Synopsis
A radio host interprets the possible outbreak of a deadly virus which infects the small Ontario town he is stationed in.
Review
The epitome of low budget indie film making, Pontypool takes the same old premise of zombies, and makes it good again. Don't get me wrong, a good zombie film is a good zombie film, but it's certainly hard to make low budget zombie films. Special effects are expensive, man.
The runtime of Pontypool is spent locked in a radio station in Canada, for the most part with only shock jock Grant Mazzy, his handler, Sydney Briar, and technical assistant Laurel-Ann Drummond. As the morning proceeds something starts happening in the town - the weather reporter is saying that there is carnage in the streets. People are dying.
Technically, the film is close to an example of perfect film making. Every actor hand picked to perfection. Every shot cleverly chosen. Every word selected just right. Director, Bruce McDonald (Hellions) crafts a wonderfully tense, very frightening film with little in the way of much except talking. Sure there are a couple of scenes of "zombies", but no more than perhaps five minutes of screen time.
The rest of the time is spent with very real, very claustrophobic, very scared people. The screen play by Tony Burgess (Hellmouth) is astounding, and the talents of Stephen McHattie (Death Wish) as Mazzy, and Lisa Houle (Dreamland) as Briar really ramp up the style and substance of the film. Not a word wasted in what is fundamentally a stage play.
I cannot praise the film enough, and for fans of horror, but also those that don't desire the guts and gore, this ranks right up there as an example of exactly how it's done.
Love it and a must see.
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