Customer Reviews

P2 [HD DVD]

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(45)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

First off, this is an easy movie to criticize. Most small budget horror flicks are. I mean, really, how much can a director do in a dimly lit parking ramp? Quite a bit, I found. Don't over-analyze and you're in for a good time.

This is the type of fun romp that originally got me interested in the genre while I was growing up in the '80s. There's no overly complex plot, amazing effects or numbing backstory here - just a psychotic guard, a mean dog, a killer Cutlass, a busty blonde, the chase and 85 minutes of run time. Think of it as Duel confined to an underground ramp and you pretty much have the basic concept. Convincing and talented performances by the two leads are just icing on the cake.

Obviously meant for a Christmas release (I can't find the reason why it was pushed back 11 months or pulled 1 ahead), this movie was rushed out of most Minneapolis-area theatres the week following its arrival. I had to scramble just to catch it on the big screen a second time. Yes, it's that good. In fact, I'd put it right up there with Grindhouse and 28 Weeks Later as one of the best horror releases of 2007. The blood splattered image of a hip-swivelling Wes Bentley miming "Blue Christmas" into a mop handle alone is worth the price of admission.

A deserted parking garage. A young woman working late. A sociopathic parking attendant. Put these three elements together and you have one chilling horror flick that is just a bit too real for comfort.

Who among us has never felt that slight prickling of fear when you suddenly realize you are alone in a darkened garage - just enough trepidation to cause you to pick up your gait a bit as you hurry to the imagined safety of your car?

Working late Christmas Eve, Angela rushes to her car as she tries to salvage what is left of a holiday evening with her family. One thing after another happens, and poor Angela is stranded in a locked building, her only companion a slightly creepy parking attendant, Tom.

But Tom is more than slightly creepy - he is a veritable lunatic, and he has set his sights on Angela. Soon Angela's situation turns dire as she finds herself not only stranded, but in a battle for her very life as Tom gives full reign to his madness.

Although she is used to being taken advantage of in her day-to-day life, both in business and her personal life, when the chips are down Angela is no one's victim, and she does whatever it takes to stay alive.

While `P2' is fairly predictable in its plot, it doesn't lessen the effectiveness of it, not one whit. You'll still jump in your seat at each new heinous act the villainous Tom commits. Predictable it may be, but this is one undeniably entertaining film.

What I liked best about `P2' is that there is some logic to the plot. I cannot abide horror films that expect a suspension of disbelief without supporting the unbelievable aspects of the story, such as a killer who seemingly can't be killed. Such is not the case with `P2'. Every action, every reaction is grounded in reality. I can imagine this actually occurring. While Tom may be two steps ahead of Angela through most of the film, he is definitely not indestructible, and Angela soon turns the tide against him.

Add to that a heroine who never once suffers from the `too-stupid-to-live' syndrome, but instead grabs hold of her destiny with both handcuffed hands and wrests her freedom from the man who would take both her liberty and her life, and you have my kind of movie.

I have to say, having watched `P2', I am very grateful I don't have to park in a parking garage very often. I have a feeling that I will not be at ease in one for quite some time.

Tom (Wes Bentley) is a parking garage attendant. He's also a very lonely guy. He sets his sites on a girl who works in the high-rise office building above. Her name is Angela (Rachel Nichols) and she is the one for whom Tom has been waiting all of his life. His dream-girl. This could lead to a beautiful and touching love story. Fortunately, Tom is a madman w/ unnatural ideas about human relationships! It's Christmas time, and Tom has gathered up the courage to make his move. Alas, poor Angela isn't going to make it to the family x-mas party. She may not survive the night. P2 is a thriller that makes the best of it's limited location. Some inventive ideas help to heighten the tension while not being cliché. The elevator scene is a good example of this. I didn't foresee the tactic used by Tom in order to get Angela out of the lift! It was brilliant and different! Unlike movies such as REST STOP, this one has interesting interaction between the killer and his victim. It also has actual suspense and a woman who uses her grey matter for more than just skull filler! Angela is no dummy! She utilizes whatever she can get a hold of to battle for her survival. Tom is dangerous and pitiful at the same time. His mental ups and downs are jarring without being ridiculous. P2 is a fabulous late-night's entertainment...

