P2

Atmospheric survival horror movies can be tense, memorable, thrilling and captivating, often sticking in your mind days after the credits have rolled - sadly P2 is not one of them.

The action plays out entirely in a parking garage on Christmas Eve – where Angela (Rachel Nichols), a workaholic, is cramming in as much as possible before leaving the office to spend time with her family over the festive period. Already late, she is one of the last people left in the building except for a parking attendant and a security guard – when she finally makes her way to the parking area (P2) her car won’t start and its seems as though her quest to get home for Christmas is doomed – little does she know...

Thomas (Wes Bentley) a security guard offers to help her start up her car but after this fails Angela decides to get a taxi, however, once the taxi arrives she cannot get out of the building as its been locked down for the evening – forcing her back to speak to the slightly aloof Thomas on P2.

The more than accommodating Thomas has a crush on Angela and aspirations of spending Christmas with her – unbeknownst to her. So it seems she has an alternative to spending Christmas with her family – waking up in her underwear, chained to a table ready to have turkey with a psychopath – lucky girl!

P2 is a low-budget movie, with a quick and easy premise and a few tense set-pieces. Director Franck Khalfoun is a first-timer with some good ideas and for some of the movie uses the location limitations quite well with his choice of angles and lighting – however, he can only rely on smoke and mirrors for so long.

A director on this sort of movie requires his actors to drive the story and, given we spend the majority of the movie with Angela and Thomas, both actors need to deliver. Nichols plays Angela as the contemporary horror heroine - feisty, not willing to back down but also not very likeable. Yes, she is gorgeous, yes, the director has her running round in a tight white slip, soaked through and revealing nice cleavage but it’s a bit naïve to think that the only audience for this movie would be 16-year-old boys who would eat this up. As a woman in-peril Nichols is fine – but this movie will only get her noticed for her looks, not her acting prowess. Bentley, however, is a hoot – he never really lived up to the promise he showed in American Beauty but here he starts off quite endearingly as Thomas – playing him at first as a lonely guy who has probably spent one too many nights alone in the parking structure.

He does over-act somewhat and become a little hammy towards the end - some scenes are unintentionally funny and at one point I felt as though I was watching a comedy rather than a thriller. Gore-hounds will be pleased by some delicious but in-frequent snippets of screen-soaking claret, but most of the time it’s a game of cat and mouse as Thomas stalks Angela through the dimly lit, cold parking lot, which racks up the tension slightly.

P2 is trying to be a counter offering to all those sweet and snowy options we will be encouraged to see during the holiday period – my advice stay in and wait for DVD, P2 is certainly worth a watch but not worth braving the cold for. Unless of course you wish to see Bentley imitate Elvis singing Blue Christmas in a blood-soaked security uniform - in which case, I guess P2 is the perfect festive treat.