31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: Pontypool

Pontypool (2009)

Directed by Bruce McDonald

Starring Stephen McHattie, Lisa Houle, Georgina Reilly, Hrant Alianak

Shock jock Grant Mazzy is at a pretty low point in his career. The disc jockey took a job hosting the morning drive time show of a small town radio station in Pontypool, Canada. What looks to be just another dark, snowy morning progresses into something far more sinister when Mazzy, producer Sydney, and board operator Laurel-Ann start getting reports of a strange affliction. People are babbling, repeating random phrases with no discernible pattern, and then chewing through the mouths of anyone close by. The crew gets more and more frightened as the reports and come in with an alarming frequency. There’s something happening out in Pontypool all around them and these people have to keep broadcasting, even when the infected finally find them.

Pontypool is a zombie movie of the most interesting variety. It’s more akin to a plague movie like 28 Days Later or The Crazies than a traditional zombie movie. What’s really unique is that the movie deals with a disease of language. The infection spreads through terms of endearment, slowly turning people into babbling maniacs that chew off the mouths of strangers. Essentially, these characters are in a business that relies on the massively broadcasted spoken word and they have to report on an epidemic that spreads the same way.

The setting also helps give the movie its own identity. This is a zombie outbreak as seen by the people who have to report the news. It’s a bottle episode, a siege movie, and a zombie drama all in one. They only know what the AP feed, police scanner, and call in listeners tell them. So, Pontypool ultimately becomes a movie that tells more than it shows. Usually that’s a difficult way to make a compelling narrative, but director Bruce McDonald and his cast ably execute the concept.

There really aren’t many special effects, but the blood effects that are used look good. Pontypool is more about using mood and mounting tension to scare you senseless. While you only see the verbally infected occasionally, it’s not seeing them that is far more terrifying. The audience only knows what the people in the station know; what little info that comes in from newswires and callers. The movie becomes a reverse Orson Wells War of the Worlds; you see how an unprecedented catastrophe is perceived from within a radio station.

The cast is small but fiercely talented. Stephen McHattie gives a genuine show stopping performance as Grant Mazzy; the surly and reluctant voice of reason. Pontypool is really centered on the character and there isn’t a moment McHattie doesn’t keep you enthralled. He’s cranky and cynical, but also playful and caring. Lisa Houle gives a strong performance as Sydney Briar, the morning show’s producer. She gets the chance to play off McHattie a lot and they have great chemistry together (the two actors are married). All the supporting actors also do quite well.

Pontypool is smart, compelling, and god damn terrifying. It defies the convention by telling all and rarely showing. The leading man is on fire and makes you believe every minute of a word-zombie apocalypse. Find this movie now, you won’t be disappointed.

By the way, make sure to stick around after the credits. There’s a stylish little epilogue waiting for you.

9 out of 10

31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: Night of the Creeps

Night of the Creeps (1986)

Directed by Fred Dekker

Starring Jason Lively, Steve Marshall, Jill Whitlow, Tom Atkins

Chris and his friend J.C. are having a hard time fitting in at college. The frats are unwelcoming, the school work is difficult, and alien slugs are everywhere. Woken from a frozen slumber inside the university science building, the slugs from space start invading everybody’s face. They burrow deep into the head and turn people into the marauding undead. With the help of a haunted detective and Cynthia, the girl of his dreams, Chris is going to have to find a way to survive the night besieged by creeps.

Along with The Monster Squad, Night of the Creeps is another horror-comedy gem from Fred Dekker. There are so many honest attempts at multiple genres with a lot of respect. But, there are very few moments in this movie that takes itself seriously. Creeps is an homage to B movies, a sci-fi thriller, and a zombie movie all in one. There are even elements of slasher films and noir. Naturally, the movie feels like it’s being pulled in about eight different directions at once. But somehow it works and the movie becomes this joyous explosion of genre love.

The special effects are certainly showing their years, but still look pretty good. The alien getup looks uncomfortably close to a baby with a deformed head, but with skin texture akin to a thick blanket. On the other hand, the slugs have remained thoroughly disgusting and convincingly slimy. The zombies look pretty great, especially whenever their heads are split open and there’s just an alien slug hanging out. The effects remain mostly grossly enjoyable.

There aren’t a lot of great performances in Creeps, but there are two worth mentioning. Jill Whitlow gives her character something very few supporting women have in horror: depth. Her Cynthia is independent, smart, sensual, and able to handle a flame thrower on her own. Tom Atkins hams it up hard by fully committing to the detective being a true blue noir character. He spits out cheese ball lines like a champ and treats everything seriously. His performance adds so much humor to the film.

Night of the Creeps is silly, disgusting, and a raucous good time. The kitchen sink approach to storytelling makes the film ludicrously fun. It’s one of the reasons you wonder why Fred Dekker didn’t have a bigger career.

8 out of 10

31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: The Brood

The Brood (1979)

Directed by David Cronenberg

Starring Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar, Art Hindle

Frank and Nola Carveth are going through a hard, messy custody battle for their daughter Candice. This is made a little harder because of Nola’s stay and treatment at the Somafree Institute, receiving “psychoplasmic” treatments from Dr. Hal Raglan. The treatments bring out the repressed pain Nola hid most of her life, turning them into something that physically affects her. When the treatments increase in intensity, brutal murders start coinciding with them. Small, child-like tormenters are savagely attacking and killing those who have harmed Nola before and those who would keep Candice from her. With precious little time to act, Frank and Hal are going to have to confront Nola’s issues to stop the children of her rage.

The action is brutal and tense. People are stalked in their own homes and murdered in public during the day. All this is made a little more horrifying because the acts are carried out by what ostensibly are children. Hive minded, deformed, rage manifestations, but children nonetheless. The baggage that comes with children makes the rage babies all the more disturbing. Once you see how these kids are born through the physical manifestation of Nola the movie just sends you well outside of any comfort zone you have.

