Movie Mentions: Pontypool, Chain Reactions & Bugonia
Pontypool (2008)
Directed by Bruce McDonald. 3/5 stars.
While not always completely coherent in its own mythology, Bruce McDonald’s Pontypool, a rather enjoyable examination of the power of words through the lens of a zombie siege movie, still makes its point. Pontypool takes place entirely within the confines of a small town radio station in Ontario, but through a series of cleverly executed call-in segments, shock jock DJ Grant Mazzy (Stephen McHattie), his assistant Laurel-Ann (Georgina Reilly), and station manager Sydney (Lisa Houle), are able to slowly piece together the events unfolding around them. It seems that certain words in the English language are transforming regular people into bloodthirsty killers, and that the disease is spreading rapidly. What’s interesting is that the trio soon receives word that they are to stop broadcasting, as their words might exacerbate the situation, but what else can they do? What follows is an interesting, if incomplete, pseudo-philosophical debate about language, its purpose, and its ability to affect change – all while under attack by raving crazies who vomit blood if they can’t find anyone to kill. Pontypool doesn’t always work, but it certainly has enough bizarre elements to satisfy fans of weird and unusual cinema.
Chain Reactions (2025)
Directed by Alexandre O. Philippe. 4/5 stars.
Who would have thought that a 102-minute video essay on Tobe Hooper’s 1974 horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre could be so damned interesting – but here we are. With insight from comedian Patton Oswalt, Japanese director Takashi Miike, film critic and historian Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, horror stalwart Stephen King, and filmmaker Karyn Kusama, Chain Reactions goes deep, but not in ways you might think. Where I was expecting a timeline or “making of” style documentary, I was instead greeted with a deep analysis of themes, culture, politics, and artistry. Oswalt offers the most insight, drawing thematic and photographic comparisons to Murnau’s Nosferatu and even Ralph Nelson’s ultra-violent 1970 western Soldier Blue, while Miike waxes philosophical about heading to the cinema to see Chaplin’s City Lights only to wander into Massacre instead. From there, Heller-Nicholas ties Hooper’s film to Australia’s exploitation film industry of the 1970s and ‘80s as Stephen King notes the film’s complete lack of barriers and its obvious influence on Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead (I was surprised how long it took someone to make this point). Closing things out is Kusama, who manages apt reflections on Massacre as the “saddest, scariest depiction of masculinity” available and then ties it to Bergman and Tarkovsky. What’s most fascinating about Chain Reactions, though, is the different impact its subject had on this disparate group of artists. The effect it had on them (or maybe the toll it took) is a joy to explore.
Bugonia (2025)
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. 3.5/5 stars.
The Yorgos Lanthimos/Emma Stone collaboration continues with Bugonia – a decent if flawed look at conspiracy theories and the people who fall headfirst into them. Based on South Korean director Jang Joon-hwan’s 2003 sci-fi comedy Save the Green Planet!, Lanthimos lambasts the QAnon community (without ever naming them) through a series of unhinged acts performed by a pair of cousins who are determined to halt an imminent alien attack. Wholly convinced of the righteousness of their plight, Teddy (an always great Jesse Plemons) and Don (a fantastic Aidan Delbis) plot to kidnap pharmaceutical CEO Michelle (Stone), whom they believe is a high-ranking member an invading extraterrestrial species known as Andromedans. Despite suffering from some pacing issues, Bugonia is an entertaining yarn that ultimately morphs from its 4chan mentality roots to an allegory about how we humans don’t deserve the planet we’ve been graced with. It’s interesting to note that, with each passing week it seems increasingly likely that the demise of our species will come at the hands of the most violent, paranoid, misinformed, and gullible among us. I sometimes wish the Andromedans would make an appearance and liberate us all one way or the other.
