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Pontypool
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Metascore
54 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 11 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.1 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 25 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: Shock jock Grant Mazzy has, once again, been kicked-off the Big City airwaves and now the only job he can get is the early morning show at CLSY Radio in the small town of Pontypool which broadcasts from the basement of the small town's only church. What begins as another boring day of school bus cancellations, due to yet another massive snow storm, quickly turns deadly. Bizarre reports start piling in of people developing strange speech patterns and evoking horrendous acts of violence. But there's nothing coming in on the news wires. So... is this really happening? Before long, Grant and the small staff at CLSY find themselves trapped in the radio station as they discover that this insane behavior taking over the town is being caused by a deadly virus being spread through the English language itself. Do they stay on the air in the hopes of being rescued or, are they in fact providing the virus with its ultimate leap over the airwaves and into the world? (IFC Films)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    100
    Think of this witty, economically gory little tour de force as "28 Days Later" written by linguist Noam Chomsky.
  2. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    60
    A horror flick that's all talk and (almost) no action? The risk pays off better than you'd think.
  3. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Stephen Farber
    50
    Efficient enough to attract a cult audience.

See all 11 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 1 out of 8
  1. TomGlos
    10
    Excellent movie, interesting premise. Thinking that maybe those marking it down don't really get it.  Don't expect an action flick, heck it's not really even a zombie flick.  If you like intelligent, well written and well acted understated performances and quirky sic-fi then this is a movie for you.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. MartinS.
    10
    was hooked on this from start to finish, nothing to what I expected and Stephen McHattie is superb in it also.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. klogd
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. First 60 minutes are great, good acting and it sets a great eerie zombie mood. But then the story just got so dumb it actually made me facepalm.. Spoiler: You can get infected (become a "zombie") by words in the English language... Yes that's right, and you can get cured by pretending the word means something else for 15 seconds, and then you're free to use the word again apparently.. Sorry, but that's just so stupid it doesn't even belong in fiction. Maybe Dr Who or the Twilight zone could pull it off, but this movie does not… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

See all 8 User Reviews

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