Pontypool (2008)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Bruce McDonald

Writer:

Tony Burgess (written by)

Release Date:

18 September 2009 (Turkey)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Shut Up Or Die

Plot:

A psychological thriller in which a deadly virus infects a small Ontario town. |

Plot Keywords:

Virus | Psychological Thriller | Baby | Corpse | Booth

Cast

Stephen McHattie	...	Grant Mazzy
Lisa Houle	...	Sydney Briar
Georgina Reilly	...	Laurel Ann
Hrant Alianak	...	Dr. Mendez
Rick Roberts	...	Ken Loney
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Boyd Banks	...	Jay / Osama
Tony Burgess	...	Tony / Lawrence
Rachel Burns	...	Colin / Daud
Raffaele Carniato	...	Conversationalist
Daniel Fathers	...	Nigel Healing
Hannah Fleming	...	Maureen / Faraj
Diane Gordon	...	Conversationalist
Yvonne Moore	...	Conversationalist
Louis Negin	...	Conversationalist
Laura Nordin	...	Spooky Woman
Daniel Park	...	Conversationalist
Derek Scott	...	Fish Hut Man
Beatriz Yuste	...	Nancy Freethy

Runtime:

Canada:95 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | South Korea:15 | UK:15 | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Ponty Up Pictures

Quotes:

[first lines]
Grant Mazzy: Mrs. French's cat is missing. The signs are posted all over town. "Have you seen Honey?" We've all seen the posters, but nobody has seen Honey the cat. Nobody. Until last Thursday morning, when Miss Colette Piscine swerved her car to miss Honey the cat as she drove across a bridge...

Movie Connections:

References Outbreak (1995)

A word is more virulent than a thousand pictures

One of the things the great Orson Welles is known for is a radio broadcast reporting on an alien invasion. Credulous folks did not see the hoax. Pontypool follows a similar line with Martians replaced by zombies and hoax by satire.

In my hierarchy zombie films are the cheapjack of cinema. Surprising then I would be watching one. Nonetheless I stayed to the end of Pontypool on the strength of its various non-zombie elements.

First, the film brought to mind the radio days of yore, before TV arrived to pollute our living rooms. The evening serials for children with voices and sound effects elicited an imagery of thrilling adventures and exciting conflicts of good versus evil. Would not miss a single episode. In this there was a counterexample to the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words.

Second, the core conceit of a zombie-inducing disease transmitted by a word, or words, ties in nicely with the viral memes of Dawkins. (See his talk at TED for a short explanation.) If the word is mightier than the sword, here a word is more virulent than a bomb. The zombie state is a metaphor for anti-social acts that otherwise normal people are led to commit because their minds have been contaminated.

Third, the self-deprecating humor. The bits about the poisoning of the public airwaves. The chopper-riding reporter in the middle of a blinding snow storm reporting on the traffic. The irritating language tics -- you know -- of some, here captured by endless zombie repetitiveness and the tendency of the zombies to chew their own tongues into a bloody mass. In places the film elevates itself to satire and laughing at the silliness of the explicit plot happens often.

Finally, the superb performance of Stephen McHattie as the morning radio talk show host of the small AM 660 CLSY station in Pontypool. If there is a single reason to watch this film it is McHattie.

The film is beautifully economical. The entire action, except for the opening scene, takes places in a radio station. As such the film is mostly words. In that it is self-referential: a film about a day at a radio station's studio that is a purveyor of words. I would not be surprised to find Pontypool reach the level of cult film.