Metascore
54 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 11 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 11
  2. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. Think of this witty, economically gory little tour de force as "28 Days Later" written by linguist Noam Chomsky.
  2. 83
    Primarily though, the film works as a tour de force for McHattie--a veteran character actor making the most of his character's long, fluid monologues--and as a sly commentary on journalistic responsibility.
  3. Between its ridiculous setup and its hard-to-care-about ending, McDonald still manages to craft an engaging suspense film that -- when you're not scratching your head in puzzlement -- will have you on the edge of your seat.
  4. A horror flick that's all talk and (almost) no action? The risk pays off better than you'd think.
  5. Reviewed by: Stephen Farber
    50
    Efficient enough to attract a cult audience.
  6. 50
    The premise has potential, but there's no follow- through. And there's no actual zombie mayhem; we learn everything secondhand -- from phone calls to the station.
  7. Pontypool doesn't jell--its pretensions way exceed its reach--yet it's madly suggestive, and it rekindled my affection for the genre.
  8. A small Canadian horror film that makes the most of its minuscule budget.
  9. 40
    Pontypool is something like a claustrophobic, locked-in-the-barn zombie movie, only almost without zombies.
  10. For a film about the perils of too much talk, there's quite a lot of babbling presented as profundity. The political statements in Pontypool, much like those in another recent Canadian offering, Atom Egoyan's trite terrorism hand-wringer "Adoration," seem all the less provocative for appearing several years too late--McDonald's film might have had more punch if it were released when Bluetooth first rolled out.
  11. Reviewed by: Rob Nelson
    40
    A zombie flick sans bite.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 25 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 1 out of 8
  1. 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. Full Review »
  2. 0
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link 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 Full Review »
  3. Man goes to work at radio station, strange events happening at Doctor's surgery in town whilst on air, trapped in radio building with producer & engineer, Doctor shows up, gets stranger. A brilliant idea & a good take on the zombie genre but let down by its execution & stupidity in parts. The film is mainly shot in one set, which is the radio station, with a few scenes of outside & it really does give a claustrophobic feel as it goes along. The cast play it out pretty well but I really wanted Sydney dead about half way through due to her stupidity & plain annoyingness. Full Review »