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Panic Room

Date: May 22 2002

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Intro

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blood-and-guts slasher movie

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Nedra saw Panic Room this weekend and really enjoyed it. This is another drama starring Academy Award winner Jodie Foster, who has starred in other edge-of-your-seat movies such as Silence of the Lambs. Let’s hear what Nedra has to say….

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Nedra

Brett

Nedra: I saw this great movie this weekend, Brett. It’s called Panic Room, with Jodie Foster.

Brett: Yeah, I think I’ve seen a commercial for it, maybe, but I don’t really know anything about it. Was it pretty good?

Nedra: Yeah, it was intense. Like, there were some parts where I was gripping my knees so hard I think I might’ve, uh, got myself hurt. But it was just so intense and so good. Um, Jodie Foster is excellent. It kind of reminded me of her performance in Silence of the Lambs, just kind of that strong-female type role.

Brett: So is it like Silence of the Lambs in that it’s a psychological drama, or is it more of a horror movie? I mean, with a name like Panic Room, it sounds like, you know, there’s something kinda strange going on.

Nedra: Definitely more psychological, and it’s about being trapped and trying to escape from people, um, invading your house. Like, she just bought this new house, and there’s this panic room, and there’s a safe that has something special in it. And she doesn’t know that, but there’s these intruders that do, and the whole story’s based around her trying to not let them into the panic room and hurt her and her daughter.

Brett: Wow, it sounds like you really did like this movie. It’s a pretty strong recommendation here.

Nedra: Yeah, it was really good. Especially if you like psychological thrillers and don’t mind clenching your teeth a little bit.

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Discussion

Sometimes a movie doesn’t need to be gory to be frightening. A movie like Panic Room can give you a good scare by playing on your inner fears. And in a movie like this, the more closely you can relate to the characters, the more likely you are to really feel their fear.
Which do you think is more frightening: an intense psychological thriller, or a blood-and-guts slasher movie? Let us know on the Movie Madness board.
Until next week-
Brett