When a mysterious meteor crashes into Colepepper Zoo, it unleashes a virus that transforms the zoo animals into zombies. A quirky young wolf teams up with a gruff mountain lion. Together they lead a team of survivors on a perilous mission to escape the virus and save their zoo over the course of one spooky night. A film by Rodrigo Perez-Castro & Ricardo Curtis, starring Gabbi Kosmidis, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Heather Loreto, Christina Nova, Pierre Simpson, Scott Thompson, and David Harbour.
NIGHT of the ZOOPOCALYPSE
Rodrigo Perez-Castro • Ricardo Curtis
(2025)
In a dark forest, young wolf Gracie (Gabbi Kosmidis) flees from shadowy animal pursuers. Using her wits, she manages to defeat what turns out to be her brotherly wolf pack. Clearly bored, Gracie admits she didn’t want to play this game in the first place.
Her grandmother Abigale (Carolyn Scott) becomes agitated, reminding Gracie these aren’t games but survival drills. Abigale warns that sooner or later, something bad or worse will happen. Gracie dismisses her grandmother’s concerns, arguing that the drills are pointless since they all live safely in the Colepepper Zoo.
Later, a truck arrives at the zoo to deliver a new wild animal. From afar, Gracie spots a dark shadow jumping out of the truck container into the zoo’s enclosure.
That night, after the zoo closes, a mysterious purple-glowing meteor crashes into the barn at Colepepper Zoo. A curious rabbit approaches the glowing fragment that landed on a pile of peanuts. The rabbit eats the fragment and suddenly suffers a seizure, appearing to die.
Gracie, awakened by the boom of the meteor entering Earth’s atmosphere, witnesses it creating a hole in her enclosure. She decides to sneak out and follow the trail of destruction to the barn. There, she discovers a purple-glowing pod hanging from the ceiling.
As Gracie slowly approaches to investigate, the pod suddenly opens and a monstrous hand reaches out to grab her. Frightened, Gracie flees the barn with the monstrous pod crawling after her. She manages to keep the creature trapped inside the barn.
Gracie tries to return and warn her pack, but encounters a mountain lion named Dan (David Harbour) who has also escaped his enclosure. During their chaotic struggle, Dan is hit by multiple tranquilizer darts and falls asleep. Gracie is also shot by a zoo security guard and succumbs to the tranquilizer as well.
Later, Gracie and Dan wake up to find themselves in separate cages inside the veterinary with an operating table at the center. Gracie notices a lemur Xavier (Pierre Simpson) roaming free and asks why he isn’t locked up. Xavier explains that he sometimes fakes an illness or injury so the humans bring him here. Humans feed him, then leave him alone for the night. That way, he can watch late-night movies in peace. He admits he’s completely obsessed with them.
Meanwhile, the purple-glowing pod cracks open, a monstrous zombie rabbit with eerie blue-green eyes emerges. It snatches a sleeping chicken in one gulp, turning the chicken into a zombie chick. The chicken bites a nearby rabbit, infecting it too. And before long, the barn’s overrun with a writhing horde of zombie animals.
The infection spreads through the entire zoo like wildfire, transforming every creature in sight into snarling, glowing-eyed monsters. In the chaos, three unlikely survivors take refuge in the veterinary clinic: a sarcastic ostrich named Ash (Scott Thompson), an arrogant proboscis monkey named Felix (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), and a feisty capybara named Frida (Heather Loreto). But their relief doesn’t last. They soon realize they’re trapped with two carnivores.
Directed by Rodrigo Perez-Castro & Ricardo Curtis and written by James Kee and Steven Hoban, NIGHT OF THE ZOOPOCALYPSE is an animated horror-comedy loosely based on Clive Barker’s unpublished short story “ZOOmbies.”
Clive Barker is an English writer, filmmaker, and visual artist known for his groundbreaking work in horror and dark fantasy. He rose to prominence in the 1980s with his Books of Blood series, which established him as a major voice in horror literature. Barker’s novels, such as Weaveworld, Imajica, and The Great and Secret Show, often blend horror with urban fantasy and surrealism. He also made a significant impact in film by writing and directing the cult classic Hellraiser (1987), based on his novella The Hellbound Heart, and contributing to the Candyman film series.
The film’s narrative is compelling, with an intriguing premise that’s wonderfully executed from start to finish. The voice actors bring unique characteristics to each animal character, delivering performances that are both hilarious and sarcastically fun, making the movie memorable and highly entertaining.
The character designs are amazing, especially when the animals transform into gummy zombies. This clever design makes them effectively invincible as they can detach and reattach body parts in surprisingly comical ways. Things take a terrifying turn when they attach themselves to other animals, transforming into even more monstrous creatures.
NIGHT of the ZOOPOCALYPSE delivers a fun ride for the whole family. Kids will love it, and adults will likely enjoy it too, despite a few slow moments here and there. Overall, it’s a great animated film. One of its strengths is how it keeps you guessing. Just when you think the protagonists have figured out how to solve their problem, the final act throws in another surprising twist.
NIGHT of the ZOOPOCALYPSE premiered at Sitges Film Festival on 7 October 2024. The film was theatrically released in the United States on 7 March 2025, by Viva Kids.
