Is 'Night of the Zoopocalypse' Scary or Cute?

It's understandable if parents aren't sure if they should take their kids to see Night of the Zoopocalypse, an animated movie about zoo animals infected with a zombie virus. The animals look cute, but the movie is based on a story from horror writer Clive Barker, whose most famous creation is the terrifying Hellraiser franchise. Is the movie a cute cartoon suitable for children or not? Read on for details.

Via RogerEbert.com.

Parents might wonder if “Night of the Zoopocalypse,” about an attack of zombie zoo animals and inspired by horror master Clive Barker, might give their children nightmares. Children respond so differently that the best I can say is that some children will find the inspired zombie-fied creatures with sharp teeth and glowing eyes “fun scary” or even funny, but some will come down on the side of “scary scary.”

It is easier to predict children’s reaction to the meta-commentary throughout the film: most likely confusion or boredom. A lemur named Xavier (Pierre Simpson) constantly describes what is happening through the lens of the midnight movies he watches when he pretends to be sick so he can stay in the zookeeper’s office overnight. He happily explains to the other animals that “Often at this point the heroes are starving and resort to eating each other,” and that Act Three is about “sacrifices made, risks taken, and in the end, triumph…or crushing defeat.”

As for parents’ reactions, while they might appreciate references to classics like “Night of the Living Dead” and some thoughtful lessons about loyalty and teamwork, they might be disappointed in the lesser quality of the character design, voices, and animation compared to the films from Disney, Pixar, and Illumination that children watch over and over.

The setting is the bright and colorful Colepepper Zoo, popular with families. The first animal we meet is a brave young wolf named Gracie (Gabbi Kosmidis) being chased through the trees. It turns out it was a training exercise for Gracie and the other young wolves, led by her grandmother Abigale (Carolyn Scott). Just because they live in a zoo does not make them safe, Grandma Abigale warns the pack. “Sooner or later something bad or worse is going to happen. It always does.”

When the zoo’s automaton clock plays the music that means the zoo is closing for the night, all the humans go home, including the zookeepers. Only the animals are left when a small, glowing purple meteor crashes into the zoo, and soon a rabbit finds itself in a glowing purple cocoon, incubating the zombie virus that will turn it into a giant zombie and soon infect most of the other animals, including the whole wolf pack, including Abigale, except for Gracie.

A mountain lion named Dan (David Harbour) agrees to be Gracie’s bodyguard. In classic buddy movie fashion, they are complete opposites. The zoo is Gracie’s home. She was born there and has never known the dangers of the outside world. Dan lived in what he calls the wild and longs to return. Wolves live in packs and Gracie has always had her family around her. Dan is a loner. She is young and optimistic; he is older and cynical. They form a temporary alliance, and then, over the course of the night, they develop respect for one another and then friendship.

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