Review of Pontypool (2009) by Phillip M — 18 Apr 2011

Innovative and ambitious. Pontypool is a horror movie that I've wanted to watch for a long time and I hugely welcome it as a horror movie. It's quickly become a favourite among horror fans and well-deserved for it's clever and unique spin on the zombie genre--though the "zombies" in the film aren't really zombies.

The beginning of the film, the opening monologue by Stephen McHattie as Grant Mazzy, coupled with the soundwaves of his fit for radio voice, is my favourite part of the movie. Nothing happens in the first few minutes, he just tells a story about a missing cat. The way he tells it, the tone of his voice, the ominous feeling I got while listening to him, the saying "less is more", the low grade of it all worked. The magic of simplicity.

For the first half of the movie that feeling the opening monologue instilled was held. The cramped setting also helped--the movie really takes enclosed spaces to a higher level of urgency. At the start, it's all talk. Some may find that a bit tedious, but the storytelling of the first 45 minutes or so is absolutely great. The radioshow, is actually a radioshow in the film. There are no cuts away from the station to show the gory action that's being witnessed, we are left to imagine what's happening. What the director could have shown us may not have worked as well as what we can imagine. A very respectable thing for a film to assume--that the viewers have brains and are able to think for themselves.

After such an intriguing first half, Pontypool loses its freshness and sometimes delves into a corny, cheese-fair viewing. With the introduction of the Doctor, things become a little tired. We get an over-the-top character that really disturbs the horrific tone that Pontypool builds up for quite a bit of time. A comedic tone is almost present, as if the Doctor is some kind of self-parody in the vein of the Scream series.

Of course we needed an explanation to the reason behind this madness occurring in Pontypool, and the amazing condition in which one contracts this infection is so incredulous, that it's brilliant. To be turned into a mindless individual through a verbally transmitted virus is genius. That's scarier than being bitten. And you can't help analyze all the ways to interpret that. Is it a commentary about the media? censorship? the denigration of the english language? There are many ways to pick apart this virus.

But what makes the movie for me is Stephen McHattie. Way over-the-top but he's allowed to be because the character is outlandish. It's not weird to see Grant Mazzy like this because it's quickly established that this is his personality. The Doctor came out of nowhere, and for him to suddenly be more animated than Mazzy is odd because his character is so new.

8/10 mainly for Stephen McHattie, the great first half and ambitiousness of it all. The end is a little disappointing, I can't really explain why it ended the way it did, but the lead up events weren't so interesting either. When the characters decided to leave the confines of the basement, the movie nearly fell apart, for me. But it's redemptive qualities sure came in when they needed to.