Panic Room (DVD)

There was a time when the rich and the famous would sit safely in their secluded homes, revelling in their wealth and status, as they grew richer and more famous. Nowadays, of course, there is no such thing as safety, and the rich and famous need to go to new lengths to protect their wealth and personal security. The latest weapon in the fight against crime is to have a panic room in your house. A panic room is an impregnable place of refuge, where the occupants of a house are able to hide out in the event that an intruder makes his/her way into the home. If you think about it, if used, a panic room is the ultimate symbol of violation – a man could literally become a ...  Read the complete review

In a recent interview David Fincher (director of ‘Panic Room’) made a dubious distinction between ‘movies’ and ‘films’ – the former being film-making by numbers and the latter being ‘art’, man. By his own admission ‘Panic Room’ is a movie. Whilst cunningly trying to deflect criticism of why he has been so lazy he does own up to appeasing the studio by directing a movie that covers all the bases but doesn’t really hit the mark. This is not to say that I didn’t like it however and that my knuckles weren’t white with the skillfully achieved shocks and suspense. The leading actress, Jodie ...  Read the complete review

In Panic Room we find David Fincher upto his usual directorial tricks of painting a picture of a world we all live in and yet with a darkness and decay about it which is most unfamiliar. This time the setting is upper-middle class suburban Manhattan, but not the Manhattan you may have experienced, or seen before but a creation of Fincher's own which is claustrophobic, dark and rotten...business as usual for Fincher fans, but this time without the usual bite. Panic Room sets Jodie Foster's Meg and her daughter Sarah(Kristen Stewart) in the aftermath of a messy divorce, Meg now looking for a new home and a fresh start. We are walked around a dark, dusty, ...  Read the complete review

"Mr Mainwaring there's germans on the horizon!" "Right Corporal Jones, get the men into the room!" "Right you are sir, don't panic, don't panic!" Thankfully Panic Room isn't a room where the soldiers of Dad's Army hide while in danger. It's a small room in a large Manhattan brownstone house. It's wall's have thick steel, there are motion detectors and a video wall that keeps an eye on every room in the house. The room is also stocked with supplies and is completely safe. There is only one way in and only one way out. This premise provides the basis for the new from ...  Read the complete review

I was very surprised at how well this film worked. It takes what is a relatively simple and restricted idea, and creates a convincing thriller out of it, using some clever cinematography and an impressive score. It features single mum Meg (Jodie Foster) and her daughter Sarah (Kristen Stewart) as they find their old house under attack from crooks who are trying to find a fortune that is rumoured to be hidden somewhere inside by a previous owner. Money takes the centre stage as the root of all evil here as the perps will not hesitate to get the money no matter what, and Meg and Sarah end up locking themselves in the Panic Room, set up so that the ...  Read the complete review