BACKGROUND
They say two’s company, three’s a crowd. So, what does that make four? A hot mess?
To be fair, this is supposed to apply to people, not film franchises. Although this kind of works for Jaws 4. Jaws: The Revenge was a real hot mess…But does it work for ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires?
I should insert a spoiler warning here before I say much more. If you’re a big ZOMBIES fan, then you’ve likely already seen ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires, but if you haven’t, you might want to watch the movie first before reading any further.
I stated that I found ZOMBIES 3 to be a real disappointment in a previous review, mostly for its inclusion of aliens as its new “monster” species, and for its lack of catchy music, at least compared to the previous two films. I felt the same with Descendants 3 (2019). These “threequels” didn’t match the uniqueness of the original or the energy of the second. They didn’t work for me, but I could find moments in these third movies that I liked after watching them again, so they were not total abominations to the franchises’ legacies.
When a movie franchise gets to its fourth entry though, especially if it has no source material as a basis – so don’t worry Twilight and Harry Potter; you’re safe from this critique – it generally starts to feel unnecessary and like the studio in question has run out of ideas, wanting to milk a franchise’s popularity dry. I feared the same for ZOMBIES 4, because if I already didn’t like the third film for this reason, then how could I like the fourth?
Well, when I started watching ZOMBIES 4, I was not impressed. I liked seeing Zed, Addison, Willa, and Eliza again but I didn’t like the opening song, and I wasn’t overly convinced by the plot of the movie, which I was already aware of beforehand: two subsets of vampires have fought for decades, and the “Seabrook Four” try to find ways to help them get along. It was going to be very much the same story as each of the ZOMBIES films has followed. At least I knew not to expect too much.
However, much like when I watched Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024), after the story got going, and I got used to the new characters and new locations, I began to enjoy it more. I can’t say that I will ever be a huge fan of ZOMBIES 4, but it wasn’t bad by any means. It was good – there were a couple of moments in particular that had me emotional – and it really felt like a “passing of the torch” from the original cast to a new cast.
PLOT
As we had with the other three ZOMBIES movies, ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires begins with an animated opening sequence, recapping the history of Seabrook, where zombies, humans, aliens, and werewolves live together. This recap also lets us know that zombie Zed and human Addison did end up at Mountain College, where they are finishing up their Freshman Year. They love being at college, mixing with different types of people and hearing new stories, like how another moonstone apparently crashed onto Mount Rayburn, creating two new monster species, Daywalkers and Vampires. Over the years, the two groups began to fight over sacred blood fruit, which they need to survive, to the point they decided to lock themselves away from their enemies – until now.
At Mountain College, unlike high school where they were at the top of their sports teams’ hierarchies, Zed and Addison are struggling. Zed is on the bench for football, being told by his coach to attend an intensive football camp over summer to boost his chances of getting on the team for next year. Addison is focusing on her summer Cheer Camp so she can be one of the best cheerleaders again. Meanwhile, Eliza and Willa are also at Mountain College and both are adjusting well. Because they aren’t going to get to see much of each other over summer, the four decide to have a mini road trip together, so they bundle into a yellow VW Beetle and head off for the summer.
Then, we zoom over to Sunnyside to meet the Daywalkers, who are practising their fighting skills on the beach. They are getting ready to harvest more blood fruit, where they’ll likely come face-to-face with the Vampires, their sworn enemy. Nova is the daughter of Daywalker Leader Commander Bright, who tells Nova they need to be prepared to destroy the Vampires if they get in the way of their harvest. Nova isn’t so sure about this, having had visions about a boy from another area, who seems to be the key to something…But Nova’s friend Ray is enthusiastic and eager to please Commander Bright, so he tells Bright he is committed to his plan.
Over at Shadyside, the home of the Vampires, we meet Vargas, Vera, and Victor. Victor is the nephew of the vampire Eldress; however, Victor wants to leave this place and travel the world. He doesn’t want to fight and fear Daywalkers for the rest of his life. But it’s time for the harvest for the Vampires too, so it’s best he gets on board with the plan.
On their road trip, Zed is driving Addison, Eliza, and Willa through the woods, but is distracted with calls from his coach, telling him to spend all summer thinking about football. Eliza and Willa are planning their camping trip together but get increasingly annoyed by Zed’s calls, so Willa throws his headset out the window – because Disney sensibly had Zed talking on a headset, because they don’t want to encourage anyone to be holding their phones whilst driving. Don’t do it, kids! Anyway, Zed randomly “zombies out”, meaning his Z-Band malfunctions momentarily, whilst driving, which isn’t very safe either… I’m not sure zombies should be allowed to drive if this is a possibility. Because of this, Zed crashes the car, and it stops upside-down in the middle of the woods. Everyone’s alive, thankfully. They all get out of the car, where the four split up, with Willa and Eliza going one way, Addison in another direction, and Zed another.
Addison starts walking over a hill, where she stumbles upon a border that splits the land between day and night. Addison heads for a city in the nightscape. Zed ends up finding the daylight town, showing up on the beach. As he runs to a group of people, he is attacked by Nova, as the Daywalkers believe he is a vampire. It’s been so long they actually don’t even know how to distinguish a vampire from anything else. Zed tries to convince everyone he isn’t a vampire. Nova believes him, and proves to her father that he isn’t; by showing he has no fangs. Zed is instead tasked with helping them complete the harvest. Over at Shadyside, Addison is also accused of being a daywalker, and is hit by their magic. She is saved from possible destruction by Victor, and quickly says she is part-alien. Addison is also told to join the group for the harvest.
Both Daywalkers and Vampires head to the blood fruit orchard, through opposite locked gates. As the two groups see each other, they try to race to be the first to get to the fruit. Willa and Eliza also find their way here. Everyone arrives at a bigger gate that won’t open. It apparently needs three keys to open it. As the Daywalkers and Vampires are about to do battle to see who gets to find these keys, Addison and Zed come up with a better idea: that they will help the young leaders of both groups find the keys together, if they agree to split the harvest. The Elders both agree to this deal, however, it soon becomes clear that Commander Bright plans to double-cross the vampires, telling Nova that she will help find the keys, but once the gate is open, the Daywalkers will take all the fruit for themselves.
