Pontypool
IFC Films | Release Date: May 29, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Think of this witty, economically gory little tour de force as "28 Days Later" written by linguist Noam Chomsky. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
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. Read full review
63
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike Scott
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. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
A horror flick that's all talk and (almost) no action? The risk pays off better than you'd think. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Pontypool doesn't jell--its pretensions way exceed its reach--yet it's madly suggestive, and it rekindled my affection for the genre. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
A small Canadian horror film that makes the most of its minuscule budget. Read full review
50
New York PostV.A. Musetto
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. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterStephen Farber
Efficient enough to attract a cult audience. Read full review
40
VarietyRob Nelson
A zombie flick sans bite. Read full review
40
Village VoiceMelissa Anderson
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. Read full review
40
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Pontypool is something like a claustrophobic, locked-in-the-barn zombie movie, only almost without zombies. Read full review
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