OneMetal.com REVIEW:
Pontypool

Adapted by Tony Burgess from his own novel, and directed by Canadian veteran Bruce McDonald (Roadkill, Hard Core Logo, The Tracey Fragments), Pontypool stars grizzled actor Stephen McHattie as an embittered shock jock fallen on hard times, caught up in the story of his life. Does this low budget indie feature deserve front page coverage or is it just more zombie filler?

Grant Mazzy (Stephen McHattie) used to be a big deal. Now he works for a small town radio station in Pontypool, Ontario, reporting benign local news stories from the station’s church basement studio. Constantly at loggerheads with station producer Sydney Briar (Lisa Houle), Mazzy incites and cajoles the listeners, but never gets a response. That all changes when weatherman Ken reports on a mysterious riot only miles from the station. It seems people are being struck down by a highly contagious virus, the likes of which has never been seen (or heard) before. As the mental mob descends upon the radio station, Grant and Lisa discover a truth more terrifying and out there than either of them could possibly imagine.

A striking combination of Orson Welles’ War Of The Worlds broadcast, and George A. Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead, with a bit of Noam Chomsky thrown in for good measure, Pontypool is a terrific addition to the zombie movie annuls. It even finds time to reference John Carpenter’s The Thing and the Dustin Hoffman-starring Outbreak.

Director McDonald, a Canadian TV mainstay for many years, creates a fantastic sense of tension, staging 99% of the action from within the confines of the radio station, much like Oliver Stone’s Talk Radio. The full scale of the horror unfolds slowly through garbled messages, phone calls, screams in the distance, visual tics and updates from the international media. There’s a tangible sense of impending doom, even though we never see the true scale of the madness. It’s an economical, claustrophobic and suspense-laden approach, which, not taking anything away from McDonald’s tight direction, would make for a great stage play. The region 1 DVD actually comes with a Pontypool radio drama – not sure about the R2.

Tony Burgess’ script teems with smartness seldom seen in contemporary horror. The story of weatherman Ken, never actually seen on-screen, is probably the most effective, chilling in its off-screen savagery. Sometimes it’s what we don’t see that scares us the most, and Burgess is a master at playing on our subconscious fears, which in turn works perfectly with Pontypool’s low budget roots.

Stephen McHattie, looking and sounding for all the world like Lance Henrikson’s long-lost twin brother, puts in a revelatory turn as cantankerous but charming, bitter but brilliant DJ Grant Mazzy. A versatile Canadian actor working mostly in memorable TV roles, McHattie has also appeared in fellow Cannuck David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence, but more recently in Shoot ‘Em Up and Zack Snyder’s Watchmen as Hollis Mason. McHattie’s deep, rich, growling baritone lends itself fantastically well to the role. His marvellous monologues sparkle with a wit and delivery rarely seen in low budget horror, and he clearly revels in portraying a character who’s simultaneously on the edge and completely at ease with himself. Most of all, he’s so goddamn cool.

Actors Lisa Houle and Stephen McHattie.

Relative newcomer, and McHattie’s real-life wife, Lisa Houle stars as tired station producer Sydney Briar. The chemistry between the two is pretty bang-on, as you’d expect. Although Houle struggles to match McHattie for sheer gravitas, the role is much less flamboyant and much more down home. UK actress and star of Pontypool director McDonald’s The Dark Room, Georgina Reilly puts in a decent shift as the impressionable production assistant Laurel-Anne, filling out a small role with plenty of charm and naivety, especially where Mazzy’s prowling sermons from the booth/pulpit are concerned.

The greatest thing about Pontypool isn’t the sharp script, taut direction, or McHattie, it’s the central idea of how the virus spreads to its victims. *SPOILERS* The virus in Pontypool is spread by the English language, or more specifically the meaning of words, offering an interesting, if sometimes confusing commentary on journalistic responsibility. Words can incite, can be taken out of context and their real meaning can be shrouded amidst the hysteria. Just look at the way in which the media has consistently overreported the swine flu outbreak, or worse the threat of ‘global terrorism’. Mazzy’s stark realisation at the part he had to play in the genesis of the virus is particularly chilling. It’s a unique idea, and one that sits well next to the scathing socio-political commentary of Romero’s zombie films.*SPOILERS END*

Stephen McHattie shows us his' radio face'.

Pontypool isn’t without its faults. It loses impetus in the final act under the weight of its central idea. The reveal itself is a little jumbled and confusing, and far from the eureka moment it might have been, but, in a strange sort of way, that rings true of what the movie is trying to say about journalistic integrity and the power/usage and meaning of language. Or, you could just say that it runs out of steam.

It’ll be interesting to see where they go with the sequel, Pontypool Changes. One can but hope that McDonald and writer Burgess have more intellectually challenging tales to tell from the embittered town of Pontypool, Ontario.

Bottom Line

Pontypool isn’t just for zombie or horror fans. Intelligent, ambitious and with plenty to say, it operates successfully as a thriller, horror and political satire. You could argue that it overreaches and ultimately fails to make good on the grand point it sets out to nail, but then it does try to make a grand point about the nature of humanity, the media, language and the psychology of language acquisition, so failing to quite make this statement coherently is kind of forgivable! I’m a firm believer that such a worthy attempt should be rewarded. And if all that fails to grab you then there’s always Stephen McHattie’s mesmerizing tour de force of a performance – you probably won’t see a better one all year.