Zed, Addison, Eliza, and Willa take the young people to a camp in the middle of the woods, with sign posts directing them to it. That was handy! The camp is old and dusty, but it’ll have to do. The “Seabrook Four” tell the Daywalkers and Vampires to get some sleep. Zed and Addison then talk by the campfire, saying how it was a tough year at college, especially as they didn’t get to see much of each other. They’re also sad they won’t be in Seabrook this summer, to see Wynter, or Bree and Bonzo, or Bucky, who safely returned from space, having spread cheer to all the galaxy. So, he is part-alien after all, like Addison. Well, at least he didn’t burn up in the atmosphere!
The next morning, Nova and Victor say that they’ve been having visions about each other, but they aren’t sure why…But there’s no time to discuss that because the rest of the Daywalkers and Vampires are still at war with each other. Addison and Zed try to get the two groups to work together, but it’s a struggle! After the two groups use their powers against each other, they somehow manage to recreate a symbol that was on the gate, with the word “Gather” underneath it. In recreating this symbol, the first key is revealed. They put it in the gate, revealing another layer of gate underneath it that the next key will open. At the campfire that night, the Daywalkers and Vampires start to learn about each other, like the Vampires saying they don’t actually bite people and drink their blood, and how Daywalkers don’t eat soap to have “shiny insides”. How that rumour got going, we’ll never know… To begin this new era of co-operation, Nova and Victor both say goodnight to each other’s groups, much to the surprise of their friends.
With all the kids in bed, Willa, Addison, Zed, and Eliza talk about how Zed and Addison are too focused on their goals, and need to focus on spending time with people instead. As this conversation continues, a weird pulse goes through the camp, which messes with Zed and Eliza’s Z-Bands, as well as Willa’s moonstone necklace. Eliza decides they need to research this further, believing this pulse is so strong, it could reach Seabrook and endanger all the monsters there.
Nova and Victor secretly meet that night, where they find a cave that has symbols on the walls of both the Daywalkers and the Vampires, like much of the camp does. They believe this is evidence that both their groups used to get along, once upon a time. On looking at the cave walls further, they see that there are phases of the moon on the walls, and the colours of the rainbow on the ground, but both realise they are not in the correct order. Nova and Victor re-order the symbols and the second key is revealed. Victor puts the key in the gate. After he does this, and the final layer of gate is left, a hole in the ground begins to lower. It then rises up to reveal a huge stone ball, with the phrase “only one team can win” written beside it. The Daywalkers and Vampires fight over the boulder, as each tries to push it to their respective symbol: the sun or the moon. As the “Seabrook Four” try to get them to co-operate, a huge pulse comes through again, and Zed collapses, stopping the kids in their tracks. They take him back to camp.
There, Eliza, Willa, and Zed research the pulse further, and track it to a nearby hill. They believe the pulse must be originating underground, so Zed decides to go down into a hole in the ground. However, the rope carrying him snaps and the ground crumbles, taking Eliza and Willa into the cavern. Eliza finds that Zed is trapped under a rock, and both Eliza and Willa use their Z-Band and moonstone to shift the rock off him. They find blood fruit roots in this cave, which are being blocked by a ladder. The pulse seems to be coming from there, so the three try to move the ladders, but they won’t budge. Addison arrives with the Daywalkers and Vampires as they heard a noise, and they all work together to move it.
But the Daywalkers and Vampires are still fighting. Addison takes the opportunity to tell them all about Seabrook, and how they all learnt to get along. As they head back to camp, Ray takes Nova aside and reminds her that her father is expecting her to betray the Vampires once that gate is open. Nova doesn’t want to follow her father’s plan, but knows if she doesn’t, then he won’t let her lead. Vera overhears this conversation.
The next day, the two sides return to the stone ball, and work together to push it to one side. The third key is revealed, but this time, it is encased in amber. The Daywalkers attempt to use their fireballs to melt the amber, but it won’t work. The Vampires use their wind power to fan the flame, and the amber is eventually melted. They place the key in the gate – and it finally opens into the orchard. However, as the young leaders are about to head into the orchard, they find the Elders have also arrived there. It turns out Vera and Ray warned their leaders. The Elders fight, but their fighting results in much of the blood fruit being burnt. They declare camp over, as the warring sides ready themselves for war. As they leave, a new pulse comes over the area, and Zed, Willa, and Eliza become weak.
Back at camp, as the Daywalkers and Vampires get ready to leave, Eliza researches the pulse further, seeing that Zed is incredibly unwell. Eliza wants a clearer signal from the roots so returns to the cave. There, Zed fears that he will become a zombie forever if this pulse problem isn’t resolved. Addison says she’ll stay with him, no matter what. Eliza says the roots are struggling and the pulse is getting stronger. Nova and Victor then come to the cave, where Nova says she wasn’t going to betray him or the Vampires, knowing there is a reason why they were having visions of each other. They hold hands, at which point, they notice there are both white and black roots here, from each of their cities. They look up at the tower, and see that the top of it is meant to hold the moonstones from both Sunnyside and Shadyside. Nova and Victor know they have to steal their stones and bring them back here, to heal the roots. They fear this isn’t possible, but Zed and Addison tell them it is.
The other campers join Nova and Victor on their mission. Nova and Victor go to their respective cities and fight for their stones. The Elders return to the orchard to find there is no more fruit. Everyone arrives in the cave, but the Elders tell Nova and Victor to hand over their stones. They refuse, wanting to make peace. As the Elders go to attack them, their friends protect them. Nova and Victor ascend the tower, struggling against the powers. One of the ladders almost collapses in the battle, so Addison and Zed try to hold it up. Zed chooses to remove his Z-Band to find the strength to do this. It works and Nova and Victor get their moonstones in position, but Zed’s Z-Band is destroyed.
