PONTYPOOL is interesting take on the zombie film. Set for the most part in the local radio station, Stephen McHattie is convincing as Grant Mazzy, a shock jock from the big city reduced to plying his ware on CLSY, a local radio station broadcasting to the small Ontario town of Pontypool.
A slow day of appalling weather quickly takes a turn for the worst, as reports start to come in of people having seizures, developing strange speech patterns, and committing appalling acts of violence.
As events unfold it becomes apparent that the violence is being spread by a virus contained in the English language, but Mazzy thinks he has found the cure, or is Mazzy actually spreading the virus with his broadcast?
From the opening sequence you know this is something more than your average zombie film, there isn’t a lot of the usual bloody horror you’d expect. It builds tension by feeding you images from Mazzy’s broadcast. The horror for the most part in your head, and is all the better for it. It is an interesting little film, that poses some very interesting questions about the nature of language. It is, dare I say it, an esoteric zombie film?
Director: Bruce McDonald
Writer: Tony Burgess
Production Year: 2008
Rating: 15
Running Time: 96 minutes
Darrin // Nightingale 