In the past few years, Alexandre Aja has begun to emerge as a premier name in the horror genre. The French director exploded onto the mainstream scene with his 2003 release High Tension (also known as Switchblade Romance). He was then tapped to direct a remake of Wes Craven’s 1977 classic The Hills Have Eyes, which turned out to be one of the better remakes in recent years. In 2007, Aja returned to the scene in the role of producer and writer for P2, a horror thriller directed by Franck Khalfoun in his directorial debut. Both of the aforementioned Aja films were very slick, entertaining films that delivered a decent amount of thrills and gore to satisfy a horror fan. Can Aja produce that same magic in the role of producer?
P2, like many horror films, has a simple plot. It’s Christmas Eve, and corporate worker Angela (Rachel Nichols) is working late. She’s already late to a family function, and this problem is compounded when her car won’t start. The parking garage attendant, Thomas, offers some help and invites Angela to his private Christmas dinner. She refuses and opts to call for a cab instead. However, Angela doesn’t realize that she’s been locked in the building and, as a result, is unable to meet the cab. She is then suddenly assaulted and knocked out by an unseen assailant. When she comes to, we predictably learn that her attacker was Thomas, who has apparently been stalking Angela from afar through his security monitors. The film then turns into a game of cat and mouse as Angela attempts to escape the clutches of a man who has developed a warped sense of affection towards her.
After seeing the trailers for P2, I was expecting something in the vein of the “torture porn” oriented films that have been released in droves recently. Instead, I was happy to see that this element isn’t a major component of the film after all. While there is one sequence that borders on being torture, it works well in the context of the film. I’m just glad the entire film didn’t wind up being an hour of seeing Thomas torture Angela, so if you have that concern, I can assure you that’s not the case. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite, and this is where P2 gets a little interesting.
As I stated before, Thomas has developed a warped sense of affection towards Angela. As such, he thinks he’s being extremely kind to Angela and is attempting to woo her, despite the fact that he has her leg tied to a table. He even sees himself as Angela’s protector, as he takes vengeance on a man who, in a drunken stupor, sexually harassed Angela, who is horrified by such proceedings. The most part, Thomas is a fairly creepy horror villain because he genuinely doesn’t seem to think what he’s doing is wrong. Wes Bentley turns in a pretty uneven performance, overall, however, as the character is more effective when he’s relegated to low key moments. When the script calls for more intensity from the character, Bentley just doesn’t ooze enough menace, and I even found myself laughing at some of his more deranged lines. Ultimately, though, you’re rooting against him, so the film at least accomplishes that.
On the other side of the coin, Angela is pretty much your standard horror heroine who has to rely on her own cunning to escape her predicament. We’re really not given a whole lot of information about the character, and Rachel Nichols isn’t really given much to do in the script besides be terrified and thwart Thomas’s plans. Though the character is written pretty thinly, Nichols does bring enough likeability to the role. On the whole, both characters are interesting enough to carry the film, as there are only a couple of other characters in the entire film.
For a film with such a simple premise, it really does manage to stay thrilling enough to remain interesting. The film rarely gives a viewer a chance to catch their breath once the action ramps up. It’s at this point where I think you begin to see Aja’s influence, as the film is quickly paced and full of suspense. His influence is also apparent in the subject matter, as we once again find a character that is forced to commit extremely violent acts out of preservation, which is something we especially saw in his Hills redux. P2 doesn’t ooze the grue like that film, however. While there is one sequence that features an absolutely brutal death, the gore is parceled out over the course of the film. There are certainly some cringe-inducing moments that don’t feature a ton of gore, too, which is always nice to see.
Overall, P2 is a nice, suspenseful little thriller that is somewhat reminiscent of Craven’s Red Eye from a few years back. I can’t see it becoming a classic in the genre, but it’s not a bad way to pass 90 minutes. It’s got some nice, tense moments, and two interesting characters that play off of each other very well. When it’s all said and done, Aja’s freshman stint as a producer is a successful one, but I’m very much looking forward to his future projects as a director (Mirrors and a remake of Piranha). P2 was recently released on a nice little DVD, which features a great anamorphic transfer and a very aggressive Dolby Digital 5.1 track. There’s also a commentary with Aja and Khalfoun as well as a few featurettes on the film’s production. If you’re a big Aja fan, the package is worth the asking price (usually somewhere around $15, though I suspect it’ll be cheaper than that soon). If you’re just a casual horror viewer that wants to see what’s going on in the genre as of late, it’s definitely worth a look, but probably nothing more. Rent it!