As the stones are safely in place, a storm comes over them, uniting the stones. Rain begins to fall, which heals the blood fruit roots, and stops Zed from becoming a zombie forever. The groups find that blood fruit is growing in the orchard again. It turns out all monsters are connected by moonstones, so by having the Daywalker and Vampire stones away from each other for too long, it caused the orchards to die and the pulse released affected the monsters. Nova and Victor declare that every year, at camp, they will bring their moonstones together. The Elders also decide that Nova and Victor are in fact ready to lead.
The movie ends happily with the Daywalkers and the Vampires coming together in celebration. We also see Zed and Addison reflecting on their strange and weird summer, saying they’ll be spending the rest of summer at Seabrook with friends and family. Them, Willa, and Eliza head their together. Then, Nova and Victor say goodbye to each other as they return to their cities. As they hug, a huge tornado of water shoots out of the ocean…
CHARACTERS & CAST
The ZOMBIES movies always liked to introduce new characters in their sequels, but ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires is a little bit different, as only four of this movie’s characters come from the original ZOMBIES trilogy: Zed, Addison, Willa, and Eliza.
These four have been attending Mountain College together, so they remain close, however, Willa and Eliza have noticed that Zed and Addison are spending too much time focusing on football and cheerleading, stressing themselves out and stopping them from spending quality time with people. This is evident in their summer plans, as Zed and Addison plan to be at cheerleading and football camp over the break, whilst Willa and Eliza are going on a camping trip. But as fate would have it, none of them get the summer they expected. Instead, they are drawn into an ongoing war between two different monsters that they’ve never met before: Daywalkers and Vampires. Using their experience of their time in Seabrook, where Zed and Addison managed to integrate not just zombies and humans into town life, but werewolves and aliens as well in just a couple of years, they decide to guide the Daywalkers and Vampires into living harmoniously together, through the bonding experience of… Summer Camp.
Zed and Addison spend the most time with the Daywalkers and the Vampires, especially Nova and Victor, who remind them of themselves. Nova and Victor don’t want to bow to pressure from their leaders when they know that the two groups must have a reason to work together. Zed and Addison were very much the same, pushing against the status quo because they knew segregation of their two groups was not right. The two also deal with Zed’s ever-complicated Z-Band, which is being weakened by a strange pulse, that Eliza and Willa work to figure out. Luckily, because of Zed and Addison persuading Nova and Victor to work together, bringing the Daywalkers and Vampires together, the pulsing soon sorts itself out, and Zed doesn’t have to fear becoming a zombie forever! Zed and Addison celebrate their steady relationship with a little dance on the hill by the Daywalker and Vampire territories, just before meeting up with Eliza and Willa to return to Seabrook for the summer. This set up a goodbye of sorts from these original four characters. I must say though, I was so happy that this moment with Zed and Addison did NOT result in a proposal, because I was concerned. Descendants 3 began with an engagement between Ben and Mal, which I thought was ridiculous as they were only 18 or 19, and it just seemed they were way too young. We then got Descendants: The Royal Wedding (2021) to tie this story up. Many Disney fans seem to want this for Zed and Addison too, and are still hopeful for it, but I am not. Please stop encouraging this, Disney; there’s plenty of time in life for marriage. You don’t need to rush off and marry your childhood sweetheart. Live a little first.
Anyway, Milo Manheim returned to ZOMBIES 4 to play Zed. In recent years, Manheim has starred in numerous stage musicals, such as playing Johnny in the Green Day musical American Idiot for a late-2024 Deaf West Theatre production in Los Angeles, and starred as Seymour in the Off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors from February to June 2025. Manheim was recently announced as playing Peter in the star-studded Hollywood Bowl production of Jesus Christ Superstar, which will run from 1st to 3rd August 2025 and star Cynthia Erivo as Jesus and Adam Lambert as Judas.
Meg Donnelly also returned as Addison. Donnelly recently appeared as a contestant on Season 13 of The Masked Singer (2019-present), where she was Coral and came in third place. This season ran from February to May 2025. Chandler Kinney, as Willa, and Kylee Russell, as Eliza, were back for ZOMBIES 4 too. Coming up for them is a role as Kimberly in the 2026 series Elle, which is a prequel to the Legally Blonde franchise, for Kinney, and a role in the movie Savage Sistas for Russell.
Now, to the new characters. First, we have Nova. Nova is a Daywalker, meaning she lives in Sunnyside and has fire powers. Despite her father, Commander Bright, being determined to defeat the Vampires by any means necessary, keeping all the blood fruit for themselves, Nova doesn’t agree with her father, but doesn’t initially feel she can go against his wishes. She doesn’t tell her father she has visions of a boy, who is not a Daywalker, and wonders what this might mean. When she does meet this boy, Victor, who is a Vampire, she realises that they have no reason to fear the Vampires, and they should be working with them instead of against them. Thanks to her determination to do the right thing, and not bow to pressure, Nova manages to help revive the groups’ blood fruit orchards, as well as fix the pulsing that was troubling all the monsters.
Nova was played by Freya Skye, who was predominately known for singing prior to her role in ZOMBIES 4; this was her first movie role. Skye represented the UK at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2022, where she performed the song “Lose My Head” and finished in fifth place, which is very impressive, given the UK’s usual struggles at Eurovision! Skye has since released numerous singles throughout 2024 and 2025, with her song “Who I Thought I Knew” quickly gaining over 1 million views on YouTube.
