Movie review: 'Night of the Zoopocalypse' (2024)

Furry Halloween recommendation! Night of the Zoopocalypse is a 92-minute film from 2024, co-produced between Canada, France and Belgium by... quite a lot of animation studios (we'll get to that). It was written by James Kee and Steven Hoban, and directed by Rodrigo Perez-Castro and Ricardo Curtis.

This is an animated comedy horror film for kids. It walks the fine line between those genres with perfect precision (specifically zombie apocalypse), and it works! It appeals to adults too; I'm not a fan of horror at all, and I loved it! Rotten Tomatoes rates it 88% / 82%. I'm not linking to a trailer, because I'd like to keep some things a surprise.

If you're looking to introduce kids to the horror genre, this is the film to do it with. In the past I might have said - reluctantly - Coraline, from the Laika studio. Most of their animated films tend to get... dark, but I'd also say they veer into the grotesque, and that's not so fun. Zoopocalypse doesn't do that. It's got slobber and slime here and there, yet surprisingly, no blood. And still, it works!

The basic premise is that a meteor fragment lands in a zoo during the night, turning an animal into a contagious, evil zombie monster who soon converts most of the other animals, except for a small group who must figure out how to survive. There are no humans in the movie, aside from some families and one zookeeper at the beginning, who leave at closing time.

The origin of the film started with an idea from Clive Barker in 2014 for a graphic novel. Then the plan shifted to make an animated film for a broader audience. For whatever reason, the production got shifted through a series of different animation studios, and then the Covid pandemic happened. Cost cuts resulted in less realistic fur textures and more outdoor fog, to avoid having to render distant backgrounds. On the positive side, the atmosphere worked out pretty well.

If I have one complaint about this film, I'm not big on some of the character designs. The main character is Gracie, one of the younger timber wolves in her pack (voiced by Gabbi Kosmidis). She's smart, resourceful, ready for action - she's great! But her design, the tall ears, moppish mane, gangly legs, and bulbous tail - not a fan. Thankfully, her feisty personality really carries the film, start to finish.

Other survivors include Xavier (a red ruffed lemur, Pierre Simpson), Ash (an ostrich, Scott Thompson), and a couple of others that I don't want to spoil. The main secondary character is a gruff, chonky mountain lion, freshly captured from the wild, determined to escape. Voiced by David Harbour, he's a great foil for Gracie, and they gradually gain respect for each other.

Judging by online reviews, opinions are divided over Xavier the lemur. He's a television junkie who openly discusses genres and tropes. I can see how this would annoy some adult viewers; personally I was fine with him.

As for the zombies, referred to as "gummies" or "gum-beasts", a single bite turns a regular animal into a kind of sickly, rubbery monster. Uncomfortable shades of green, blue and purple are topped with glowing cyan eyeballs, plus the advantage of cartoon physics. Here and there you'll also spot little shout-outs to Alien. As the night progresses, the animators get creative with the zombies.

The end of the film is a positive one, kind of hokey in how things are resolved - but hey, it's a kid's film. I still think you'll enjoy it. I showed it to some friends recently and the response was good! In the U.S., you should be able to find streaming video on Amazon and Apple TV. It's perfect for a furry Halloween!