On the way to work one morning during a terrible blizzard, radio host Grant Mazzy encounters an incomprehensible and seemingly deranged woman. She seems to be doing nothing but uttering nonsense and repeating Grant's own words back at him, so he continues on his way to work. After some time on the air though, Grant, his station manager Sydney, and technical assistant Laurel-Ann, start receiving a series of strange calls from listeners and fellow reporters alike, describing strange scenes of chaos around their small town of Pontypool.
Not to disrespect this fine country of ours, but a film like Pontypool could have only come out of a place like Canada (and not just because it has that strange camera filter you see in almost every Canadian horror film). We horror fans like to complain about the state of the genre nowadays, but this is one of the more unique and original films I've seen in some time. It borrows elements from The Fog, 28 Days Later, and Stephen King's The End of the Whole Mess, but definitely with its own ideas and twists.
The performances from everyone in Pontypool are considerably strong, and Stephen McHattie is particularly excellent as Grant, bringing a very real presence and humor to a character that could have been disposable if it were portrayed by most others. Personally, it only gave a person like me even more encouragement to get into voiceover work, whether it is in the radio business or not. The look of concern and intrigue on his and Sydney's (Lisa Houle) faces while everything is seemingly falling apart around them feels exactly the same as the audience's. True, they also slip into a state of confusion, which again, we as the audience may share as well, but most questions can be answered if we put our brains to work.
Pontypool's twist is a very strange one though, one that gave me fear they were going into late-era M. Night Shymalan territory. Through the writing of Tony Burgess, it digs itself out of that hole within a few minutes, and makes one wonder about the impact of speech and certain words (hope that isn't spoiling too much) in today's society. Without a doubt, the one thing that most audiences will take away from Pontypool is that the film doesn't exactly feature a whole lot of "show," in that nearly the entire film takes place within the radio station itself, and the horrific occurrences going on outside are only described to us, not actually seen. I know I'm repeating myself here, but more bloodthirsty fans will likely be annoyed.
I'm glad I checked this one out. After several days of being either disappointed or flat out aggravated with my selections, it was refreshing to see a creepy, original, and flat out intelligent film make an appearance on this countdown again. This will require a second viewing at some point, and I more than welcome it.
Tomorrow, we're experiencing a blast from the past (specifically last year's blog) with WAXWORK 2.
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