Like Nova, Victor is having visions about a girl who is not a Vampire like him. However, unlike Nova, who is determined to become a great leader for her people in Sunnyside, Victor doesn’t see a future for himself in Shadyside and can’t wait to leave, wanting to travel the world. His aunt is the Eldress, with Victor being the one to replace her, but he lacks the discipline of good leadership, not feeling very bothered about being a great leader, and just generally being calm, cool, and laid back. But after he meets Nova, Victor realises the two need to work together to get the rest of the groups to co-operate and live harmoniously. After some struggles against their Elders, Victor and Nova find the courage to go against them, by retrieving their moonstones and combining them to heal the blood fruit roots – and inadvertently all the monsters. Nova and Victor end ZOMBIES 4 as friends, with a potential romance looming.
Malachi Barton was cast as Victor, having already had numerous roles on Disney Channel prior to his role in ZOMBIES 4. He was cast as Beast Diaz in the Disney Channel series Stuck in the Middle (2016-18), and then voiced the character of Lionel in the animated Disney Junior series Fancy Nancy (2018-22). Barton went on to star as Marshall in the Disney Channel Original Movies Under Wraps (2021) and Under Wraps 2 (2022), as well as appear in the series The Villains of Valley View (2022-23) as Colby / Flashform. Barton has recently been announced as a new cast member for the upcoming Camp Rock 3.
On to Nova and Victor’s friends. Nova’s friend in the Daywalker community is Ray. Ray is very committed to the group, wanting to impress Nova’s father Commander Bright with his dedication to the cause of fighting Vampires. Because of this, Ray does not come around to the idea of “playing nice” with the Vampires until late on in the film. Ray wants Nova to stick to the plan and take all the blood fruit for themselves, instead of cosying up to Victor and the other Vampires. When Nova makes it clear she won’t be doing that, Ray tries to show his leadership skills to Bright by telling him, and causing an all-out war in the orchards, which leads to their blood fruit being burnt up. So really, all he did was make things worse! Ray eventually apologises to Nova, believing he was doing the right thing initially and now knowing he didn’t, and he gets along with their new way of life.
Julian Lerner was cast as Ray. Previously, Lerner voiced the role of Lucas Reed in Season 1 of the PBS Kids animated series Alma’s Way (2021-present), going on to play Brad Hitman in the ABC series The Wonder Years (2021-23). In film, Lerner was cast as Evan ‘Nando’ Torres in the Netflix movie Yes Day (2021) which starred Jennifer Garner and Édgar Ramírez, and later as Eugene Wexler in Monster Summer (2024).
On Victor’s side are Vera and Vargas, two Vampires. Vera is the more serious of the two, not trusting Daywalkers, especially not after she hears Ray and Nova talking about their plans to betray the Vampires. Vera is the one to call on their Eldress to come to the orchard to stop this, much like Ray does for the Daywalkers. Vargas, on the other hand, is more playful and jokey, who comes to accept the Daywalkers more quickly than Vera.
Vera was played by Swayam Bhatia. For Disney, Bhatia had previously starred as Sofi Hanson-Bhatt in the Disney+ series The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers. She had also appeared in the recurring role of Sophie Roy in the smash-hit series Succession (2018-23). Vargas was played by Mekonnen Knife, with ZOMBIES 4 being a breakout role for him.
For the strict leaders of the Daywalker and Vampire communities, we have Jonno Roberts as Commander Bright, who is also Nova’s father. Most recently, Roberts was cast as James Mallet in Season 2 of the NBC sci-fi drama La Brea (2021-24) and as Declan Stanwick in Season 3 of the sitcom Wrecked (2016-18). The Vampire Eldress, and Victor’s aunt, was played by Lisa Chappell. Prior to her role in ZOMBIES 4, Chappell was cast as Michelle Beaufort from Season 29 to 31 of the long-running New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street (1992-present).
MUSIC
The soundtrack for ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires was released on 11th July 2025 and consists of 13 pieces of music, with eleven songs appearing in the film. Many of the songwriters from the previous ZOMBIES films came back to write songs for ZOMBIES 4. It is unclear how well ZOMBIES 4’s soundtrack has done on the album charts, like iTunes and Billboard so far, as it has only been out for a week, but these will be released in time.
I initially didn’t think I was going to find any songs that I liked in this movie, as it didn’t get off to a good start for me. However, I did find a few by the end of the film that I liked, more so than I did with the ZOMBIES 3 soundtrack. The most unexpected thing though was that I find my favourite song of the whole franchise in this film.
In movie order, the opening song of ZOMBIES 4 is “Legends in the Making”. It gives a recap of Zed, Addison, Willa, and Eliza’s Mountain College experience. I’m not sure what it is about this song, but I really didn’t like it. Maybe it was just too positive and upbeat for college; where were all the half-asleep students who don’t want to get up for lectures? That was my experience of college and I didn’t once see a flash mob! “Legends in the Making” was written by Tova Litvin and Doug Rockwell, and was performed by Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, Chandler Kinney, and Kylee Russell as Zed, Addison, Willa, and Eliza.
Next up is “The Place to Be”, which is all about Nova and the Daywalkers showing Zed just why they are so awesome, with Victor and the Vampires showing Addison what makes them better as they both head to the blood fruit orchards for harvest time. It’s the perfect quick explanation as to exactly what the difference between these two groups is and shows what they are all about. No doubt this was the reason it was released as a single on 2nd May 2025, to give fans a clear idea of what the new movie would be about. I quite liked it; it was like a typical Disney Channel group number with lots of energy and enthusiasm. The song was written by Mitch Allan, Chantry Johnson, and Michelle Zarlenga. It was performed predominantly by the new cast of Freya Skye as Nova, Malachi Barton as Victor, Swayam Bhatia as Vera, Julian Lerner as Ray, and Mekonnen Knife as Vargas.
Shortly after this, once the two groups have arrived at summer camp, the Daywalkers and the Vampires continue to fight against each other and show that they don’t want to co-operate with each other, no matter how much the original ZOMBIES characters tell them they ought to. It’s a proper face-to-face battle this time. This song is “Don’t Mess with Us”, which was performed by the entire cast, and written by Antonina Armato, Tim James Price, Thomas Armato Sturges, and Adam Schmalholz. It just shows how much effort Zed and Addison will have to put in to get these two groups to work together! This song was also released as a single prior to the movie’s release, on 13th June 2025. It was another decent song, although pretty similar to “The Place to Be”.
