I have yet to see Pontypool, but the seemingly low production values regarding the look may be due to the fact that it's the first feature (or one of the first features) to be shot entirely on Red One cameras (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RED_Digital_Camera_Company).
From my understanding, it's a burgeoning format, but I'm not sure if people have a full grasp on how to best use it at this point.