Pontypool
Autumn 2009 Features series
Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 7:00pm
Acadia Cinema's Al Whittle Theatre
450 Main Street, Wolfville, NS
Directed by Bruce McDonald
Screenplay by Tony Burgess
Starring Stephen McHattie, Lisa Houle, Hrant Alianak, Georgina Reilly
Rated 14A ·
1h 36m
Canada
English and French
Headed to work on a particularly foul Valentine’s Day morning, caustic radio personality Grant Mazzy (Stephen McHattie) isn’t expecting anything different. He’ll update the weather and the obits, run through school closures – and fight with his producer about how a little controversy makes good radio. But right from the start, things don’t quite seem so run-of-the-mill. A distraught woman nearly runs into Mazzy as he’s heading into the studio. Then there’s a shootout involving police and a group of ice fishers. Apparently, the suspects were talking gibberish, running around completely naked, and missing body parts.
Directed by acclaimed Canadian maverick Bruce McDonald and based on a novel by Tony Burgess, Pontypool could be called a zombie movie. In truth, however, McDonald and company have dropped us into a far more disturbing world of metaphysics and linguistics, where even a know-it-all radio host can get messed up. An audacious step along McDonald’s experimental road, Pontypool is an avant-garde cerebral genre movie that’s thought provoking and creepy. The film is driven by phenomenal performances, especially McHattie’s unforgettable turn as Mazzy.
A truly captivating film, Pontypool manages to be alternately horrifying and hilarious. The bleak moments of humour only further its existential edge. And just when we thought it couldn’t be done: a fresh and invigorating new take on the zombie movie.
Special Double Bill with Let The Right One In. 6-packs do not apply, no single tickets, 2 for $10.