Hooptober 7.0

Film 21/31 - Film set entirely inside one location

“Kill is Kiss, Kill is Kiss...”

God I love Hooptober, it’s really helping me get to movies that have been languishing in my watchlist for far too long.  I need more challenges like this so I can continue discovering new favorites like Pontypool.

Pontypool was all but a slam dunk for me.  Beyond inventive premise treating language as the infection mechanism and casting the incomparable Stephen McHattie in a rare lead role.    While it unfolds like an extended Twilight Zone episode (though that’s not a bad thing), the premise and performances are so damn good that I was riveted from start to finish.  

Opening with McHattie in voiceover is perfect as his mellifluous tones are the beating heart of the movie.  The film takes its time to unfold and get to the horror of being trapped inside the radio station from a mysterious hoard, but the slow burn opening enables us to form a bond with the characters that really pays off in the final act (and the whatthefuckery post credit coda).   When the horror finally comes - the image of a character slamming her head against the glass of the booth is indelible - it packs a wallop.  

Really though, this is about McHattie and Lisa Houle’s performances and the wild premise.   For a film about language, how infectious it can be , and how we take for granted the shared understanding of words, the script HAS to deliver - and it does.  Every word choice works, every line delivery zings.  Even the inevitable ending has the force of the inescapable as the characters accept their fate and do what they can to show that they UNDERSTAND.

Wow, blown away.