Then, we get to my all-time favourite ZOMBIES song and that is “Dream Come True”. Initially, we hear a brief section of the song, with this being listed as “Dream Come True (Intro)” on the soundtrack. This “intro” took place before “Don’t Mess with Us”, and showed Nova and Victor confused about why they’ve had visions of each other. It is so short that it gave no indication to me of just how good the whole song was – but “Dream Come True” is amazing. It shows Nova and Victor understanding that there is a reason why they had visions of each other, and showing that they are willing to get past their group’s differences, culminating in a sort of ballet in the sky as they both fly through the breeze together. Freya Skye and Malachi Barton, performing as Nova and Victor, shot “Dream Come True” on wires and harnesses, running up and jumping off ramps to get that height to make it seem like they are flying[1]. It was a beautiful scene and it was the moment that made me really focus on this movie. “Dream Come True” was written by Jaheem King Toombs and Matthew Martinez.
This amazing song was followed by a song that I really didn’t like, and was the worst of the entire soundtrack for me. This is the hip-hop-style song “Kerosene”. I’m not a big fan of hip-hop, or whatever musical style this, but my real issue with “Kerosene” is the lyrics, which I found to be a bit cringey and random. “If it’s fire that we need, then I’m the kerosene” just didn’t impress me as a lyric. “Kerosene” was performed by the entire cast, during the moment that Zed, Willa, and Eliza are trying to stop the pulsing they keep feeling by moving a ladder off the blood fruit roots, with everyone coming to help them. “Kerosene” was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James Price, Thomas Armato Sturges, Adam Schmalholz.
A bit later, after Nova is told by Ray to stick to Commander Bright’s plan, she feels conflicted about what is the best thing to do, culminating in the solo ballad “My Own Way”. “My Own Way” was performed by Skye as Nova and was written by Josh Cumbee and Jordan Powers.
Following that, we have “Possible”, performed by the entire cast as Nova and Victor figure out they need to combine their moonstones, and will need to steal them from their cities, to truly find peace, but they don’t think that is possible. It is up to Zed and Addison to convince that they can actually achieve this, even if it’s hard. This shows Zed and Addison’s mentoring of Nova and Victor to be successful, as Nova and Victor rally the campers to help them in their plan. I did like this song; it was quite moving to see everyone finally putting their differences aside and coming together. “Possible” was performed mostly by Skye, Barton, Manheim, and Donnelly, as Nova, Victor, Zed, and Addison, and was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James Price, Thomas Armato Sturges, Adam Schmalholz.
Then, we get the ZOMBIES 4 version of “Someday”, something that every ZOMBIES movie has had! This is “Someday (Reprise)”, even though we’ve already had three other “Someday” reprises! This is a very short one performed by Manheim and Donnelly as Zed and Addison, potentially for the last time. This is another heartfelt moment as Addison watches Zed get weaker and almost go “full zombie”. She vows to stay by his side regardless of what happens, but she is scared she’ll lose him after his Z-Band stops working. “Someday (Reprise)” was written by Dustin Burnett and Paula Winger.
After that, we get the typical cheery group finale number. In this case, the song is “Show the World”, written by Matthew Tishler and Shridhar Solanki, and performed by the entire cast. It shows the Daywalkers and Vampires collecting food and drinks to have a celebration at Camp Rayburn, their summer camp. I tend to like these finale numbers in Disney Channel musicals, and musicals in general. “Show the World” is no different.
Finally, we have the last musical moment within ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires and that is “Ain’t No Doubt About It (Reprise)”, a private moment between Zed and Addison as they reflect on their time with the Daywalkers and the Vampires and prepare to head back to Seabrook with Eliza and Willa. It’s a lovely farewell from Zed and Addison and I think it wrapped up not just their journey but also Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly’s journey with the ZOMBIES movies. It was very touching, and I liked their tap dance moment, which seemed to be a callback to their tap dancing in “Someday” in the first ZOMBIES movie. “Ain’t No Doubt About It (Reprise)” was written by Josh Cumbee and Jordan Power, and performed by Manheim and Donnelly, again, potentially for the last time.
There is then an End Credits song called “Together As One”, performed by the entire cast and written by Tim Boomsma, Gustavo Branger, Milo Branger, Louis Knight, and Mohamed Alitou. I didn’t like this song much, even if it is about unity between the Daywalkers and the Vampires. It’s just there, like End Credits song tend to be, not leaving very much impression because they don’t have a scene to give them proper context.
The score for ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires was composed by British composer Tom Howe. Howe is the composer on the popular AppleTV+ series Ted Lasso (2021-present) and has also collaborated with Aardman Animations on the music for a couple of their movies, including A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (2019), and Early Man (2018) with Harry Gregson-Williams. Howe is also the one behind the theme music for The Great British Bake-Off (2010-present). For Disney, Howe composed the score for the DCOM Upside-Down Magic (2020). An excerpt of Howe’s score is included as a track on the official ZOMBIES 4 soundtrack.
PRODUCTION
After three movies, with ZOMBIES 3 seeming to signal the end of the series, many may’ve been surprised to find that ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires was in the works when it was officially confirmed that production had begun in March 2024.
This announcement contained information around the confirmed cast and crew. Writers David Light and Joseph Raso, who wrote the original unaired TV pilot Zombies & Cheerleaders which was the basis for the original ZOMBIES film, returned to for this fourth movie, after writing all three of the previous ZOMBIES movies. This time, though, they were joined by Josh Cagan for the screenplay. Cagan had previously written the screenplay for the teen comedy movie The DUFF (2015) and was no stranger to the world of Disney Channel movies, as he had also co-written the live-action DCOM Kim Possible (2019), and went on to work on the DCOMs Spin (2021) and Under Wraps 2 (2022) prior to ZOMBIES 4.
ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires’ story took a slightly different direction to that of the previous three films. This time, the ZOMBIES franchise was moving outside of Seabrook and its “monsters” who came to live there. Instead, they chose to take zombies Zed and Eliza, human and part-alien Addison, and werewolf Willa away from Seabrook, which they know so well, to a completely different location. Here, they discover the existence of two completely different species of “monster”: Vampires and Daywalkers.
To be perfectly honest, whenever I hear the term “daywalker”, all I think about is Cartman’s school report in the episode “Ginger Kids” in South Park (1997-present), where he said “daywalkers” are people with red hair who do not have pale skin and freckles. I can hear his speech even as I’m typing this, which isn’t relevant to this term at all and can be considered offensive so I’ll quickly move on!
Daywalkers are actually like a subset of vampires. In folklore, daywalkers are basically just vampires that can exist in the sun. Back in the 19th Century with novels like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, vampires were simply weaker in daylight, but were never destined to burn up and die in the sunshine. Even Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga vampires can exist in the sun; it just makes their skin sparkle like glitter, which would reveal that they are not humans like they pretend to be. Apparently, it was the 1922 silent film Nosferatu that first showed a vampire that was unable to exist in daylight, as Count Orlok vanished in a puff of fire when the sun came up in that film. As the years went on, it became a common truth that vampires and sunlight were enemies, however, over time, the lore around vampires has begun to shift again to say that vampires do not always fear sunlight[2].
In this case, the ZOMBIES 4 Vampires and Daywalkers aren’t much like we’d expect them to be at all anyway. These vampires do not suck blood, and although they live in darkness, they can exist in sunlight without crumbling to ash. They also have powers, which allow them to manipulate air and wind. Daywalkers, on the other hand, live in a city called Sunnyside, where they make the most of the sun’s rays. They also have magic, but they manipulate fire. The two groups have feared and vowed revenge against the other for centuries, as they fight over their shared food source, blood fruit. It is only thanks to the forced shared experience during a version of summer camp that these two groups are able to realise they can do more good by joining forces instead of warring against each other, a message that reaches the young people before it hits the Elders.
The story of ZOMBIES 4 feels very much like the three movies that came before it, by having two enemy sides come together to live in harmony with each other. But hey, I guess if a theme works, work it hard!
Paul Hoen returned to direct ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires, having been the director on all three of the previous ZOMBIES movies. Hoen is a legendary director in the Disney Channel Original Movie world, having already directed The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008); Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010); Let It Shine (2012); Cloud 9 (2014); and Invisible Sister (2015), just to name a few, prior to his work with the ZOMBIES franchise.
Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly were executive producers on ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires too. The two got to be involved in the audition process, for example, basically helping to choose their replacements for a new Zed and Addison-style pairing! They enjoyed working on post-production too, being able to have input in this, and felt they were a good bridge between the production process and the acting process, as well as being able to guide the new cast through the experience of shooting a Disney Channel musical. It was overall a great experience for both of them as professionals in the movie industry[3].
As ZOMBIES 4 is not set in Seabrook, it made sense for the filming locations to be different. In this case, the cast and crew ended up in New Zealand, not Canada, for the majority of their shoot, which ran from around March to May 2024. It is thought that a few scenes were still filmed in Toronto though.
In New Zealand, King’s College, a school in the suburb of Ōtāhuhu in Auckland was the location for Mountain College. In the dance section of “Legends in the Making” specifically, this takes place outside the King’s College Centennial Centre. Bethells Beach and the Te Henga Cave, outside of Auckland, were used as we see Nova and Victor walk through the cave in the ending scene. I think you can also see the respective groups walk through this cave on the way to the original harvest that doesn’t happen. Speaking of Daywalkers, their city of Sunnyside was filmed at the Auckland University of Technology. With all the glass-fronted, high-rise buildings, it reminded me a bit of Erudite in the Divergent film series. At the blood fruit orchard, you can also see the Okiritoto Falls, located at Oneonenui Farm[4]. Other filming locations named are Piha Beach, on North Island’s West Coast within the Waitakere Rangers, with Lion Rock in the background, which seems to be the site of the Daywalkers practising fighting on the beach, when Zed first meets them. It would also seem that the Mākara Walkway, near Mākara Beach in Wellington, was the site for Zed and Addison’s moment on the hills, as well as potentially the location for “Dream Come True”, although this is hard to identify, being landscape and not a building[5]. The cast also had fun exploring what New Zealand has to offer. According to cast members’ Instagram accounts, they seem to have visited Hobbiton, the official movie set location for the The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, based in Matamata, as well as the mud baths in Rotorua on the Hell’s Gate Reserve.
The team working on ZOMBIES 4 were committed to using as many real-life locations as possible in their shoot, although in some cases, green screen or CGI was needed to create some settings. For example, the city of Sunnyside has been added to the hilly backdrop on the beach, and obviously, the overhead shots of both Sunnyside and Shadyside are not real. There is also some special effect usage, for the Daywalkers and Vampires powers, the pulses, and the blood fruit orchard being burnt up, for instance.
With the introduction of new settings and new characters came new costumes. For the Daywalkers, they are dressed in whites and reds, to match their reliance on the sunlight and fire. They also wear relatively loose-fitting clothing, probably because they are known for being fighters. On the other hand, the Vampires, who are used to living in darkness, wear reds and blacks to signify that. The Vampires wear more punk-looking clothing, with leather-style jackets and emblazoned tees. Since both groups wear red, this is a uniting colour between the two, showing that they are linked in some way, because they are both a form of vampire and both rely on blood fruit to survive.
