Pontypool

MikeC101

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1226681/

Depending on what source you want to believe, Pontypool is either a psychological thriller or a horror movie. Given that I dislike the sentiment involved in trying to distance a movie from certain genres ("horror? oh no no it's not, this movie is smart and clever.") I'm inclined to consider it horror. A psychological horror thriller if you like.

It's set in a small radio station in a church basement which begins to receive reports of outbreaks of violence, bizarre behaviour and other ominous things. The tension and buildup is handled very effectively through reports coming in on the wire, calls to the station, and the characters reactions to . Considering the movie is essentially set solely in the church basement it feels surprisingly big in scope - it's surprising what effective acting and good dialogue can achieve in conveying the huge scale of the outbreak.
I have to say, I really enjoyed Stephen McHattie in this role - it seems tailor made for him. I don't want to add too much more because it might be a bit too close into spoiler territory.

On a side note, it's interesting to me that the "zombie" films I've liked the most in recent years have been those that, rather than trying to show as much as possible of a massive international outbreak, have focused on a more intimate setting, for example "Rec", or to a lesser extent "Diary of the Dead" (which I personally much preferred to "Land of the Dead").

To a lesser extent, "Deadgirl" was quite good - if a little implausible. (the irony of considering "plausibility" as a factor in a zombie movie is completely lost on me )

It goes to show you don't need a massive budget to make an effective horror movie.

EDIT: Stop the presses! "At Rue Morgue's 2008 Festival of Fear expo, director Bruce McDonald stressed the victims of the virus detailed in the film were not zombies, calling them "Conversationalists"."

So they're officially "not Zombies", much like the not Zombies of 28 Days Later.

PirateShampoo

I was Born in Pontypool

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontypool

MikeC101

PirateShampoo wrote: »

I was Born in Pontypool

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontypool

The movie is set in the Pontypool in Ontario though.

Still, if you do hear reports of strange behaviour back home I'd be getting out of there sharpish!

Karl Hungus

Aye, been looking forward to seeing this one. There's also another, very similar film called Dead Air that I've been looking out for, but the trailer looked extremely poor, which is a pity because I like Bill Moseley.

MikeC101

Karl Hungus wrote: »

Aye, been looking forward to seeing this one. There's also another, very similar film called Dead Air that I've been looking out for, but the trailer looked extremely poor, which is a pity because I like Bill Moseley.

The synopsis makes it seem similar to Pontypool in a lot of ways.

The imdb page for Dead Air is fantastic - the cast list is brilliant - I can't believe how many people are listed with "maniac" as their character! With one "newsroom maniac" and one "zombie" thrown in for good measure.

Fysh

I got to see this recently and it was awesome! Considering there are 3-4 cast members and pretty much one location the tension is built up really well, and there are some really nice new takes on ideas that have become established tropes in certain types of horror film. I'll be buying it as soon as it comes out on DVD.

Fysh

Fysh wrote: »

I got to see this recently and it was awesome! Considering there are 3-4 cast members and pretty much one location the tension is built up really well, and there are some really nice new takes on ideas that have become established tropes in certain types of horror film. I'll be buying it as soon as it comes out on DVD.

It is a great film, got the Canadian DVD awhile back and it's been given a number of viewings. There's a sequel in production as well as talk of the film getting a wide release on this side of the pond. Fingers crossed, would love to see the film on the big screen.