The use of special effects and makeup is fairly sparse, but what does appear is quite good. The makeup for the evil kids manages to be disturbing while remaining pretty minimal. There are little changes that drastically alter how you see them, like slightly off features and rather nasty looking harelips. Nola’s makeup is terrifying, disgusting, and absolutely spectacular. It’s a truly twisted and perverted form of motherhood and pregnancy.

For the most part, the acting is pretty solid. Oliver Reed makes for quite the pompous Doctor Hal Raglan. Samantha Eggar is creepy in her motherly actions and inability to healthily process relationship troubles. Art Hindle doesn’t really do all that much with the lead role of Frank. Not a lot to rave about on the acting front.

One could make the argument that The Brood condemns feminine power and the role of mothers in the family unit. One could even argue that the movie portrays emotional repression as a virtue, something that becomes dangerous when it’s undone. The fact that David Cronenberg was going through a bitter divorce and custody battle while writing The Brood would certainly bolster both those arguments. But, none of that stops the movie from being really good and a fine example of the director’s work in the body horror sub-genre. Leave it to Cronenberg to turn his own troubles with women into a captivating horror movie.

8 out of 10

31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: Village of the Damned (1995)

Village of the Damned (1995)

Directed by John Carpenter

Starring Christopher Reeve, Kirstie Alley, Linda Kozlowski, Mark Hamill, Michael Paré, Meredith Salenger

The small town of Midwich is mysteriously struck with a bout of spontaneous sleep. When everyone wakes, the government is a bit concerned about how and why this happened. It turns out that every woman in town is pregnant, prompting the government to stick around and keep tabs on how the children progress. The kids are all remarkably gifted and look eerily alike with very pale skin, white hair, and piercing blue eyes. They also exhibit supernatural powers like telepathy and mind control. Killing all who oppose them and terrorizing the town into submission, it’s up to a few strong willed adults to stop the children before they leave town.

Given John Carpenter’s track record with remakes of famous horror movies, you expect Village of the Damned to be at least awesome. It’s not, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good. The movie is just well made and entertaining, but nothing mind blowing.

Carpenter as always knows how to set up mood and tension. The film is certainly unnerving and builds on each scene to paint a thorough picture of life under the children. You get a sense of this town being choked out by a group of spooky kids with light-up eyes. The effects are pretty decent, both practical and computer generated. At first the glowing eyes of the kids are kind of funny, but that’s quickly remedied after someone starts self-mutilating.

The cast is filled with talented actors doing perfectly adequate jobs. Christopher Reeve does his level best, looking quite concerned and at times very fatherly. Kristie Alley is surprisingly effective as a suspicious, chain smoking G-man type. And the kids all do a great job looking creepy and threatening. No standout performances, but there also aren’t any that really drag the movie down.

There’s nothing particularly wrong with Village of the Damned, but there’s also nothing really spectacular either. It’s only for those who are fans of the original and those curious about Carpenter’s take on the material.

7 out of 10

31 Horror Movies in 31 Days: Monsters

Monsters (2010)

Directed by Gareth Edwards

Starring Whitney Able & Scoot McNairy

Years after a NASA probe crashes back down to earth, an alien virus that came with has made itself at home. From the point of impact in northern Mexico, the foreign entity has spawned new fauna, fungi, and wildlife. Andrew Kaulder is a photo journalist looking for a career making pic in the area living with infection. He reluctantly takes a job from a media mogul to escort his daughter, Samantha Wynden, home to her fiancé. When they both lose their passports and money, the pair are forced to take the long way back to America. Their journey shows them what life is like now that the aliens are longtime residents, and it shows them what life is like with each other.

The brain child of visual effects artist turned director Gareth Edwards, Monster is a road movie that’s all about the journey. More than anything else the film deals with two people on an incredible journey of personal discovery. They’re still fleeing from giant tentacle beasts, but it’s not entirely focused on that aspect. Andrew and Samantha actually grow as characters over the course of the film. They find out what they really want from life, even if it’s a little too late for them to achieve it. This is astonishingly refreshing; a creature feature that develops its characters and not its creatures.

There is also some beautiful cinematography in this movie. Sights, colors, and a visual continuity I didn’t know people could do with handheld digital cameras. The shots themselves are rarely steady, but the film never devolves into shaky cam. Instead, Monsters has a visual aesthetic that’s a bit guerrilla-indie-filmmaker and a bit of a reflection of the main characters' state of being.

Gareth Edwards doesn’t use a lot of visual effects in Monsters. Any alien activity is shown through CGI which runs the gamut of decent to middling. Some of the affected landscapes, like bioluminescent mushrooms, look great. The creatures themselves, however, are a step above those seen in a SyFy movie of the week.

What works in the effects favor id that the alien are shown mostly in shadow and never entirely revealed. The sets look fantastic and incredibly detailed. There are areas of alien infection, lush jungles, desolate highways, and towns torn apart by conflict. All look of these look gritty and splendid.

The two actors that carry the entire movie are Whitney Able and Scoot McNairy. As Samantha and Andrew respectively, these two show a surprising amount of vulnerability and growth. Able skillfully conveys Samantha’s need for something meaningful in her life. McNairy unveils the decent guy underneath Andrew’s douchebag veneer. Most of the supporting roles were filled by non-actors who lived where Edwards was shooting, so it’s hard to judge their acting abilities. That being said they did a fine job and added a sense of reality to the whole film.

Monsters is a delightful surprise and a great debut for Gareth Edwards. It’s thoughtful, engaging, and scary when it needs to be. Do yourself a favor and seek this out immediately.

9 out of 10