Zombie Command

Pontypool, directed by Bruce McDonald, is a film based upon the novel Pontypool Changes Everything by Tony Burgess. Starring Stephen McHattie as ‘shock jock’ Grant Mazzy, who finds himself in Pontypool as it’s the only place that will employ him, having been too controversial for mainstream radio. Backing him up are his producer Sydney Briar (Lisa Houle) and researcher Laurel Ann (Georgina Reilly), along with the never seen Sunshine Chopper reporter, Ken Loney (Rick Roberts).

In the sleepy backwater town in rural Canada, deep within the basement of the only local church, Mazzy struggles to work his personality into the show against the backdrop of small town mundanities, such as school closures and traffic reports. However it soon becomes apparant that this isn’t an ordinary day. As early reports come in of trouble on the outskirts of town Laurel Ann and Sydney struggle to keep Mazzy’s tongue in check but things very quickly escalate as the sobering realisation that real trouble is happening hits the station.

As they’re at the center of the problems with very little other reports coming in, soon worldwide news station, the BBC, is in touch to get more information before secure broadcasts come across the airwaves with a warning, in French. When a doctor turns up, answering some questions, it soon becomes clear that the station is providing the perfect means for the virus to spread across the airwaves and the broadcasters have to decide whether to inform people of their discoveries or shut down the transmission completely.

The first thing to note is Stephen McHatties voice, the soothing sound of it is like warm treacle dripping off hot pancakes. The man could give Morgan Freeman a run for his money and if the pair of them ever had a conversation I defy either one to stop talking first. If you don’t believe me, Pontypool was also produced as a radio play for the BBC World Service with the same actors. While it is slightly different and you’re missing whole sections (and the joy of watching the lovely Georgina Reilly, more of her in things please) McHattie’s voice is still there – http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/2009/06/090617_pontypool_audio.shtml

Listened to it? Agree? Good.

The set up for Pontypool is basically people trapped by zombies in a building and has been done 100 times before, akin to most notably Dawn of the Dead, but it’s really like nothing you’ve ever seen or, more accurately, heard. The film, set entirely in a church basement, doesn’t do the sort of grand scale that more recent zombie films have brought about. Instead it focuses on a group of never more than 5 people and tells a story of discovery, dread and despair.

Like all good zombie films, the zombies themselves are never really the protagonists of the movies, merely enablers for some sort of commentary. For the first 3/4 of Pontypool you only really see 1 ‘zombie’ and even when they do come they’re never really the focus of the directors camera, marking the film as potentially a great zombie film. Doubly so when the revelation is made and you realise that this is a brand new take on the zombie genre.

The scares in Pontypool come primarily in the form of psychological wonderings and emotion filled monologues of what’s happening off screen, although there are a couple of times you are forced to jump out of your seat. The film is one that will remain with you long after most zombie films have been dismissed as it really succeeds in making you a citizen of the infected town.

And there-in lies part of the problem. The first 3/4 of the film is great lead up to possibly the greatest pay-off in zombie history (except for some dodgy dialogue between Sydney and Mazzy which I think was supposed to illustrate his ‘shock jock’ worthiness) but when the pseudo-science comes into the film it really falls flat on it’s face. The actual reason for the zombies is probably more disappointing than Episode 1 and part of the reason it stays with you is that you really need to find out what was going on. As a movie goer I don’t expect everything drip fed to me but if there’s a crucial reason or motivation somewhere in the film I expect to be shown it.

As it turns out my enjoyment of the film only really came to fruition after doing a bit of research on the ‘zombies’. Unfortunately this involves sharing some spoilers, so highlight to reveal.
First thing to note is that they’re not called zombies by writer Tony Burgess, instead they’re called ‘conversationalists’ and from Wikipedia
“There are three stages to this virus. The first stage is you might begin to repeat a word. Something gets stuck. And usually it’s words that are terms of endearment like sweetheart or honey. The second stage is your language becomes scrambled and you can’t express yourself properly. The third stage you become so distraught at your condition that the only way out situation you feel, as an infected person, is to try and chew your way through the mouth of another person.”

Despite the disappointment of the scientific reasoning Pontypool has really breathed new life into the zombie genre and a sequel has been announced called “Pontypool Changes” having now been scheduled for a trilogy with the last being “Pontypool Changes Everything”. I hope that the sequels expand upon the mythos and refine the ideas and dialogue so it’s understandable. I’d still definitely recommend watching Pontypool at your earliest convenience but don’t go in expecting the whole thing to be flawless.