Pontypool

Pontypool

Starring: Stephen McHattie, Lisa Houle, Georgina Reilly, Hrant Alianak, Rick Roberts

Directed by: Bruce McDonald

Reviewed by: Conor Flynn






• Directors Audio Commentary
• 2 short movies
• Stills Gallery
• Trailers

Pontypool follows a usual day inside a local radio station. Newly hired shock-jock Grant Mazzy (McHattie) wants to shake things up against the objections of his producer Sydney Brair (Houle). Grant gets more than he asks for when a number of reports flood in which suggest a riot has started out on the streets. Initially the calls seem like a series of hoaxes, but quickly the reports begin to spiral out of control….

Pontypool is one of those films where it is best to know as little as possible before seeing it. The film is mostly set inside a radio station, which feels cheap and stagey at times, but thankfully the film takes a note out of a few early John Carpenter films (‘The Fog’ comes speedily to mind) and wracks up tension by keeping the protagonists inside the same area for the duration of the movie. This makes for a very claustrophobic film which could very easily bore if it wasn’t for the two convincing performances from leads Stephen McHattie and Lisa Houle who are both excellent.

Sadly the final third is slightly disappointing. The showdown attempts to be provocative, but ends up feeling highly pretentious. Without giving the game away, let’s just say that the film runs out of things to say, however, even at the latter stages of the film it remains a highly engaging piece worthy of your attention. Apparently the first of two sequels are in the works which shows you how good the film really is.

The DVD itself is light on extras but is generally good. Picture quality is excellent and is seemingly without any faults. Sound is available in 5.1, but doesn’t make that much of an impact with your system and sometimes it’s difficult to follow what is being said in a few scenes because the dialogue tends to overlap. Also included are two shorts, the first called ‘Eve,’ an experimental short which doesn’t look to dissimilar to an early Marilyn Manson video. The second short ‘Dada Dum’ is equally striking but I have to wonder why both of these shorts are on the DVD in the first place as they seem to have no relation to the main feature. Also included is an audio commentary which is highly unusual because it is more or less a script meeting for the two sequels! This is a highly engaging talk from the writer and the director which is the highlight of the DVD. Filling out the extras are a number of trailers and a stills gallery.

Pontypool is highly gripping for two thirds of its ninety minute length. The last third is a bit hard to swallow, but despite this, and thanks in part to two superb performances from McHattie and Houle, the film remains absorbing throughout. Bring on the sequel please.