P2 (2007) or, Parking Deck Horrors

♥♥

 

A scantily dressed young female is caught in a dark parking garage on this ill-boding poster for Franck Khalfoun's P2

A zealous office worker is going home late for Christmas, but she then has her work cut out for her in managing to escape the dodgy underground parking garage where a psychopath holds her captive.

 

P2 is written by co-writer/co-producers Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur (Maniac (2012), both) and debuting co-writer/director Franck Khalfoun (Prey (2019)).

Lead Rachel Nichols (Breach (2020)) has big, impressive breasts prominently pushed up in her tight dress, while she runs desperately around in mortal danger through most of the film, but she can't salvage the flat and dull psycho ride that's P2. Wes Bentley (Final Girl (2015)) plays the creepy and loud maniac who isn't a character with depth or considerable interest for audiences. The gloomy survival at stake in P2 becomes quite gory but it remains too one-dimensional and commonplace for it to really grab you, despite Khalfoun throwing everything plus the wrench into this first effort beast of his.

 

Related posts:

 

Franck Khalfoun: 2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

Maniac (2012) - POV-powered doll collector/ex-hobbit serial killer loose in LA

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 3.5 mil. $

Box office: 7.7 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2.2 times its cost)

[P2 was released 9 November (Canada, USA) and runs 98 minutes. The story was reportedly inspired by a series of parking garage attacks against women in Paris. Shooting took place from August - November 2006 in Toronto, Ontario. Bentley has later admitted that he was on cocaine and heroin at the time and only took roles to support this addiction. The film opened #9 to a 2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, its peak there where it grossed 3.9 mil. $ (50.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Mexico with 732k $ (9.5 %) and Spain with 705k $ (9.2 %). Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Khalfoun returned with Wrong Turn at Tahoe (2009). Nichols returned in Charlie Wilson's War (2007); Bentley in The Last Word (2008). P2 is rotten at 34 % with a 4.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of P2? 

High Tension/Haute Tension/Switchblade Romance (2003) - Aja arrives with suspenseful gore horror

♥♥♥♥

 

A young woman sits in a shadowy, creepy space without much clothes on holding a nasty pair of shears on this grimy poster for Alexandre Aja's High Tension

A young lesbian couple venture out into the countryside to visit the one woman's parents for the first time. But a killer in a boiler suit ruins the visit...

High Tension is written by Grégory Levasseur (Mirrors (2008)) and co-writer/director Alexandre Aja (Furia (1999)). 'High tension' is a literal translation of the film's original French title.

It feels like a young filmmaker's first film, (it is Aja's second), and he asserts himself here as a visually talented horror connoisseur. The actors are game, and the film is highly suspenseful in several of its nightmarish scenes, (the title isn't false advertisement in this case.) The highly unpleasant style thank goodness doesn't reach the heights of Aja's fellow Frenchman Pascal Laugier's Martyrs (2008), which just makes High Tension a more tolerable watch. 

The climax has a twist that has some audiences outright reject the film, but I didn't take affront with its nonsense dimension. Rather I relish the visual surplus energy and declaration of love for especially The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) that is clearly visible in High Tension.

 

Related posts:

 

Alexandre Aja: Piranha 3D (2010) - Aja's gory sexploitation remake is a hoot 

Mirrors (2008) or, The Haunted Department Store 

The Hills Have Eyes (2006) or, My Big Fat Mutant Cannibal Family Trip

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 2.5 mil. $

Box office: 6.2 mil. $

= Minor flop (returned 2.48 times its cost)

[High Tension was released 18 June (France) and runs 95 minutes. Shooting took place in Bucharest, Romania. Lions Gate cut 2 minutes from the film to secure an R rating for their wide release in North America, which they spent 14 mil. $ rolling out (English dub, prints and advertising): The film opened #10 to an 1.8 mil. $ first weekend in 1,323 theaters, its peak, grossing 3.6 mil. $ (58.1 % of the total gross. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Italy with 874k $ (14.1 %) and France with 700k $ (11.3 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 1/4 star review, translating to 4 marks under this one. Aja returned with The Hills Have Eyes (2006). Cécile de France (Loup! (2002, short)) returned in Petits Mythes Urbains (2003, TV-series) and theatrically in Around the World in 80 Days (2004); Maïwenn (Télé Gaucho (2012)) in I'm an Actrice (2004, short) and theatrically in Le Genre Humain: 1ère Partie: Les Parisiens (2004). High Tension is rotten at 40 % with a 5.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of High Tension?

