Director Bruce McDonald stages the events remarkably well for a story that takes place within the same building, mostly the same room even, for its duration. Normally, one would expect there to be cutaway scenes showing some of the action or carnage unfolding outside but here there is none. We have three people, effectively trapped in a church basement, with only scattered reports from callers and their weather man to relay what is happening. This approach works quite well as not only do we get to experience the dynamic interaction between the main characters but we, as well as the characters, are mostly in the dark about what is transpiring outside. Other than the brief clues provided about the mob, mostly concerning mindless chanting and feasting, there is little to go on as to what happened, how it happened, or even the extent of whatever is happening.
This is likely the movie that Romero was attempting to make with Diary of the Dead as the two cover similar topics in similar mediums. However, rather than deal in insipid teenage nonsense, the film works in the importance and the perversion of media in the context of a fitting setting. At one point, Massey is speaking with a BBC reporter who seems to have more insight on what is going on but with little confirmation from the outside, it is just as likely that Massey knows as much as the rest of the world despite what is being reported of roadblocks and quarantines. When more information comes to light, Massey feels a duty to report it regardless of its implications so that the truth can be told.
Stephen McHattie and Lisa Houle have a genuine chemistry together with their rocky relationship at the start of the film to reluctant partners toward the end (the fact that they are married probably did not hurt). For the most part, McHattie plays Massie as calm and collected and just trying to do his job and report the news no matter how gruesome or disturbing it is. Houle as Sydney is the tenured one in the area and more conservative, not only with the events unfolding and their apparent cause but also what makes it on the air. Georgina Reilly rounds out the superb cast as Laurel-Ann, the unlikely former war hero who is able to soldier on (pardon the pun) during the crisis to get information instead of turning into a gelatinous character as most movies of this genre have featured.
Sadly, the film was rather uneven in the execution of the story (which may or may not have been the fault of the novel it was based on). Ironically, things started to break down as the characters became clued into what was causing the catastrophe as the abstract thought of random people responsible for death and destruction for no known reason worked more effectively that knowing what was causing it. Once we figure out the cause, we lose the creepy visual images of unruly mobs engaged in violent behavior and instead shift focus onto the solution to the problem, which the story admits may or may not be effective. This is not to mention that the only reason we know the basis of the events is from a random character who shows up and disappears within a few minutes leaving only exposition in his wake.
Some of the things in the latter half of the movie just do not make much sense as well. As the expository character shows up and sees one of the crew infected, rather than run away in a self-preservation panic, he calmly walks throughout the building, nonchalantly mentioning that she is infected by the disease. And when this character finally expires, no emotion or even mention is given save for the guilty scribbles on a wall a few scenes later. Yet when the weatherman succumbs while on the phone with Massey, he is given a rather ill-fitting, yet still emotional sendoff. Still, the actual cause of the infection is quite inventive (if you have not read it yet, it is best to avoid it) but as it comes rather abrupt, the characters are scrambling to avoid it themselves and try to remedy it for others. I only wish this portion of the film could have been done with the same tension as the preceding acts.
From some remarkably tense scenes to some of the best acting for this genre in a while, Pontypool is a good movie at some aspects but sadly baffling in others. As I seem to be on the more negative side of the fence though, it is certainly worth a look for yourself.
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