Clive Barker is back at it again, except this time it’s for the kids. Shocking, right? The creator of the sexual and gory series, Hellraiser, is about to bring his horror expertise to the world of PG animation. A teaser trailer for the upcoming film Night of the Zoopocalypse was released in November 2024, leaving audiences craving more. With National Popcorn Day is right around the corner (January 19), the animated PG horror film has released a popcorn-centered clip and a new poster.
The animated clip shows off the wacky cast of characters, voiced by star actors David Harbour of Stranger Things fame, Scott Thompson from The Kids in the Hall, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee from The Mandalorian, and Gabbi Kosmidis of Netflix’s Unicorn Academy. Centered around popcorn, of course, the clip offers a sneak peek into the wild world of the talking zoo animals. The children’s film is inspired by a concept from the mind of a true master of horror and author of Hellraiser and Candyman, who also lent his talent to serve as executive producer of the film.
The popcorn clip promotes the animated film’s theatrical release, which is set for March 7, courtesy of Viva Pictures. With a script written by James Kee, co-writer of A Christmas Horror Story, the story already has an abundance of merit, especially with legendary animators and story artists Ricardo Curtis of The Incredibles fame and Rodrigo Perez-Castro who worked on The Book of Life co-directing. The charming, yet spooky, animated film’s description reads:
“After a meteor unleashes a virus that turns zoo animals into zombies, a mountain lion (Harbour) and wolf (Kosmidis) lead a team of surviving animals to stop the virus and rescue their zoo.”
Check out the clip celebrating National Popcorn Day below!
More Spooky Vibes from Barker with New Poster
A new poster for the movie referencing the horror classic, Night of the Living Dead, calls upon tried and true horror imagery and makes even the adults in the room excited for the family-friendly spooky movie. While Night of the Zoopocalypse is rated PG for action, peril, and scary images, it will be nowhere near the level of scariness that Barker’s ideas usually entail. While Barker might be the last horror creator, next to Rob Zombie, that anyone would think could make a scary children’s film, with the talented team behind the project it’s shaping up to be a hit for the whole family.
Barker famously retired from directing after frustrations over artistic control in his last film, Lord of Illusions (1995), after which he moved back into the role of writer and producer of films, TV shows, and books. While we may never get another Barker-directed project as he approaches his mid-70s, audiences should be delighted that the horror aficionado is still gracing the world with his talents, and even bringing them to the younger generations.
Who knows, maybe Barker will inspire the next horror story legend with his spooky animated tale of brave animals fighting an army of zombified zoo animals.
Night of the Zoopocalypse
- Director
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Ricardo Curtis
- Runtime
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92 minutes
- Cast
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Paul Sun-Hyung Lee
, David Harbour
, Scott Thompson
, Bryn McAuley
, Joshua Graham
, Carolyn Scott
, Pierre Simpson
, Kyle Mcdonald
, Heather Loreto
, Scott Farley
, Kyle Derek - Writers
-
James Kee
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
