SXSW Review: ‘Pontypool’

Kill is kiss.

‘Pontypool’ is the type of silently intense zombie flicks Romero would be making today had he not gone crazy/old in the past couple of years.   It plays out like a nicely paced Twilight Zone episode, and it is insanely inventive to say the least.

To think of it on the surface, you might not think a film where a majority of it involves three characters sitting
in two separate rooms talking to one another would garner much suspense.   You would be dead wrong, and, after watching ‘Pontypool’, you would know it.

Written by Tony Burgess (based on his book Pontypool Changes Everything) and directed by Bruce McDonald, the film takes place in the small, Canadian town of Pontypool.   Grant Mazzy (Stephen McHattie) is a morning radio talk show host who has been “demoted” to the small town due to his overpowering views on public figures and his inability to inner monologue.   It’s a particularly wintry morning when the events in the film take place.   All is going as usual until Mazzy, along with his two producers (Lisa Houle and Georgina Reilly), begins receiving strange reports of masses of people attacking others.   Then things get really friggin’ weird.

The less you know about where the story is headed, the better.   There are some creepy and completely original twists that take place throughout the story.   Burgess has taken a wholly original idea and crafted it into an equally inventive screenplay.   Just the notion of witnessing a zombie-like outbreak through the eyes and ears of a radio dj is an idea fresh and new.   However, Burgess’ doesn’t just allow his story to stay on one note.   Before the end credits roll, layers upon layers of what is going on in this small town begin revealing themselves.   By the time everything is revealed, you realize just how strangely complex and calmly intricate the whole idea really is.

Of course, much of what is revealed happens through an intermediary, a character that must be introduced to shed light on the situation and offer some suggestions on how to deal with it all.   This character is a blot on the film as a whole, both in idea and execution.   The actor playing him doesn’t seem to understand if he is in a drama, a comedy, or a balls-to-the-wall horror film, and every choice he makes with the character is less than it could have been.

Fortunately, McHattie is incredible.   Just hearing the guys voice as the character goes off on another tirade about police brutality gives you chills.   I’ve actually been a fan of McHattie’s work since…gasp…’Beverly Hills Cop 3′, and it is great to finally see him take over the starring role.

Houle and Reilly do a fine job with their performances, as well.   Houle is given much more to do, but Reilly holds her own with the character she is given.

The real star here is the quiet intensity that builds as our minds fill in the blanks of what is happening in the outside world.   Creepy, inventive, and all-around cool, ‘Pontypool’ is a thinking man’s horror film that proves all you need to create suspense is a great narrative and some excellent actors to pull your story off.

Be sure to stick around after the end credits, too, for one of the strangest addendums to a film I’ve ever seen.   It will make you scratch your head, and, then, it will make you smile from ear to ear.

Fin

Overall: 4 stars out of 5