Pontypool2009
“Shut up or die.”
Directed by Bruce McDonald
On the charts
🏆 1 win & 11 nominations total
The premise
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.
Horror Vault's take
Trapped in a small-town Ontario radio station as chaos erupts outside, shock jock Grant Mazzy finds himself broadcasting into the heart of an unfolding catastrophe he can barely comprehend. What begins as fragmentary, contradictory reports filtering in from the frozen streets slowly coalesces into something far more disturbing than a conventional outbreak. Pontypool strips the zombie genre down to raw sound and mounting dread, delivering its horror almost entirely through voice, rumour, and imagination. It's a bold, ideas-driven film that weaponises language itself in ways few horror movies dare attempt.
Content: Violence, Some Gore, Disturbing Imagery, Intense Psychological Tension
Where to stream
Cast
Stephen McHattie
Grant Mazzy
Lisa Houle
Sydney Briar
Georgina Reilly
Laurel-Ann Drummond
Hrant Alianak
Dr. Mendez
Rick Roberts
Ken Loney (voice)
Daniel Fathers
Nigel Healing
Beatriz Yuste
Nancy Freethy
Boyd Banks
Jay (Osama)
Hannah Fleming
Maureen (Farraj)
Laura Nordin
Spooky Woman
Rachel Burns
Colleen (Daud)
Tony Burgess
Tony (Lawrence)
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