Pontypool (Bruce McDonald, 2008): Canada

Reviewed by Richard Feilden.  Viewed on DVD.

With the ‘film-in-a-box’ festival darling Buried heading towards theaters, I thought I’d visit another movie set in a restricted locale.  2008s Pontypool is a Canadian horror flick set almost entirely within the confines of the church basement from which a local radio station broadcasts.  Though it loses its way a little at the end, the journey there makes this atypical zombie tale worth a watch.

Shock jock Grant Mazzy (Stephen McHattie) has fallen from grace.  Reduced to broadcasting his particular flavor of firebrand vitriol on a small-town-radio breakfast show, Mazzy’s ‘take no prisoners’ routine is trapped, like him, in a dead-end job.  As he rails against its confines, alternately castigating the local constabulary and announcing school snow days, stories begin to roll in about a disturbance in town.  The trouble escalates and the DJ must decide whether he believes the reports, and come to terms with the fact that he might be responsible for the shambling, droning hordes causing chaos on the streets.

Though the film was apparently a low-budget affair, this only really makes itself felt insofar as the film his highly economical.  That is to say, it focuses on a small cast, minimal locations, tight running time and a paucity of special effects.  And that’s a good thing.  It keeps things tight, allowing the suspense to build without any release.  The film certainly never feels cheap.

Also weighing heavily in the film’s favor is the performance of McHattie.  Aside from having a voice that makes a 60 cigs and a fifth of scotch a day habit seem almost attractive, he does a great job of making his radio maverick both obnoxiously egotistical and roguishly likable.  That his young audio engineer (Georgina Reilly) has developed a crush on him feels perfectly plausible, as does the fact that, when things start to go wrong he is looked to, however mistakenly, for support.  The film is also visually interesting, with the near monochromatic set and noir-ish lighting making the occasional splash of color all the more arresting.

The film does stumble somewhat when it reveals its premise.  You really do have to suspend all disbelief and go along for the ride.  It does however allow the filmmakers to inject a strong political statement regarding the colonialist practices of the English speaking world.  The ending is also somewhat bizarre and really comes at you out of left field, an issue compounded by the truly strange post-credits sequence.  If you can live with this, one of the most efficient, intelligent and idiosyncratic horror films of recent years will reward you with a great, creepy night in.

DVD extras are sadly limited to a trailer.  This is one film where I’d have loved to get behind the scenes.