Angela Bridges (Rachel Nichols) is ambition and hardworking and is quickly rising through the executive branches of the office she works at. She's also a serious workaholic who is single and, other than the security guards, finds herself as the last person in the building on Christmas Eve. After calling her sister to let her know that she is finally on her way to the family Christmas party, Angela prepares to leave the building. However, when she finally gets to her car on P2, it won't start. Thomas (Wes Bentley) offers his assistance, but seems unable to get the car to started. Thomas invites Angela to a Christmas dinner, but Angela is already late and turns down the offer. However, as Angela soon learns, the offer really wasn't optional and Thomas was just being polite and nice. Angela will share in his Christmas dinner whether she really wants to or not and maybe if she's nice and polite she might escape from P2 and get home for Christmas.

Taking place almost completely in the confines of a parking garage (the movie was filmed exclusively at night in a real parking garage in Toronto), starring two relatively unknown actors, and a plot that is basically just a complex game of cat and mouse, there's a great deal about P2 that could have gone wrong. Yet, the film actually works. Since SCREAM, many suspense and horror films have taken themselves way too seriously and pretend that they have some great message to deliver, have a lot of "allusions" that you'll get if you're a film fan, or promise to bring the genre to the next level. P2 doesn't have any allusions. It knows that it is simply a horrific suspense film based around a film that many people, woman in particular, have actually had at one point in their lives. Rachel Nicholas gives a great performance (and is quite nice on the eyes, too) and will probably be a top-tier actress in the next few years. Wes Bentley is perhaps best known for his work in AMERICAN BEAUTY also gives a performance to solidify himself as a rising star, too (as long as he isn't type-cast as the psychotic villain).

Overall, P2 is a suspense film that doesn't fail to deliver.

Yeah, so the HD DVD version of P2 was supposed to have not released. Good news? It leaked out and is worth it for the few of you that both like Horror movies and collect HD DVD's. Basically, the story of a woman stalked through a parking structure of her workplace by the security guard on Christmas Eve. It lends itself to some crazy moments in the movie and it was easily very underated as a film as the storyline is well written as the acting was very well done. One of the best things about the film is that most of the stuff that happens is very believable to boot. The quality of the HD DVD is very nice as the picture is clean and clear and the sound screams through your stereo system. The disc has some really nice extras as well. I'd recommend it for those of you that enjo0y obscure format movies as P2 is one of those that will end up being quite rare later on as not many of the HD discs were made. Excellent film in an excellent format, it's worth the purcahse.

It's Christmas Eve, and beautiful, young businesswoman Angela (Rachel Nichols) is the last person to leave the Manhattan office building in which she works. As she makes the lonely, nerve-racking walk through a dark and eerie parking garage to her car, something is not right. When the car doesn't start, everything goes downhill for Angela. The only other person around, the seemingly extremely helpful and friendly parking attendant Thomas (Wes Bentley), proves to be no help at all. In fact, Thomas is the whole problem. Madly infatuated with Angela, he is determined to keep her under his wing for as long as it takes to prove his love to her, no matter what that requires.

Directed by co-writer Frank Khalfoun and produced by co-writer Alexandre Aja (of "High Tension and The Hills Have Eyes fame), and also co-written by Gregory Levasseur, "P2" (which is NOT a sequel of any kind, despite the "2") sounds like your run of the mill psycho stalker/slasher flick with the added tension of the all too familiar, unfriendly parking garage setting. It is, however, far better than that. "P2" is another Alexandre Aja style tour de force of madness and tension. The performances are the driving force, and the two young actors, who are the only two people in the majority of the picture, are fantastic! Rachel Nichols is commanding and beautiful as the intelligent, victimized woman relentlessly fighting back against her psychotic captor, and Wes Bentley is delightfully demented as the Elvis fan who is too romantic for his own good. Even knowing how the film plays out, this is one you can watch more than once, and the great Christmas music from Elvis Presley and Eartha Kitt only makes it better. If you're a fan of horror/survival flicks, beautiful girls wonderfully filling out slinky dresses and wielding weapons (great cover on this DVD, by the way), corpses spilling intestines, and some very entertaining villains, this is one you should pick up! Especially if you're familiar with the unpleasant parking garage experience. I hate those places! My only complaint is that these movies always make the quiet, lonely guys total psychos that beautiful people have to "deal" with to get on with their beautiful lives. For the record, they are quite often the nicest guys out there, but hot girls love bad boys with big mouths, don't they?

