John's Horror Banana-nanza Episode Thirty-Four: PontyPool

So one time back in the early 1900's, Orsen Wells got on the radio and read "War of the Worlds." People tuned in late, not realizing it was a reading, and thought the world was being attacked by aliens.

Fast forward to 2009. Radio DJ Grant Mazzy, stuck in a dead end job in the town of Pontypool, tries taking his shock jock tactics to small town radio, with poor results. One day, on his way to work, he's harassed by a crazy lady who wonders off into the snow, repeating everything Grant says.

Well, Grant ignores it as best as he can, and begins his shift with producer Sydney and her technical assistant Laurel-Ann. Strange calls begin to flood the station, including one from always-chipper Ken and his traffic copter.

Ken then describes a riot scene downtown, where thousands of people pour out of a building and begin rioting. After losing contact with Ken, the three begin trying to decipher what's going on outside their building, and paranoia and terror set in.

This movie breaks down several standards for zombie movies. For one, there seems to be reasoning behind the zombie motives. For another, the action is limited to outside, where the focus of the movie is mainly on three people, trying to survive an apocalyptic situation that they have no view of.

Bruce McDonald's tight direction and the brilliant acting of Stephen McHattie as Mazzy make every gripping second crawl by with agonizing but completely fulfilling terror and confusion. Mix in a dab of humor (wait until Mazzy and Sydney try to figure out, in French, which one of them is going to kill the doctor...), and this movie, unexpectedly, blows the door off conventions and makes for a killer 90+ minute flick.

I highly recommend this.