'Pontypool' Gives Good Oral Horror For Free

One of the most intriguing horror films of 2009 has to be Pontypool. People either love it or hate it, but there's no denying Bruce McDonald's adaptation of Tony Sturgess' novel is a stirring (and decidedly weird) story about the staff of a basement-based radio station who unwillingly become the sole connection between the world at large and the inexplicable, virus-like spread of mindless violence scross their small, recently quarantined Canadian town.

As you can imagine from the setting/premise, Pontypool is a very dialog heavy twist on the zombie-outbreak platform that deals far more with what other people see than what the audience get's to see. In fact, Sturgess' script is so language heavy and star Stephen McHattie's voice is so cool, one can imagine it being performed without any visual aides.

Oh, hey, what's this over here? The BBC has made a radio play version of Pontypool available for all to listen to as part of their World Drama radio series? How convenient!

This is actually not a new recording, but simply the original audio of the film re-cut as a play. If you haven't seen the film, I'd highly recommend you do before giving it a complete listen. As fantastic as the audio side is, one of the best things about the film is Bruce McDonald's ability to visually trap you within the confines of the radio station, which is something I fear this 40 minute shorter take on the material is without. I believe Pontypool is still available for a few bucks as part of IFC's On-Demand release platform. If IFC is available to you, I'd give that a recommendation. If not, this radio-play should hit the spot.

At the very least, if you're on the fence just listen to the first 20 or so minutes. You'll be wanting to see Pontypool after that, I'm sure of it.