So I was looking through the list and there are some goodies on there like “The Andromeda Strain“, “28 Days later“, and “12 Monkeys” (I have always loved the work of Terry Gilliam). But a few from the top I came across “Pontypool” and from the picture alone I thought I need to take a look at that.

It made another appearance in the current SFX magazine special on zombies at number 39 of their all time greatest zombie movies.. so it has to be worth a look.

Something of a surprise

Like all good zombie films it starts innocently following the journey to work of former “shock jock” Grany Mazzy. It looks like its going to be just another day for Mazzy in the backwater hole that is Pontypool but strange things are already happening but no one has caught onto it yet.

Being the grizzled zombie film watchers that I am I thought it might be interesting but didn’t hold out much hope it would be up to much, after all I have never heard of it.

As soon as I started watching I knew something about this one was going to be good, it has a great gritty feel to it and the direction and acting are excellent. Like all really good horror there is a fair dose of comedy and you get a good feeling for the characters.

All the action takes place in the basement of a church where the radio station is setup, and you only hear about what is happening outside from broken reports and odd bits of news. This only serves to highlight the problem as it is so badly defined anything could be going on.

This is where the film takes a sharp turn from the normal zombie style film and adds its own twist to the proceedings. I am not going to tell you what it is you will have to watch for that, but it is a genius and terrifying idea and one that I can’t believe hasn’t been used before (that I have seen at least).

Not perfect

What is the perfect zombie film, only two spring to mind for me. Night of the living dead (the original George A Romero film the whole genre started from) and Shaun of the dead.

You are probably thinking “what the hell is this idiot saying?”, cool your jets! When I say perfect I mean in terms of character development, plot, pacing. All the things that are really hard in any film. They are not the best zombie films (close) but they are get well made films that hang together well. Most zombie films have problems with gaps in the plot or slow scenes that stop the flow of the film.

Pontypool doesn’t escape these problems but they are few and far between. You can forgive any film its minor moments and its worth powering through the few slower moments to get to the reward.

Does not reward stupidity

Something I have seen more and more in recent films is a tend to make them more appealing to idiots. Why have a subtle plot when you can put it in someones face? Pontypool I’m pleased to say doesn’t do that, if you are not following what is going on then you are out of luck, and the ending is sure to leave you confused.

Conclusion

Worth a watch, might not buy it but if you see it cheap or on the TV it’s worth spending the time.

You have to agree just from the trailer it looks like it could be a lot of fun. I especially like the style they have used, and the actual animation is top notch. Head on over to Zombieinfo where they have an interview with the creators and some additional concept art that looks fantastic.

As of yet I have not found the official site, and IMDB seems to be behind the curve on this one. So keep your eyes peeled and I will put out more info as I find it.

I have also just realised I have hardly talked about zombies on here at all, what a crime against undead nature. I will have to see what I can dig up.

Does exactly what it says on the box

That is the simple title of this board game. I saw that and thought that’s enough for me and bought it. Anything to do with Zombies, or fills my need to be Bruce Campbell is a sure fire winner. The concept is simple, like every zombie apocalypse you have ever seen you are a survivor, and if you want to stay that way you need to get out of the city before it is completely overrun.

So every turn you have to evade the on coming zombie horde, plan your escape, and thwart the other survivors. What more could you want?

What you get

This is not a new game. This is a second edition of the game released in 2006 by Twilight Creations. The rules have all be tightened, and game play improved over its predecessor.

In the box:

• 100 Zombies (that’s right 100, not 10, or 30… 100. That’s enough for most people)
• 6 Shotgun Guys (the players, in 5 colours)
• 30 City tiles
• 50 Event cards
• 30 Life tokens
• 60 Bullet tokens
• 4 page rules manual
• 2 Dice (in Red and Blue if you wanted to know)

So as you can see there is plenty in the box to keep you happy

The Setup

In the city tiles there are two special tiles. The “Town Centre” tile where the players start, and the “Helipad” tile where the players win if they get there first. The “Helipad is shuffled into the bottom half of the map tiles, and the “Town Center” is put on the table, and the players are placed on it.

