Review of Pontypool (2009) by Chip V — 06 Feb 2010

Once I got my head round the fact that this was not going to be the 28 Days Later clone I was in the mood for, I settled into this ok. The idea of a zombie movie without zombies is a good one, and was reasonably well executed here; the horror is as powerful as the imagination of the viewer, and there is little by way of graphic violence, which works well. The film also raises issues surrounding broadcast media and in particular the nature of "newsworthiness".

Perhaps the biggest problem with this is the nature of the virus which causes the mayhem within the town. I don't want to spoil the film for anyone planning to watch it, but I have to say I found the explanation of the virus VERY thin, and the post credits sequence infuriatingly pretentious too. This said, I found the film watchable and I liked a lot of the ideas it tried to impart.