Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

'Panic Room' Pushing All Right Buttons with Moviegoers

Aired April 04, 2002 - 07:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The film "Panic Room" is pushing all the right buttons with moviegoers it seems.

The new Jody Foster thriller has scored it big at the box office. It made more than $30 million last week on setting a record for Easter openings. The film's dramatic tension is all to real for some people. And the idea of a self-styled fortress in the home hits them right where they live.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A stalker lurks in the bushes, you see him enter your home, you spring into action and lock yourself behind a door of what's called a panic room or safe room.

PAULA MILANI, HOME OWNER: My safe room is right here, kind of camouflaged behind a bookcase.

GUTIERREZ: Paula Milani is one of a growing number of Americans who has added a safe room to her home. It's the place she would run to if someone ever broke in.

MILANI: What I've got is just lines of communication, a cell phone, some pepper spray, in the event that I need to use that, but most importantly is I've got a silent alarm.

GUTIERREZ: And a cash of weapons.

MILANI: I might be faced with something not to pretty or pretty frightening on the other side of that door. Am I prepared -- or are we prepared to deal with that?

GUTIERREZ: For Paula, the panic room is a converted gun room. For higher profile people, it's a fortress.

(on camera): Let's say you're a judge, a diplomat or a movie star and you need a lot more security. The technology incorporated into this home in the hills of West Los Angeles takes the idea of a panic room to a whole other level.

AL CORBI, SECURITY EXPERT: If you were one of the bad guys and you were to break in, you could come up and you could get right here, but this is as far as you could go. GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Al Corbi is a security expert who designs fortified homes all over the world.

CORBI: There's actually layers of ballistics-grade material inside the drywall that would penetrate even armor-piercing projectiles from going through them.

GUTIERREZ: He calls the sleeping area of the home a safe (UNINTELLIGIBLE), where the residences are untouchable.

CORBI: If the bad guys are coming in to steal from you, to murder you, rape you, hurt you or whatever -- kidnap, it's all going to be over in 15 minutes.

GUTIERREZ: He says this specially made door keeps you safe until help arrives.

CORBI: It's twin steel plates with eight steel I-Beams in it and 12 chromium steel bolts.

GUTIERREZ: Behind that door is the guest room, the master bedroom and the nursery.

CORBI: The children are completely safe within the core. No one can get to them.

GUTIERREZ: A walk through the master bedroom, and Al shows us the panic room.

CORBI: In this particular case, this is that room.

GUTIERREZ (on camera): It's the bathroom.

(voice-over): A bathroom with impenetrable walls, a surveillance system with 27 cameras and a tamper-proof phone.

CORBI: In most of the bad guy movies they always run down into the basement and cut the wires.

GUTIERREZ (on camera): Right.

CORBI: The reason that they can't tamper with these systems is that all of the electronics is in the room.

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): The cost of this security, $75,000. But Al says it can cost as little as $5,000.

Chances are, Paula Milani will never have to use her panic room. She says it's not about paranoia, but peace of mind.

Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com