When disc jockey Grant Mazzy reports to his basement radio station in the Canadian town of Pontypool, he thinks it's just another day at work. But when he hears reports of a virus that turns people into zombies, Mazzy barricades himself in the radio booth and tries to figure out a way to warn his listeners about the virus and its unlikely mode of transmission.
If you're a devotee of the deranged mind of Canadian indie auteur Bruce McDonald, then I can just tell you that he's made a horror movie (kind of) and that Pontypool is it.
– Andrew O'Hehir,
Salon.com,
5 Jun 2009
fresh:
For a while, this claustrophobic little horror movie is a dark little treat.
– Stephen Whitty,
Newark Star-Ledger,
5 Jun 2009
rotten:
However shrewdly contrived to keep its budget low, Pontypool, set almost entirely in a basement radio station, is a zombie flick sans bite.
– Rob Nelson,
Variety,
1 Sep 2009
fresh:
This cerebral horror movie plays Scrabble with the genre's cinematic lingo.
– Nigel Floyd,
Time Out,
16 Oct 2009
rotten:
This low-budget picture is a little too claustrophobic, and it grows tedious. The ominous, overbearing musical score tries but fails to jack up the tension.