The original characters got a costume update too. This time, Addison is not in a cheerleading outfit for the majority of the movie! She wears a lot of blue here, no doubt to pay tribute to her alien heritage. Zed continues to wear dark colours, with jeans and jackets, but at the end of the film, he dresses up a little bit, with a smart jacket and tie. Eliza’s outfit isn’t overly different to previous ZOMBIES films either, but she stills looks cool. Willa is continuing to rep her werewolf look with her a top and at one point, she has a long blue/purple robe or cardigan too. All of their outfits show them growing up, and looking more like college students instead of peppy high schoolers.
For choreography, Draico Johnson, choreographer on ZOMBIES 3, returned to work on ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires. He liked working with new dancers and enjoyed choreographing for the new characters. There were opportunities to show the two go head-to-head in dance battles, particularly in the sequence for “Don’t Mess with Us”, when the Daywalkers and the Vampires are trying to show who is the best. “The Place to Be” also does this, although they aren’t face-to-face at this point, but they are still trying to prove their group is better than the other. Johnson particularly liked the energy of the song “The Place to Be” and used that for his choreography inspiration[6].
Some of these dances took place on the beach, which made dancing even more difficult as they had to work against the movement of the sand under their feet – although I think all of the dancing looks hard to remember and even more difficult to execute perfectly with each take, but I’m not a dancer! Other experiences that the actors went through on set were numerous lessons in fighting, specifically for Freya Skye as Nova, since her character seemingly has been trained to fight hand-to-hand combat for many years, and the original ZOMBIES cast members were strapped to a rotating machine for the scene where their car crashes in the woods, which was a struggle for some of them to get through as they tumbled upside down multiple times! This was the last shot of the whole movie too[7].
RECEPTION
Since ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires actually finished filming in mid-2024, there was a lot of buzz and anticipation for this film for an entire year.
Many debated when ZOMBIES 4 would be released, with many favouring the idea of a February release, as ZOMBIES and ZOMBIES 2 had done, coinciding with Valentine’s Day. But the actual release date would end up being in July 2025, for a summer release, much like ZOMBIES 3 had. Summer releases in general are known to do well, so this made good business sense, I think.
Multiple behind-the-scenes clips and interviews were released in the months and weeks leading up to ZOMBIES 4 release, which was confirmed around April/May 2025 as being on 10th July 2025 for Disney Channel, and 11th July 2025 for a worldwide Disney+ release. These interviews featured a mixture of the cast, with some being solely Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly; others with these two and Freya Skye and Malachi Barton; and more with a combination of the old and new cast.
On 8th July 2025, the official ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires premiere was held at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. As well as the cast of this movie appearing alongside loved ones, many fans were pleased to see the return of some of the original ZOMBIES cast here, such as Trevor Tordjman, who played Bucky; Pearce Joza, who played Wyatt; and Carla Jeffrey, who played Bree. Other Disney stars also walked the carpet, including Descendants: The Rise of Red stars Kylie Cantrall and Dara Reneé, as well as other Disney Channel stars, like some of the cast of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place (2024-present), and even former Disney Channel actors like Jake Thomas from Lizzie McGuire (2001-04).
On 10th July 2025, Disney Channel exclusively premiered ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires, with the first three movies airing on the channel earlier in the day, ahead of the official premiere. Apparently, ZOMBIES 4 was watched by around 600,000 viewers on that night, with this being the most-watched Disney Channel Original Movie premiere since Upside-Down Magic (2020)[8]. It also beat out the premiere for ZOMBIES 3, which reached around 300,000 viewers on its premiere allegedly, although it was released on Disney+ first.
This figure of 0.6 million may not sound like much when compared to the premieres of other DCOMs like High School Musical 2 (2007) and Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie (2009), but viewing habits are changing, with many preferring to watch new programming via streaming services instead of cable TV.
ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires was added to Disney+ on 11th July 2025, allowing it to be viewed by a global audience. Apparently, all four of the ZOMBIES movies occupied the top four spots in Disney+’s Top Five most-watched list in the first week of its release. ZOMBIES 4 topped this list, followed by ZOMBIES, then ZOMBIES 2, and finally ZOMBIES 3[9]. It is unclear if this is a worldwide Disney+ Top 5, or if it is solely in the US, but either way, this is quite impressive. I had seen on social media that ZOMBIES 4 was the No. 1 film on the platform both worldwide and in the US though, but as the movie has only been around for a week, I’ll wait for something more concrete on this.
Much like with the other ZOMBIES movies, and most DCOMs in general, ZOMBIES 4 received various comments, both positive and negative. On the positive side, the performances of Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly as Zed and Addison were praised once again. Many also said the music and dance numbers were fun. Others said it was a sweet farewell from the original cast, and a great outing for the new, fresh-faced cast. Fans of the ZOMBIES franchise were most likely to enjoy ZOMBIES 4.
However, some said ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires lacked a strong narrative and compelling characters, feeling that the film hopped from scene-to-scene at a break-neck speed which made the movie feel rushed. I quite liked the fact that ZOMBIES 4 didn’t settle on anything for too long, because it meant I was never bored, and if I didn’t like a particular moment or character, I knew we’d be moving on to something else quickly. There were also comments that ZOMBIES 4 was just repeating the same plot as the previous ZOMBIES movies, and that the franchise just continuously repeats the same story over and over again. Even Nova and Victor were created to be just like Zed and Addison, so ZOMBIES 4 wasn’t seen to be anything new, and if fans already felt ZOMBIES 3 was unnecessary, then a fourth movie was just ridiculous.
That was my opinion on ZOMBIES 4 for at least during the first half an hour that I was watching, but by the end of it, I actually found I enjoyed ZOMBIES 4 more than ZOMBIES 3, but that might just be because of “Dream Come True” grabbing my attention and me then being receptive to finding another moment in the film that did that again. There wasn’t really, until the very end with Zed and Addison’s moment on the hill, but still, ZOMBIES 4 felt like a movie that both fit within the ZOMBIES space, and could work without it, which I think is what it needed to be.
LEGACY
The earliest ZOMBIES 4 experience to come from the movie was actually first announced months before the film itself had even premiered.
