STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED

Classic

Excellent

Good

Fair

Tragic

FILM DETAILS

Certificate

Cast Stephen McHattie Lisa Houle Georgina Reilly Hrant Alianak.

Directors Bruce McDonald.

Screenwriters Tony Burgess.

Running Time 96 minutes

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Pontypool ()

Plot
When a zombie virus is spreading through a Canadian town through spoken English words, the inhabitants must resort to broken French to try and head-off the infection.

Review
Yet another zombie/virus movie, but this looks to Cronenberg rather than Romero and features a Canadian plague spread by infected words in the English language. Stephen McHattie’s radio host and Lisa Houle’s producer learn about the crisis swamping their town through phone-ins and loopy guests, and resort to broken French to avoid traps littered throughout English vocabulary (terms of endearment are toxic, and it’s Valentine’s Day!).

McHattie, aka Nite Owl in Watchmen, runs with a rare lead role; besides suspense and a satisfying finish, there’s also a mini-movie after the end credits. After countless zombie hackworks, here’s proof the genre can still be cool.

Verdict
Inventive and genuinely suspenseful, this is a welcome addition to the expanding zombie/virus canon.


Reviewer: Kim Newman

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Average user rating for Pontypool

Pontypoop

The premise it great but the director could have done so much more with. Not very scary at all and needlessly weird in places. It's got about as much Cronenberg in it as Mary poppins. The word to avoid here is 'good.' ... Read More

Smootle About me

03:13, 16 November 2009 | Report This Post

Deja vu

Great film, but I can't get over the fact that the central theme is very close to one of the "episodes" of Warren Ellis' Global Frequency comics. ... Read More

tenstrings About me

12:08, 15 November 2009 | Report This Post

RE: Pontypool

Really Enjoyed it.  Very thought provoking.  Well acted with a really orignal idea on a genre that realy has any new ideas.  Quite creepy with agreat sence of dread.   Only issue I had with it was the underlying racism of the main premice.   Hard to reccomend though.  Def not for everyone. ... Read More

Death_Row_Marv About me

10:25, 15 November 2009 | Report This Post

RE:

Really enjoyed this movie, thank god I saw it before reading Kim Newman's review which gives away the intriguing central conceit. ... Read More

Monkeyshaver About me

17:33, 18 October 2009 | Report This Post

It's at the point now where I just have to ignore Kim Newman's reviews. Maybe he needs to stop watching 15 straight to DVD films for the dungeon a month and wouldn't horribly overrate so many films. ... Read More

PhilAbernethy About me

10:39, 16 October 2009 | Report This Post

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