Canadian Artfag Horror
4/5
Pontypool (2008)
PLOT SPOYLA
4/5
Pontypool (2008)
PLOT SPOYLA
Set in a radio station in Pontypool, Canada, where the morning team, starring Grant Mazzy, starts taking reports of extreme, bloody incidents of violence in riots occurring in town from field reporter Ken Loney in his "Sunshine Chopper" helicopter (actually just his Dodge Dart). As the story unfolds, the radio staff, who are later joined by local doctor Mendez, observe the zombie-like behaviour of the rioters and soon realise their attraction to speech. Eventually they postulate the possibility of a virus being spread through certain words in the English language. That predicament poses a problem for a radio presenter and his staff holed up in the broadcast booth housed in the basement of the town's abandoned church. They are restricted in their ability to warn the outside world and to communicate with each other as slaughter rages beyond its walls.
As Loney succumbs to the infection whilst hiding in a grain silo, radio staff member Laurel Ann becomes infected and tries to break into the booth. Unable to get to her prey, she eventually vomits blood and dies. Mazzy, Briar and Mendez then discover that only the English language seems to be infected, so they survive for a while by speaking French. Mazzy and Briar are able to cure themselves of the disorder by swapping words with others, destroying their meaning. As they try to broadcast the cure to other people the Canadian military starts to broadcast a countdown from 10 to 1. Briar kisses Mazzy as the countdown hits 1, and the film ends with a black screen.
A coda follows the end credits in which the Mazzy and Sydney characters appear in a hyperreal environment. Their short conversation is ambiguous and therefore open to interpretation
As Loney succumbs to the infection whilst hiding in a grain silo, radio staff member Laurel Ann becomes infected and tries to break into the booth. Unable to get to her prey, she eventually vomits blood and dies. Mazzy, Briar and Mendez then discover that only the English language seems to be infected, so they survive for a while by speaking French. Mazzy and Briar are able to cure themselves of the disorder by swapping words with others, destroying their meaning. As they try to broadcast the cure to other people the Canadian military starts to broadcast a countdown from 10 to 1. Briar kisses Mazzy as the countdown hits 1, and the film ends with a black screen.
A coda follows the end credits in which the Mazzy and Sydney characters appear in a hyperreal environment. Their short conversation is ambiguous and therefore open to interpretation