Anywho, this DVD comes with the usual, fair selection of extras for a single disc release. You've got your trailer, a decent commentary with the writing, producing, directing trio of filmmakers, and three featurettes on the making-of which mainly feature interviews with the filmmakers and cast. Pretty good supplements and a great film presented in anamorphic widescreen; far better than what one would expect from the genre. Well worth the purchase!

I love horror films that take place on holidays, especially Christmas. I think this film has a really good storyline. A woman named Angela is working late on Christmas Eve and decides to go home to the family party, but her car won't start and Thomas the security guard kidnaps her in order to spend time with her. He acts innocent at first, but he soon becomes more violent like killing the man who tried to sexually harrass her at the office Christmas party. She soon escapes from him and have a deadly cat-and-mouse game and becomes trapped in the parking levels and the elevator. Angela must fight back if she wants to see Christmas day. I highly recommend P2!!!

Angela is a borderline workaholic. It's Christmas Eve and she winds up working late. Her calls to her family indicate that she's worked late and missed what plans they had made before in the past. As Angela finally calls it a night and makes it down to the second level of the parking garage where her car is parked, she finds out that it won't start. Angela stumbles upon a security guard, Tom, and he's the only remaining person besides her in the building. Tom seems like a nice guy who's just trying to help, but he doesn't want to be alone this Christmas. Not again. Tom's true intentions are revealed after the lights in the parking garage go out and he gets his hands on Angela.

Tom is extremely well-mannered and polite for a psychopathic killer. I mean, unless you say his name too many times or mess with his dog, Rocky. He's pretty much had his eye on Angela for a long time as he knows the names of her family members and knows what Bob, a fellow co-worker, did to her in the elevator during the office Christmas party. Bob doesn't get out of it unscathed though. I don't think anyone will look at office chairs the same again after this film. Tom is basically sick of being alone and will do anything he can to keep Angela there with him.

The best part of the film has to be the fact that Angela isn't some helpless woman that doesn't do anything but cry after she's kidnapped. She actually makes some pretty legit decisions in the midst of the pandemonium happening around her. She even manages to hold her own against a dog, which can't be said for many other horror movies out there. She still breaks down, but it's really only after she makes a smart move, fails, and the reality of the situation sinks in.

P2 is definitely worth watching. The film is a bit slow paced though. It's the type of film that builds and the payoff is rather satisfying. It's a relief to see a horror film with a female lead who isn't stupid, makes some logical decisions, and actually fights back against the psychopath stocking her. The definitive scene of this movie is the scene with the car and an office chair. It's the scene everyone will be talking about after viewing this film and for a good reason. So be sure to check this out if you're sick of the same, run of the mill horror flicks with women who do nothing but run away, scream, are stupid, have sex, or a combination of all four.

I give this film a 7/10.

P2 is an excellent suspense thriller,and one of the best slasher genre films. It actually is edge of your seat and the eerie tunes of elvis is cool,the girl is beautiful

P2 is quite the little film. I disagree with a reviewer that rated this a one starer, also stating that it was boring because it was in a parking garage.
That's what makes it so brilliant! The setting was so dark and lonely, a metaphore perhaps for the antagonist of the film, Tom. This movie will disturb you because it can actually happen. Most horror films revolve around truly far-fetched notions, but this could happen to you.

Angela, our heroine is great. She's smart and quick and gives Tom the persuit of his life.
There is also a slight morbidly romantic tone to this movie as well, if you really listen to the dialouge.