Pontypool (film)
| Pontypool | |
|---|---|
Promotional film poster
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| Directed by | Bruce McDonald |
| Produced by | Jeffrey Coghlan Ambrose Roche |
| Screenplay by | Tony Burgess |
| Based on |
Pontypool Changes Everything by Tony Burgess |
| Starring |
Stephen McHattie Lisa Houle Georgina Reilly Hrant Alianak Rick Roberts Boyd Banks Tony Burgess Rachel Burns |
| Music by | Claude Foisy |
| Cinematography | Miroslaw Baszak |
| Edited by | Jeremiah Munce |
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Production
company |
Ponty Up Pictures
Shadow Shows |
| Distributed by | Maple Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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95 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English French |
| Box office | $32,118 |
Pontypool is a 2008 Canadian horror film directed by Bruce McDonald and written by Tony Burgess, based on his novel Pontypool Changes Everything.
In the small town of Pontypool, Ontario, former shock jock turned radio announcer Grant Mazzy drives through a blizzard to work. On the way, Mazzy has a strange encounter with a nonsensical woman who gets his attention by putting her hand on his car window and only saying the word "blood" several times before staggering off into the storm. He arrives at the town's radio station, where he works with technical assistant Laurel-Ann Drummond, who has recently worked in Afghanistan, and station manager Sydney Briar, a divorcée.
As the morning proceeds, Grant's shock jock style and on-air persona irritates Sydney. They get a report from their helicopter reporter Ken Loney about a possible riot at the office of a Dr. Mendez. Ken describes a scene of chaos and carnage that results in numerous deaths. After Ken is unexpectedly cut off, the group tries to confirm his report, but their witnesses are disconnected before being put on the airwaves. A now audibly frightened Ken calls back and says he has taken refuge in a grain silo. He describes what he sees outside as people eating their way inside others and tearing themselves apart. An infected man crashes into the silo, crippling himself, and Ken's call is interrupted by a transmission in French.
Laurel-Ann translates the transmission, which is an instruction to remain indoors, not to use terms of endearment, baby talk, rhetorical discourse, or the English language. Pontypool is declared to be under quarantine. Ken calls back again, and gets his phone close enough to the infected man for Grant and the women to hear his mumbling, which is nothing but "Mommy" in a child's voice. In confusion and disbelief, Grant tries to leave the station. A horde of people attack, and Grant, Sydney, and Laurel-Ann lock themselves in. Meanwhile, Laurel-Ann begins repeating the word "missing" and imitates the sound of a tea kettle. Dr. Mendez enters the studio and Grant, Sydney, and Mendez lock themselves in Grant's soundproof booth.
Mendez explains his theory: somehow a virus has found its way into the English language, infecting certain words, and only certain words infect certain people. Once these infected words are said and understood, the virus takes hold of the host, who finds another person to kill themselves with. As he explains, Laurel-Ann repeatedly slams against the sound booth's window, chewing off her lower lip and splattering blood with each attack. Ken calls in and, while on the air, he succumbs to the virus, repeating the word "sample". Sydney manages to call her children, only to hear them becoming infected. Outside the booth, Laurel-Ann vomits a large amount of blood and gore and falls down, dead. Mendez suspects this has happened since she failed to find a victim.
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