PontypoolWords can hurt, but can language literally infect us like a disease? This it the basic premise of Pontypool, a Canadian horror movie where the small town of Pontypool, Ontario gradually becomes overrun by its own citizens, who have been reduced to a mass of babbling, incoherent maniacs, killing and destroying themselves like zombies. Hot shot radio host, Grant Mazzy (Stephen McHattie)--alongside his producer, Sydney Briar (Lisa Houle), and Laurel-Ann Drummond (Georgina Reilly)--tries to glean tidbits of the unfolding apocalypse from vague reports and terrified phone calls, and work out the catalyst for the chaos before it comes calling on the station's subterranean door.
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Directed by Bruce McDonald and written by Tony Burgess--who also wrote the novel, "Pontypool Changes Everything", from which the film is adapted--Pontypool was conceived as a film as well as a radio play in the vein of Orson Welles's famous "The War of the Worlds". Consequently, most of Pontypool is set in a broadcasting studio and a significant amount of the film's exposition comes through via Mazzy's morning show. Mazzy is a self-styled cowboy of the airwaves (complete with cowboy hat) and a renegade shock jock who takes a couple of pages from the gospel of Howard Stern--adding a little kick to the listener's morning cup of coffee (like the Glenfiddich whiskey he adds to his own). McHattie's voice is perfectly suited for radio, and Mazzy is quick to pick up the frequent interjections and additional direction Sydney feeds him without altering the tenor of his voice or becoming befuddled. Everything changes after what begins as a series of unusual events--like a presumed "hostage" situation, followed by a mob gathered outside the clinic of Dr. Mendez (Hrant Alianak)--develops into something far more menacing. Local "eye in the sky" field reporter, Ken Loney (voiced by Rick Roberts), shares his observations over the air as a part of Mazzy's show, describing scenes from a war zone--worse even, as he vividly describes the mob dragging people from cars, dismembering and biting them. Since reports are scarce and virtually no one other than Ken appears to be able to confirm this, there is the fleeting moment where Mazzy considers that this might all just be some elaborate hoax. (After all, Sydney busts his chops about picking on Ken.) But this hope disintegrates after a BBC reporter contacts his station directly to substantiate the rumors; it becomes clear that something dreadful is taking place in Pontypool. The claustrophobic basement from which Mazzy and his team broadcast becomes a bunker, as they shield themselves from whatever psychotic affliction that has struck Pontypool doesn't get in; but because they don't know what it is, Mazzy and the rest are helpless to defend themselves.
Although the most obvious parallel to Pontypool is "The War of the Worlds", it also shares similarities with John Carpenter's The Fog. Both films feature radio hosts who are responsible for reporting on the strange events beleaguering their respective towns, only to discover that the false security of the broadcasting booth makes them little more than a prison. The source of the madness that results in the deaths of dozens in Pontypool is revealed to be a viral pathogen that is transmitted not by a biological vector but a linguistic one, specifically select words associated with love in the English language. (And Pontypool is set on Valentine's Day, too...bummer.) This is ironic given Mazzy's profession and his responsibility to keep the public informed about the spreading pandemic, because the broadcast itself runs the risk of literally infecting his audience with his words. (The idea of a language-based virus would later be featured in the video game, "Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain".) Victims of the verbal plague suffer a breakdown of their higher brain functions, and devolve into uttering a single word or phrase--with minor variations--as if they were caught in a loop, or suffered some kind of brain damage. As a result of losing the ability to understand the meaning of these words, they also fly into a murderous rage. Dr. Mendez sneaks his way into Mazzy's show and expounds on his understanding of the virus, based on his limited exposure to it. He claims that it drives the afflicted to "hunt" the uninfected, spreading the disease in the process. As a linguistic virus, it is implied that it is spread not by proximity, but by understanding spoken words; and since English is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world, this makes it particularly virulent. Fortunately for Sydney and Mazzy, the plague is unleashed in southeastern Ontario, letting them abandon English in favor of French as an alternative to communicate with one another when the infected swarm hits the studio. Pontypool is a horror movie that only rarely depicts any gore or on-screen violence. Instead, most of the horrible events that occur are described on the radio, putting the onus of visualizing the carnage with the audience, infecting our imaginations with those grisly events.
Recommended for: Fans of a psychological horror film that slowly builds to its chaotic climax, involving the audience in the chilling escalation of violence by inviting them to imagine scenes only described in the film. Pontypool portrays the proliferation of an unconventional epidemic while doubling as a commentary on the power of language in our lives and how easily thoughts and ideas can spread, for better or worse.
Although the most obvious parallel to Pontypool is "The War of the Worlds", it also shares similarities with John Carpenter's The Fog. Both films feature radio hosts who are responsible for reporting on the strange events beleaguering their respective towns, only to discover that the false security of the broadcasting booth makes them little more than a prison. The source of the madness that results in the deaths of dozens in Pontypool is revealed to be a viral pathogen that is transmitted not by a biological vector but a linguistic one, specifically select words associated with love in the English language. (And Pontypool is set on Valentine's Day, too...bummer.) This is ironic given Mazzy's profession and his responsibility to keep the public informed about the spreading pandemic, because the broadcast itself runs the risk of literally infecting his audience with his words. (The idea of a language-based virus would later be featured in the video game, "Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain".) Victims of the verbal plague suffer a breakdown of their higher brain functions, and devolve into uttering a single word or phrase--with minor variations--as if they were caught in a loop, or suffered some kind of brain damage. As a result of losing the ability to understand the meaning of these words, they also fly into a murderous rage. Dr. Mendez sneaks his way into Mazzy's show and expounds on his understanding of the virus, based on his limited exposure to it. He claims that it drives the afflicted to "hunt" the uninfected, spreading the disease in the process. As a linguistic virus, it is implied that it is spread not by proximity, but by understanding spoken words; and since English is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world, this makes it particularly virulent. Fortunately for Sydney and Mazzy, the plague is unleashed in southeastern Ontario, letting them abandon English in favor of French as an alternative to communicate with one another when the infected swarm hits the studio. Pontypool is a horror movie that only rarely depicts any gore or on-screen violence. Instead, most of the horrible events that occur are described on the radio, putting the onus of visualizing the carnage with the audience, infecting our imaginations with those grisly events.
Recommended for: Fans of a psychological horror film that slowly builds to its chaotic climax, involving the audience in the chilling escalation of violence by inviting them to imagine scenes only described in the film. Pontypool portrays the proliferation of an unconventional epidemic while doubling as a commentary on the power of language in our lives and how easily thoughts and ideas can spread, for better or worse.