P2

There's clearly nothing special about this by-the-numbers horror flick, and there's certainly not much original in it. But, it is kind of creepy, and the locale lends itself really well to a scary movie. As a matter of fact, I can't believe I haven't seen a parking garage horror movie before now. P2 is like the parking garage episode of Seinfeld gone horribly horribly awry.

Workaholic Angela Bridges (Rachel Nichols) is working late on Christmas Eve and finds herself locked in the parking garage. Of course she's not alone, and the movie quickly decomposes into the standard story of the heroine trying to escape the psychopath. Both Bridges and her pursuer (Wes Bently) use the parking garage to their advantage. Director Franck Khalfoun also uses the parking to his advantage fully integrating the location into the action of the movie. The entire movie hinges on the claustrophobia and isolation induced in a parking garage. Many people already have fears about these structures, and this movie would certainly not help.

The first twenty minutes or so progressed very nicely. It built atmosphere and really worked to isolate the main character. Once Bently entered the picture, however, it all devolves into a standard horror flick. I expected this movie to be more of a psychological thriller, but it certainly disappointed on that front. It was a lot more gory than I was hoping. It seems that today even a movie with this much potential doesn't take advantage of it.

2/5