[mbriant]

Late last winter a friend of mine asked me to come out to be a zombie extra in a horror film he was working on called Pontypool. The movie's been shown at several film festivals but today it gets it's first theatrical release in Toronto and will be rolled out on a limited basis to the rest of Canada and the U.S. in the next few weeks. Although myself and the other zombies were filmed in several different scenes, nearly all of it wound up on the cutting room floor as they decided to make the movie more of a psychological thriller than a strait-out zombie flick. So while I'm actually on screen 4 or 5 times ... each time is for a brief split second only ... and myself and my fellow zombies, despite being covered in blood and make-up, are seen only as dark, shadowy sillouettes through the blood-splattered radio control room glass. I'm not positive, but that might even be my hand shown in the trailer. Again, we're only seen in brief flashes. But still, I've been immortalized in celluloid.

If it comes to your town and you're a zombie movie fan, please come out and see it. They need the money.

New PONTYPOOL trailer

 

[acidbasement]

I'm a big fan of two of Bruce McDonald's earlier movies - Roadkill and Highway 61. I haven't seen anything more recent by him, but I'm definitely planning to see Pontypool.

 

[Nocturnal310]

Congrats man..must be a great feeling.


i am a big fan of anything zombie.

i ve seen 28 days later, 28 weeks later, the Resident evil series, Dawn of dead..etc etc.

then i play zombie games like Counterstrike zombie mod, LEft4Dead etc.


so i ll definitely want to watch it.

 

[shigzeo]

i am scared the hell of zombies. even sean of the dead had me crying. but, congrats.

 

[Samgotit]

I was an extra in JFK. I was, supposedly, a U.S. embassy guard in Russia (in the dead of winter). I spent eight hours in a vintage, wool US Marine costume; smack in the middle of New Orleans' summer; under 500,000 watts of lights; watching the 2nd assistant director have multiple, little-girl, hissy fits. Out of eight hours, ~twenty minutes of that was filming. Gary Oldman walked between myself and the other sucker (guard). That was it, and that was cut.

I'll check out the film. I like zombie flicks. Sounds like you had fun.

 

[Ishcabible]

^ Oh that must suck!
I usually don't watch horror films, but I'll check it out.

 

[GlendaleViper]

I'm a big McDonald fan, and this film has been getting a lot of buzz. Looking forward to see if he tackles the zombie flick with as much creativity and gusto as the Mrockumentary.

Any pics of you all done up from the set?

 

[mbriant]

Quote:

Any pics of you all done up from the set?

The zombies in this movie aren't zombies in the normal sense of the word (risen dead), but rather infected living people. So they don't walk like typical zombies, nor have rotting bodies and tattered clothing. They're basically just townspeople who have gone mad. In fact, rather than "zombies", Bruce calls them "conversationalists". The only effects used on us was blood splatters, which because of the fact the conversationalists are on camera for only a short period of time, in split-second, dark, shadowed flashes, is difficult to see anyway.

I'm on camera four separate times in the clip titled "We are here" (see link below) but again, only in brief, split-second flashes. I can be seen coming down the stairs way in the background, then in the next flash, at the right of the screen, near the back of the room, lumbering towards the camera. There's a dark bloodstain resembling the Nike logo running across the front of my shirt. A slightly longer appearance happens just before the middle of the clip, immediately after Stephen McHattie (cowboy hat) sits back down, takes the lid off his pen, and starts writing. In it we're up against the radio control room glass. There's a short guy in the middle and I'm on his right (at the far left of the screen) from only the nose down at the start, with both arms raised over my head. The camera slowly pans over and up to me to show my entire, but dark and unrecognizable big head looking up and turning from side to side. Later on, but not shown in any of these clips, I can be seen much more clearly in a hallway, but from the back. The first half of the movie is quite good IMO, but unfortunately it gets a little weak towards the end.

Cult Movie Worship: Pontypool Proves Words Do Hurt, Plus Evil Bollywood TVs

 

[mbriant]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samgotit Out of eight hours, ~twenty minutes of that was filming. Gary Oldman walked between myself and the other sucker (guard). That was it, and that was cut.

LOL. I know, that's how it works isn't it? I only spent one evening with perhaps a dozen other zombies when they shot the indoor zombie scenes. Apparently, the night before they had something like 80 extras show up to film outdoor scenes all night long in the bitter cold and snow. Absolutely none of that filming made the final cut. So I was lucky to get the few seconds of final footage I did.

 

[GlendaleViper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbriant /img/forum/go_quote.gif The first half of the movie is quite good IMO, but unfortunately it gets a little weak towards the end.

Hmm, I'll have to see for myself, but I have to say, this is a surprising sentiment considering the "holy crap" factor McDonald's flicks usually have. Hard Core Logo's final minute was as shocking a surprise as you'll ever get in a film.

 

[mbriant]

I think he may have been hamstrung by the original story. The first half of the movie is both humorous and suspenseful. The acting is great. Where the flick comes unglued is in it's attempt to make sense of everything through a vague and confusing explanation of the virus towards the end.

 

[GlendaleViper]

Hmm, sounds like he lost focus. Kind of makes me think of what would have happened if Tarantino decided to let us in on what was in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction... sometimes, you just don't need to know.

 

[moogoob]

Hey, this movie looks great! Where did it premiere? Bloor Cinema HAS to carry this film at one time and I'll be damn certain to see it there.

 

[mbriant]

It premiered at the Varsity Theatre.

http://www.cinemaclock.com/aw/ctha.a...e/Varsity.html

I see that the public is rating it 8.7 out of 10. Perhaps I'm being too critical.

Good review here as well: http://www.filmjunk.com/2009/03/09/pontypool-review/