PONTYPOOL (2008) d. Bruce McDonald (Canada) Pontypool, celebrating its 15th anniversary, is a fiercely intelligent variation on the “zombie/infected hordes” theme, indelibly anchored by film/TV veteran Stephen McHattie’s charismatic central performance. Exiled to the wastelands of rural Ontario, former shock jock radio personality Grant Mazzy finds himself caught up in increasingly bizarre circumstances as reports pour in of a deadly, murderous virus sweeping the surrounding area. Director Bruce McDonald cultivates an increasingly claustrophobic atmosphere within the radio station’s confines, further heightened by the on-air team’s frantic attempts to provide listeners with information (little of which is known or forthcoming). Pontypool is smart and sharp, cruel and clever, dire and dark and full of surprises. Lisa Houle does well as Sydney, our harried program director, as does Georgina Reilly as Laurel-Ann, the comely, ex-military tech director, but it’s McHattie’s dulcet, whiskey-honed voice tearing into screenwriter Tony Burgess’ dialogue (adapted from his novel, Pontypool Changes Everything) with undisguised relish that you’ll remember as the credits roll. AC is joined by another fantastic group of horror fans: Mike Mayo, Steve Griffes, Chris Scales, and Anna McKibben.  -------------------------------------- CHRIS SCALES is a lifelong horror fan who contributes movie reviews to various horror sites, runs fan panels at various conventions, and is an aspiring horror screenwriter. ANNA MAURYA is a film fan stuck in Ohio. They have been a guest on Raiders of the Podcast, a contributor to Hidden Horror, and they generally dislike writing about themselves in the third person. STEVE GRIFFES is the Director of Outreach and Events at University of Michigan Library and is a lifelong horror fan. He spends his spare time nerding out over punk and indie rock, barrel-aged beer, veggie food, and boosting horror content created by LGBT people. He wrote the Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural essay for Hidden Horror. MIKE MAYO has written several books about film and popular culture, among them VideoHound’s Horror Show and American Murder. He is also the author of the Jimmy Quinn historical suspense novels set in Prohibition-era New York.  ----------------------------------------- Keep Searching, Keep Exploring, and, most of all, Keep Sharing the Scare!