Pontypool (2008)

Just in time for Halloween, I got to see the creatively terrifying Pontypool. Set in a basement radio station during a heavy snowstorm, the story examines how formerly-big-time talk radio personality Grant Mazzy (Stephen McHattie), his no-nonsense producer Sydney (Lisa Houle), and their young assistant/intern Laurel Ann (Georgina Reilly) cope during a slowly escalating, viral epidemic resembling a zombie outbreak. The day starts off slowly and (presumably) fairly normally, with Grant and Sydney at odds about how to present the news, and Ken Loney, stationed above the clouds in the "Sunshine Copter", calling in weather updates.

When Ken sees an unprompted riot erupting at a nearby doctor's office, Sydney and Laurel Ann scramble to find more information about the incident, which caused several casualties. Scattered reports from witnesses, many unintelligible, give images of an increasingly intense mob scene with cannibalistic tendencies. The three coworkers do their best to stick together and sort through the confusion, but each new development seems to seal their inescapable destruction.

God, this movie is great. It's horrifying not in its overt depictions of gore or proliferation of jump scares, but in the incredibly well-played tension that develops slowly around the characters through a brilliant combination of music, acting, and a tight script. While some of the outside horrors do make their way into the little self-imposed quarantine of the radio station, in general it's left to the three central figures to create the terror through their reactions. The scant descriptions of what's going on outside the building are enough to launch a series of scary scenes in anyone's head, and the characters' isolation and fear are real enough to seep out of the screen into the audience. I certainly assumed monsters were going to attack me that night. The cause of the disease, while not fully expanded upon, is imaginative and thought-provoking, and also stayed with me after the film was over.

I really, really enjoyed Pontypool: the whole film is so well-made and intelligently structured, with a unique take on the zombie outbreak story and some great performances. I went in not knowing too much about it, and I'd advise the same for anyone else. I tried not to give a lot away here, so if you plan on seeing it, don't look up any more information beforehand!

4.5/5