Everyone is give 3 life tokens, 3 bullet tokens, and 3 event cards.

How you play

Keep your eyes open, the dead are everywhere

The play is turn based as you would expect. The play moves clockwise around the table and on your go you have to do a number of things:

1. Draw a new tile card from the pack and set it down on the table so the road on the tile matches up with the road on the tiles already laid down.
   Some of these tiles are just roads, others are buildings that contain life and bullet tokens for you to collect. But every tile contains a number of zombies that need to be placed.
2. If there is a zombie in the same space as your player you have to kill it (will come to that)
3. Draw up to three event cards
4. Roll one dice, and move your player up to the number of spaces on the dice. If you meet a zombie on your way you must kill it. You can only walk on roads, or inside buildings.
5. Roll the dice again and move that number of zombies one space.
6. End your turn, and throw away any event cards you have over three.

So as you can see the actual game play is very simple and straight forward. The only complication comes when you have to fight a zombie. This is also determined with a simple dice roll. If you score 4,5, or 6 you win and kill the zombie. It is added to your collection.

If you roll less than that you have two choices. Spend a number of bullet tokens to boost your roll up to a number that kills a zombie (i.e. roll a 2, spend 2 bullet token to score 4 and kill the zombie). Or you can spend a life token and roll again.

Once you run out of life tokens you die. You then have to start again in the center of town, lose half the zombies you have killed, and get back the starting tokens.

How do you win

There are two ways to win. By either being the first to the centre of the helipad, or by killing 25 zombies. Sounds easy right?

What’s it like to play

This game is a lot of fun, but its does have a few problems. Now I have to say I have only played this two player, and I think four or six player would be a lot more fun.

When you start the game there is only the town center and tile you just placed. This might be a road, or a building. But there really is no incentive to move. Why move when there is nothing threatening you and there is nothing to collect. The game proceeds like this for a few rounds.

But after that the game is on. You are trying to get to your building, trying to avoid the zombies, and trying to find ways to mess with the other players.

Let the fun begin

Your future is all in the cards

Event cards are the key to letting you have fun, they come it three types

1. There are cards that give you extra powers for visiting certain buildings. For example the “Fire Axe” card makes you more deadly to the zombies, but you have to visit the certain building to be able to play it. To get the fire axe you have to visit the fire station.

2. Do something to the other player. The “fear” card makes a player stop dead in their tracks and miss a go. Great if you want to stop them doing something, or get them into a position you want them.

3. Zombie effects, you can move more zombies, or put down new ones.

Again simple, but if played tactically they can be every effective.

Dirty Tricks

I cleared the hospital with a grenade I got from the Army Surplus store (event card grenade can only be got by going to Army Surplus). Cleared the building of eight zombies and was sitting pretty to get a load of health tokens. Only for my lovely wife to play her “Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse” card. Filling the building with seven new zombies, with me trapped at the back of it. Suffice to say the bonus I got was totally destroyed by my wife’s cunning attack.

Bonus

The art work on the game is excellent, it has a really horror movie feel to it. From the city tiles with a great level of detail to the event cards. The design work is top notch, and the rendering of the zombies is a lot of fun.

There is also a health dose of humor in the game. Its not taking itself to seriously and that’s apparent from the very short story on the front of the rules manual that made me laugh out loud.

Not the best quality figures. But passable

Disappointment

There is little to be disappointed in, the game delivers on its promise, and then some.

But if I had a criticism it would be that the city tiles are just thin card that does not really work as well as it would have if they had been much heavier card. Also the figures are not very detailed, while this is not really a problem I just feel they could have been a little better.

Life Span

I think this game has a lot going for it, and could be one of those great games you get out when you want to have a laugh.

Its also a very flexible game. You could easily modify the rules as much as you want to make it play better for you. Twilight Creations also offer a number of add-ons for the game including a mall setting, and even a totally blank set of event cards so you make your own game.

I think that says a lot about the strength of this game. Its a very simple concept that just does its job and nothing more.

Recommendation

Buy this game, its a lot of fun. With a lot of friends you could have a great laugh.

In case you needed more proof, here is the army of the undead at your disposal

Army of Darkness