Effect · Zombie Mode
Zombie Mode — the face turns, then the rest.
Zombie Mode is the transformation people post at Halloween and the rest of the year. In the sample above a smiling portrait keeps its hair, its white t-shirt and its dark backdrop while the face rots into grey skin, exposed tissue and a snarl. The engine keeps the identity and destroys the complexion.
The recipe
Zombie Mode, on paper.
Read from the effect catalog the app itself ships, so these are the settings your run will use.
| Spec | This effect |
|---|---|
| Engine | PixVerse |
| Resolution | 720p or 1080p |
| Clip length | 5s or 8s |
| Cost | 2 credits at 5s 720p · 4 credits at 8s 720p · 4 credits at 5s 1080p · 8 credits at 8s 1080p |
| Source images | One |
| Aspect ratio | Follows your photo |
| Category | Trending · 14 templates and Horror & Dark · 18 templates |
Inside the effect
What the Zombie Mode effect actually does.
Zombie Mode is a PixVerse preset with a fixed instruction: take the face in the photo, keep it recognisable, and rot it. The change is progressive rather than a cut — the sample shows the skin greying and splitting across the middle of the clip, with the expression turning from a smile into a snarl by the end.
What the engine leaves alone is as telling as what it changes. Hair, clothing and background survive untouched, which is why the result reads as you-as-a-zombie rather than a generic monster.
It takes one photo of one person, and a front-facing face with visible teeth gives the snarl something to build on.
Source photos
Photos that work, and photos that don't.
One-tap effects have one input. Which photo you pick is the whole of your creative control.
One face, close
The transformation is all in the skin. Give the engine a face that fills a good part of the frame.
A smile helps
The sample starts from a wide smile, and the turn from smile to snarl is the shot. A neutral face has less distance to travel.
Even light, plain backdrop
The engine keeps the background; a plain one makes the decayed face the only thing to look at.
Nothing on the face
Glasses and masks hide the skin the effect is rewriting.
Failure modes
Where it goes wrong.
The three ways this particular effect disappoints people, and what causes each one.
Group photos: the engine turns one person and the rest drift. One face per run.
Heavy backlight flattens the decay — the effect is textural, and it needs light on the skin to show the texture.
Very dark skin tones and very pale ones both render, but the grey-green tint the effect uses reads differently on each; run once and judge before committing to a batch.
How it works
Running Zombie Mode in four steps.
Pick a well-lit, front-facing portrait
One person, face large in frame, ideally smiling.
Open Horror or Trending and tap Zombie Mode
It is featured on the Trending shelf and lives in the Horror category.
Choose the length and resolution
5 or 8 seconds, 720p or 1080p. In most countries, your first video is on us: new verified accounts get one five-second video on our lowest-cost video model, once. This run is covered, so it can be your first video.
Pair it
Run the same photo through another Horror template for a before-and-after post; every effect prices separately, so you know the total before you press Generate.
FAQ
Zombie Mode, answered.
What does the Zombie Mode effect do?
It progressively decays the face in a portrait into a zombie — grey skin, torn tissue, a snarl — while keeping hair, clothing and background as photographed. It runs on the PixVerse engine from one photo.
How much does Zombie Mode cost?
2–8 credits per run: 2 credits (~$0.80) at the default length and resolution, more for a longer or sharper clip (2 credits at 5s 720p · 4 credits at 8s 720p · 4 credits at 5s 1080p · 8 credits at 8s 1080p). In most countries, your first video is on us: new verified accounts get one five-second video on our lowest-cost video model, once. This run is covered, so it can be your first video.
What resolution and length does it produce?
720p or 1080p, at 5 or 8 seconds, in the aspect ratio of your photo. Nothing you export is watermarked.
Does it work on pets?
The instruction is written for a human face. Animals sometimes render, but the effect is tuned for skin and teeth, and the Fun & Viral category has templates written for pets.
Is there a way to make it less graphic?
Not inside this effect — the level of decay is in the instruction, not in a setting. The Horror category has quieter templates, and the Fun & Viral category has transformations that are not horror at all.
Get started
Try Zombie Mode.
In most countries, your first video is on us: new verified accounts get one five-second video on our lowest-cost video model, once. This run is covered, so it can be your first video. Nothing you export is watermarked.