Pontypool Movie Review 72

So, this movie was a surprise to me. I had not heard much about it so I decided to give it a try and I liked it. It is a Canadian movie based on a book by Tony Burgess. It stars Stephen McHattie in the lead role and Lisa Houle. It is directed by Bruce McDonald.


Grant Mazzy(McHattie) is a worn out DJ who is working at a small local radio station in the town on Pontypool, Ontario. He is outspoken and controversial. He has not been long in the job and his producer, Sydney Briar(Lisa Houle) is trying to reign him in as he is prone to speaking his mind and ignoring what she wants him to do. They are going back and forth about it when a piece of breaking news comes in. Sydney is working with another woman Laurel Ann(Georgina Reilly) who likes Grant and wants to hear what he has to say. The breaking news comes from their reporter Ken Loney who is supposed to be in a chopper, but who really drives around getting the traffic news in his truck.


Ken tells them that there is some sort of riot outside a doctor's office. Grant reports on this but they have no explanation for this riot and Ken keeps them informed of what is going on, but he can't explain it either. Contact gets cut with Ken and they can't seem to get him back for a while. People call in the show but they aren't making sense. They seem to be repeating words and babbling. A cop comes on the radio and tells them that there are groups of people wandering around and they are not safe. The BBC calls the radio station wanting to know what is going on and Grant can't tell them as he doesn't know. Ken calls back and he tells them that people are getting killed and that others are munching on them. Some garbled message in French cuts into their signal and tells them not to speak to any family members or use terms of endearment. Pontypool is in quarantine and they have to stay inside.


Grant begins to freak out as he finds it all too much to take it. He doesn't know what to do. He wants to go outside and get some fresh air, but they are out there. 'They' are groups of people wanting to get at them. He goes back on the radio and he reads the obituaries. There are loads of them as people are killing each other. Laurel Ann begins to act strangely and they discover that she is infected.Sydney is worried about her kids who are staying with their father miles away. A man sneaks in through the window. They discover that he is the doctor, Dr.Mendez(Hrant Alianak). He knows what is going on and he tells them that Laurel is very sick. They all go into the sound booth and lock her out. She begins to throw herself at the window. Ken calls back and tells them that he is hiding from the mobs. He gets the virus too and they have to cut him off.


The doctor tells them that it has something to do with language and that words are infecting people. The things are attracted to words and sounds of people speaking. Meanwhile, Laurel is trying to get at them. The doctor tells them to stop speaking altogether. They communicate by writing on a pad. The things get into the building and they pound on the glass. They decide to broadcast something on the loudspeaker outside and it draws the things out there. The doctor gets infected too and they have to leave him. Grant and Sydney decide to speak in French to each other. The things come back when they hear noise inside but the doctor runs outside and distracts them. Grant works out that it has something to do with understanding certain words. He figures out that they have to make the words lose their meaning and then they are cured of the infection.


He and Sydney broadcast their findings on the radio to help others, but they are warned by the cops to stop. They don't and the cops prepare to blow up the building. The countdown starts as Grant and Sydney kiss... I like this movie. It was interesting and I liked the fact that it was a handful of actors in a small space, but they made a movie out of it. We don't see much blood or gore,but we can hear what is happening through the radio broadcasts. It is very different from other movies of this type. I am giving it an 8/10.