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While my wife and I share a running joke that she’s something of a “safety girl” when it comes to walking around dark secluded places and she’s all-too- vigilant about being aware of her surroundings. I’m now much more appreciative that she pays attention to such things after experiencing the gut-wretching horror of P2, a clever and relentless thriller from the mind of Alexandre Aja (High Tension). Preying on these very same fears we’ve all experienced when alone in remote settings and cut off from the outside world, the film takes this simple premise and builds great moments of suspense and tension, a-la Hitchcock.

Angela Bridges (Rachel Nichols) is a successful career woman working in one of countless high-rise office buildings in New York City on Christmas Eve. Intent on finishing a few bits of business before leaving for the holiday break, she’s one of the last to leave her office that night and is running late to get to her sister’s house for a family gathering. With presents in tow she rushes into the building’s multi-level parking garage where her car is the only remaining vehicle on level P2. But when her car won’t start and she can’t get back into the building, she seeks aid from a willing security guard named Thomas (Wes Bentley) who tries to jump- start the vehicle to no avail. Frustrated, she gets Thomas to let her back into the building to call for a cab, since her cell phone won’t work in the underground garage.

But as the late taxi arrives outside, Angela finds the building’s main entrance has been locked down for the night and she has to return to the parking garage to get Thomas to let her out through the drive-in entrance. Things get a bit more interesting and even creepier when all the lights shut off within the garage and Angela is then drugged and kidnapped by the seemingly friendly Thomas. When she wakes up, she finds herself chained to a table inside Thomas’ cozy little security office under the watchful eyes of the security guard and his menacing dog, Rocky. Thus begins the cat-and-mouse game between captor and captive that relies mostly on some clever moments of suspense and less on shocking scenes of gore – although there are a couple of those thrown in at appropriate times as well.

The acting is top-notch with both Nichols and Bentley commanding the majority of screen time. Rachel Nichols, who I remember from Lucky McKee’s The Woods, is quite good playing the role of a victimized woman who eventually learns to succumb to and then, eventually, outwit the all-knowing Thomas. Making a welcome comeback from temporary oblivion in the aftermath of American Beauty, Bentley is a revelation as the normal-looking, clean-cut security guard who obviously has a few screws loose. Taking a page from Anthony Perkins’ legendary Norman Bates, Bentley remains mostly calm and collected – which is even more frightening than the moments of rage that burst through when Angela tries to get inside his head. The plot moves at a brisk pace and unlike similar horror films of this ilk, the situations are all clearly plausible and within reason. There’s even a great scene where Angela breaks free at one point and traps herself within an elevator … something I myself thought would have been a foolproof method of escape; that is until Thomas lowers a fire hose down the elevator shaft and literally flushes her out.

Co-written and produced by Alexandre Aja, the film is actually the directorial debut of co-writer Franck Khalfoun, who previously played the character of Jimmy in Aja’s equally-clever and nail-biting High Tension. Aja and his collaborators obviously have a knack for old-school, traditional horror and suspense movies that employ good acting, solid plotlines, and some stylish filmmaking techniques to great effect. It’s clear they were influenced and inspired by directors like John Carpenter and Brian De Palma and while they borrow some of these filmmakers’ tricks they also bring their own unique ideas to the work. Although many found High Tension a bit too graphic and were disappointed to learn the real identity of the killer, I found it to be riveting and refreshing. Likewise, P2 is a lean and well-executed bit of terror that really stays with you and makes you think twice about the dangers lurking in the dark. Needless to say, my wife couldn’t bear to watch it.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is presented in anamorphic video. This is a great transfer that offers a well-defined and solid picture image throughout; even despite the fact that the bulk of the film takes place within the deep, dark corners of a dreary, gray parking garage. Colors are nicely rendered with no evidence of smearing and fleshtones all look vibrant and natural. Black levels are particularly impressive for a standard-definition presentation and one of the movie’s key moments — which is a not-too-subtle nod to John Carpenter’s Halloween — is perfectly rendered when Thomas’ face slowly illuminates from the darkness behind Angela. I didn’t see any signs of compression artifacts, mosquito noise or macroblocking, even in the darkest, low-light sequences. Overall a good image presentation.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is also quite good and director Franck Khalfoun does a nice job of placing the ambient sounds of the parking garage in the rear channels to create that subtle “he’s behind you” effect. The clever use of traditional Christmas songs is also a nice touch as Thomas plays them over the somewhat tinny loudspeakers within the garage. The limited amount of original music credited to tomandandy is reserved solely for dramatic and poignant shock effects. Dialogue is always clear, concise and center- heavy. Although the LFE bottom end doesn’t get much of a workout save for a key moment when a character gets slammed between a car and a wall, the surround matrix remains active and strong. This is a solid and natural-sounding audio presentation.

The optional subtitles are in English SDH and Spanish.

The Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

First is a feature-length audio commentary track with director Franck Khalfoun, co-writer and producer Alexandre Aja, and co-writer Gregory Levasseur. The three obviously have a great rapport and mutual respect for each other – having worked together before – and they all seem pleased with the final product (although the movie failed to earn back even half of its estimated $8 million budget in theaters). Despite Aja’s thick French accent (which reminded me a bit of François Truffaut in Close Encounters of the Third Kind) his enthusiasm and affection for the filmmaking process comes through loud and clear and he is quite generous in allowing his director and co-writer due credit. Much of the commentary centers around how efficiently the film was shot in just 25 days in Toronto, Canada and how they really lucked out in getting both Nichols and Bentley for the leading roles.

The first of three included featurettes titled A New Level of Fear: The Making of P2 (12:05) is your typical electronic press kit offering on-set interviews with the director, producer and key cast members Rachel Nichols and Wes Bentley. It’s interesting to hear everyone talk about how the project came to fruition and how they consider it more of a survival film than a standard horror film.

Next is a featurette titled Tension Nouveau: Presenting Franck Khalfoun (3:03) which is mostly a one- on-one interview with the first-time director discussing his ideas of what works best in suspense films and how his previous acting experience helped him to direct. Based on this debut, I suspect he might have a promising career ahead.

Lastly, the Designing Terror (5:19) featurette covers everything from the all-important four-level parking garage set and production design for the film to the stunts and realistic special effects employed during some of the movie’s more shocking moments. Director Khalfoun also makes an interesting point about how the entire cast and crew began to feel a bit stir crazy after spending hours on end confined within an actual multi-level parking garage during the shoot.

The disc also includes trailers for P2 and Never Back Down.

The 98-minute film is organized into twenty-four chapters.

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What Happens When You Pop The Disc Into Your PC?

There are no DVD-ROM Features on this disc.

Final Thoughts