A debate over filming the horror feature PontyPool on 35mm film or on digital quickly turned in favor of the latter, according to director Bruce McDonald, who says his latest is perfectly suited for the Red One camera.

‘If we were moving around, 35mm is more mobile. But since [PontyPool] is set in a radio station, it’s like studio shooting and works well for Red,’ McDonald said while on break during the fourth day of shooting in the Ontario town of Pontypool, northeast of Oshawa.

McDonald and cinematographer Miroslaw Baszak (Shake Hands with the Devil) were ‘amazed’ at the quality of the picture, according to the director, who says they couldn’t really tell the difference between 35mm and the all-digital Red.

‘[The footage] looks gorgeous,’ he adds.

McDonald was drawn to the project after he read Tony Burgess’ novel Pontypool Changes Everything, calling it ‘one of the coolest, scariest ideas for a horror movie I’ve read.’

The story, which Burgess adapted for the screen, is about a virus that takes over a community, affecting the language they speak, and turning residents into cannibalistic zombies. It stars Stephen McHattie (Shoot ‘Em Up, Guns) as a local radio station disc jockey, while Lisa Houle (Emily of New Moon) plays a producer. Filming was scheduled to wrap on June 7.

McDonald praises rookie producers Jeffrey Coghlan and Ambrose Roche, who raised money for PontyPool privately and quickly, he says, though he would not disclose the budget.

Post-production will move to Theatre D Digital at Toronto’s Royal theater, where McDonald also posted The Tracey Fragments. He says there’s been interest in the project from Canadian distributors, while pay service Super Channel has first-window rights. ‘They were very supportive of our script,’ says McDonald, who is also eyeing a screening at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Following PontyPool, McDonald will return to the director’s seat for the eighth season of Degrassi: The Next Generation, and plans to shoot a sequel to his 1996 film Hard Core Logo in the fall.