Mirrors (2008) or, The Haunted Department Store

♥

Three stars put together in a composite image of a house with water damage makes up this poster for Alexandre Aja's Mirrors

A tormented former New York police officer attempts to reestablish himself with a private security job, working in a burnt-out department store, but there an evil ghost haunting its mirrors!

Mirrors is written by co-writer/co-producer Grégory Levasseur (Break of Dawn/Entre Chiens et Loups (2002)) and co-writer/director Alexandre Aja (Furia (1999)). It is a remake of the Korean horror Into the Mirror/Geoul sokeuro (2003).

The strange and not very good story is so also so fanciful that it is hard to get involved with Mirrors. No-nonsense Kiefer Sutherland (Freeway (1996)) is a poor match for the vehicle, although he does what he can here. SPOILER Amy Smart (High Voltage (1997)) dies the most gruesome death of the film by ripping her own jaw off her face.

SPOILER Mirrors ends in an action-like spectacle of nonsense. It lacks frights and tension. Overall it's a thoroughly failed serving of mumbo jumbo.

 

Related posts:

 

Alexandre Aja: Piranha 3D (2010) - Aja's gory sexploitation remake is a hoot 

The Hills Have Eyes (2006) or, My Big Fat Mutant Cannibal Family Trip 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 35 mil. $

Box office: 78 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2.22 times its cost)

[Mirrors was released 14 August (Malaysia) and runs 111 minutes. Aja disliked the original story and kept only details from the original film for his remake. Shooting took place around May 2007 in New York, Los Angeles, California and in Bucharest, Romania. The film opened #4, behind fellow new release Tropic Thunder, holdover hit The Dark Knight and new release Star Wars: The Clone Wars, to an 11.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd week and grossed 30.6 mil. $ (39.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 5.1 mil. $ (6.3 %) and France with 5 mil. $ (6.4 %). A straight-to-video sequel was made with Mirrors 2 (2011). Aja returned with The Esseker File (2009, short) and theatrically with Piranha 3D (2010). Sutherland returned in 10 video game, TV, short and narrating credits prior to his physical theatrical return in Melancholia (2011). Mirrors is rotten at 15 % with a 3.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Mirrors?

The Hills Have Eyes (2006) or, My Big Fat Mutant Cannibal Family Trip

♥♥♥

 

A blond woman caught in a vice of bloody terror in a grimy design on this effective poster for Alexandre Aja's The Hills Have Eyes

An American family drive through the New Mexican desert in their RV, where they break down in an area that unfortunately has atomic test mutant cannibals roaming in the hills.

 

The Hills Have Eyes is written by Grégory Levasseur (Maniac (2012)) and co-writer/director Alexandre Aja (Furia (1999)), remaking the same-titled 1977 mega-hit horror by Wes Craven (Scream (1996)).

It's another action-packed post-millennial horror remake. The crazed mutants are hard to identify with (to put it mildly), and the charm of the story is limited. The sound work and countless scenes of characters looking-out-into-the-dark-only-for-a-menacing-shadow-to-pass-by also detract.

But the special effects, especially the mutants, are inventive, and there are some good horror ideas in The Hills Have Eyes, which positions it over other recent horror remakes such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and The Amityville Horror (2005).

 

Related post:

 

Alexandre Aja: Piranha 3D (2010) - Aja's gory sexploitation remake is a hoot

Watch a short clip from the film here

 

Cost: 15 mil. $

Box office: 70 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.66 times its cost)

[The Hills Have Eyes was released 10 March (North America, UK and Ireland) and runs 106 minutes. Shooting took place from June 2005 - ? in Morocco. The film opened #3, behind fellow new releases Failure to Launch and The Shaggy Dog, to a 15.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5) and grossed 41.7 mil. $ (59.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 6.2 mil. $ (8.9 %) and Germany with 3.6 mil. $ (5.1 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 1.5/4 star rating, translating to 2 notches under this one. The film's success, though much less pregnant than the original film's, prompted less successful sequel The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007) by a new director. Aja returned with Mirrors (2008). The Hills Have Eyes is rotten at 52 % with a 5.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Hills Have Eyes?