Review of Pontypool (2009) by Alex P — 16 Oct 2014

Sometimes horror films surprise you. I'd never heard of this one before I found it at my library. Smart, rather slow burning until you get a sense of what is going on, and it holds you tight. The thing is only 96 minutes but it feels like a lot longer - and I mean that in a good way.

It's a normal Valentine's day in Pontypool, Ontario. Ex-shock jock Grant heads in to work at the local radio station. The news is going as normal until a correspondent reports on a mob gathering in front of a doctor's office. The mob is also speaking and acting very strangely.

This sounds like the beginning of a typical zombie film but it really is not. The infection being spread is very specific but also very random too. Much imagination points for that as well to the claustrophobia of being stuck in a radio station without much contact with outside except with people calling in. It's a very Orson Wells/War of the Worlds sort of vibe.

I am so impressed with this and so glad I took a chance. I encourage you to do the same.