Review of Pontypool (2009) by Ian B — 05 Oct 2009

You wouldn't think there would be anything original left to do in the zombie genre, but Pontypool manages to pull it off. Demoted shock DJ Grant Mazzy and his two co-workers are trapped in their radio station as the small town of Pontypool, Ontario becomes infected with a virus that spreads through the english language. I know, it sounds a little out there, but director Bruce McDonald keeps everything grounded, completely believable and incredibly tense.

This is a movie that relies on atmosphere, claustrophobia and imagination to get under your skin. Only hearing audio of the mayhem and being left in the dark for most of the movie (just like the characters) really forces the audience to think and fill in a lot of the blanks for themselves until the zombies and answers show up in the final act. Along with the skillful use of "less is more", we have a great performance from Stephen McHattie that keeps the movie rolling right along and makes it much more interesting then if a lesser talented character actor had been cast.

Pontypool is a movie that definitely won't please everyone. There are those, like myself, who love it for it's originality and intelligence, and there are those ADD gore-hounds that will complain that there's too much talking and not enough blood. Those people can go have fun watching Saw 14 while those of us who appreciate original horror can be thankful little movies like this still come along every once in a while.