By: Lotti Pharriss Knowles
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 7/05/2025 – I’ve been a horror superfan my whole life, also known as a “horror geek.” I speak fluent horror movie quotes, and I own deluxe Blu-ray editions of all my favorites – which I tote along with me to horror conventions (plus a thick roll of $20 bills) to have them signed by the filmmakers and stars. It should then come as no surprise that I jumped at the chance to review a new film entitled ZombieCON Vol. 1, which chronicles four cosplaying best friends who bring about, and then must survive, a zombie apocalypse.
(For the uninitiated, “cosplay” is a passionate hobby for certain superfans of genres including horror, sci-fi, anime and more. They dress in costume as their favorite characters to attend conventions, create tribute films, and participate in role-playing games.)
ZombieCON Vol. 1 opens with roommates Rocket, Claire, Punkie and Javier – also known as Rocket’s Rockets – attending an anime convention in their meticulously-created costumes. Though labeled as “nerds” and “geeks” in mainstream society, in this venue they are heroes. They easily win the team competition, despite the best efforts of their archrivals.
Celebrating after the convention, they first encounter “normies” (normal people who don’t participate in cosplay), who break their trophy and Rocket’s spirit, and then a homeless man who passes something magical on to Claire. That magic soon combines with Claire’s wounded emotional state to trigger a zombie outbreak, wherein all the “assholes of the world” are now the undead. (And in their home city of Los Angeles, there are a LOT of assholes.)
I really wanted to like ZombieCON Vol. 1, and I’m happy to give props to what does work about the film. First and foremost, the main actors (Manny Luke, Erin Áine, Punkie Johnson and Christian Casillas) are well-cast and winning as the four best friends. They embody the unique spirits of each of their characters, making them fun to watch and easy to root for. (Johnson is best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and she brings extra energy and star power to this Zombie-verse.) I also love the spirit of indie films and don’t mind if they have a rough, homemade quality if the heart behind them is evident, which it was here. The filmmakers (director Kyle Valle and writers Valle, Luke and Áine) show respect for cosplayers and their skills – and make a strong case for why these “nerds” might be our best hope if the dead ever rise with an appetite for the living.
Unfortunately, there were other aspects of ZombieCON that made it difficult for me to recommend it wholeheartedly. My heart sank right off the bat when I saw the running time was one hour and 50 minutes, which signaled to me that the movie might be bloated and clunky instead of a tightly paced thrill-ride. (Danny Boyle is the exception, not the rule, of a filmmaker who can effectively stretch a zombie yarn to two hours.) My instinct was correct, and many scenes were sluggish and went on far too long. I wish Valle had brought on a co-editor, or at least sought advice from a professional editor, to help him cut the fat.
I was also disappointed by one thing that wasn’t included in the film: at the convention, our heroes’ winning performance was not shown on screen, replaced by a card reading “One Awesome Routine Later.” I think it was meant to be funny, but it felt like a cop out and a missed opportunity to let those characters showcase their passion and talents right up front.
One other large bone I have to pick: These characters are immersed in genre and its lore and would know exactly how to kill a zombie when encountered. The fact that they didn’t aim for the brain right off the bat left me in disbelief and took me out of the world of the story.
ZombieCON Vol. 1 has enough going for it that it will likely find its audience among fans of cosplay and the zombie subgenre. It premiered at Kevin Smith’s Smodcastle Film Festival and invades on-demand platforms on July 15.