At the D23 Expo in August 2024 in Anaheim, it was announced that there was going to be a new concert tour called Descendants / Zombies: Worlds Collide Tour, coming to arenas in North America over Summer 2025, where stars from both Descendants: The Rise of Red and ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires would be performing hits from their movie franchises. There was also a performance from the Descendants: The Rise of Red cast at this on-stage announcement too. Freya Skye, Malachi Barton, and Meg Donnelly met fans the following day at the D23 Expo.
During the following months, more details about this tour were revealed, and tickets went on sale in November 2024. It has since been revealed that cast members going on this tour are Freya Skye, Mekonnen Knife, and Malachi Barton from ZOMBIES 4, and Malia Baker, Dara Reneé, Joshua Colley, and Kylie Cantrall from Descendants: The Rise of Red. The tour began in San Diego on 17th July 2025, just a week after ZOMBIES 4’s premiere. The tour will run until 16th September 2025, where it will play its final show in Texas[10].
At Walt Disney World, in preparation for the ZOMBIES 4 premiere, a new costume exhibit went up on display in the Walt Disney Presents attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios around April 2025. There were four costumes worn in the film that were put on display: one for Nova, one for Addison, one for Zed, and one for Victor. There was also an informational plaque detailing a brief overview of the plot of the entire ZOMBIES franchise and ZOMBIES 4 specifically[11]. These displays are swapped out frequently based on whichever Disney movie is about to be released.
Closer to ZOMBIES 4’s release date, a rolling stage promoting ZOMBIES 4 was spotted at Disney Springs at the Walt Disney World Resort. On this stage is a DJ, talking about the film whilst music from the franchise plays. It began in early July 2025 and will run until the start of August 2025, running daily from the late afternoon into the evening. There are also banners and photo-op boards around the area, promoting the film[12]. For some reason, this same experience doesn’t appear to have been at Disneyland.
For the Halloween season, which begins in August at Walt Disney World, at the Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, there will be a ZOMBIES 4 dance party for 2025, on the Rockettower Plaza Stage in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom, replacing the DescenDANCE Party from last year.
Finally, as ZOMBIES 4 ended on a cliffhanger, with Nova and Victor seeing that spiral of water coming out of the ocean, it is believed that a ZOMBIES 5 will be coming. There has been no confirmation of this so far, and no clue as to what this water thing could be, but if viewing figures and audience reaction remain positive, then a new movie can be expected.
FINAL THOUGHTS
From the moment that promotional activities began for ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires, the two original stars of the ZOMBIES franchise, Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly, mentioned that this movie was a “passing of the torch”, that they were seeing this as an opportunity to introduce a new cast to take the ZOMBIES movies forward.
In a similar way to Descendants: The Rise of Red, ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires allowed audiences to get to know a new set of characters, and a new crop of actors, whilst also letting them settle in to this new idea by still having some of their favourite characters around. It’s a clever idea, and one that I believe worked for the majority.
Yet, it was still a sad moment saying goodbye, potentially forever, to Zed, Addison, Willa, and Eliza, with the loss of “Zeddison” hitting fans the most. However, they were given a beautiful send-off, which gave them their own special moment within this film where they waved a metaphorical goodbye to us viewers and went off on their merry way.
With them gone, ZOMBIES has an opportunity to continue on with different characters and a different setting. Personally, I don’t think ZOMBIES 4 needed to be a part of the ZOMBIES franchise and could’ve sustained itself without any mention of Seabrook, but I can see the effort in trying to “reboot” the ZOMBIES franchise.
If I was younger, I probably would’ve been incredibly positive about this film – but this new cast are well over a decade younger than me, so they’re making me feel old! But still, ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires surprised me, in a good way, and I appreciate this movie for giving the original cast the chance to help guide this new cast to greatness. I’m sure everyone involved is going to go on to do great things, both with and away from Disney.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘ZOMBIES 4 Cast Watch Party! Snacks & BTS w/ Meg, Milo, Malachi & Freya’, Disney Channel Music YouTube Channel, 12th July 2025.
[2] Credit: Kelly Faircloth, ‘How vampires became allergic to the sun’, NationalGeographic.com, 10th July 2025.
[3] Credit: Good Morning America, ‘Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly on their roles as executive producers in ‘Zombies 4’’, Good Morning America YouTube Channel, 16th July 2025.
[4] Credit: Ra Moon, ‘Where was Zombies 4 filmed? Guide to (almost) all the filming locations’, AtlasOfWonders.com, date unknown.
[5] Credit: Naman Shrestha, ‘Where Was Zombies 4 Filmed? Dawn of the Vampires Shooting Locations’, MovieDelic.com, 10th July 2025.
[6] Credit: TMilly Staff, ‘From Disney to Netflix: How Draico Johnson Shapes Stories Through Dance’, Blog.TMilly.tv, 28th June 2025.
[7] Credit: Good Morning America, ‘Cast of ‘Zombies 4’ on hardest part of filming’, Good Morning America YouTube Channel, 15th July 2025.
[8] Credit: Disney, ‘#ZOMBIES4: Dawn of the Vampires scored 600,000 viewers on Thursday Night’, ZOMBIES 4 Official X Account, 14th July 2025.
[9] Credit: Nicole Sobon, ‘A Surprising Zombie Movie Franchise Is Dominating Disney+’s Streaming Charts’, ComicBook.com, 14th July 2025.
[10] Credit: Disney, ‘Descendants Zombies Worlds Collide Tour’, DisneyConcerts.com, date unknown.
[11] Credit: Jamie Rowland, ‘‘Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires’ Props on Display at Disney’s Hollywood Studios’, WDWNT.com, 27th April 2025.
[12] Credit: Luke Manning, Jeremiah Good, ‘Unleash Your Inner Monster: “ZOMBIES 4” Activation Comes to Disney Springs’, LaughingPlace.com, 7th July 2025.
The Disney Purist 