“Panic Room,” starring Jodie Foster, acts exactly like an Alfred Hitchcock thriller from beginning to end. The opening credits of the film in which the cast and crew’s names are arranged according to the positioning of city skyscrapers and buildings quickly brings upon the opening credits of Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest” as well as Hitchcock’s “Psycho.” There is even a Hitchcock look a like who appears briefly in the first five minutes, recalling one of Hitchcock’s famous cameo appearances.

The plot of the film is quite simple like many of Hitchcock’s film. Instead of focusing on plot, both style and the character situations take over the film. Like many of Hitchcock films “Pani

“Insomnia,” another film that was released this past year also resembles the films that Hitchcock used to make. “Insomnia” is about a murder that takes place in a small Alaskan town that never gets dark. Al Pacino plays a detective who is sent to investigate the murder of a teenage girl. Since Pacino’s character is not used to the constant daylight he has problems sleeping throughout the film. This lack of sleep leads Pacino’s character to make huge mistakes throughout the film.

“Insomnia” is also reminiscent of Hitchcock films in the way the director ratchets up the suspense, and in its exploration of the transference of guilt. While watching the film the audience feels the pain that Al Pacino is going through, while also feeling as though they have not gotten sleep for six days either. This also recalls feelings from watching “Rear Window” in which the viewer felt tense throughout. “Insomnia” can also be compared to “Vertigo” since both films deal with a mental disorder.

“Insomnia” follows the character outlines of a Hitchcock film perfectly. Like many of the protagonists in Hitchcock films, Pacino plays a character that is morally ambiguous. In the beginning of the film Pacino’s character seems as though he has the best intentions to solve the case quickly and get out of town. However, circumstances arise that changes these plans. While chasing a suspect, Pacino accidentally kills his partner. Instead of admitting to the accident, Pacino’s character fixes the crime scene to look as though the suspect shot his partner. He even plants evidence later on in the film to make himself look even less guilty. Pacino is afraid that people would think he shot his partner on purpose since his partner was going to turn him into internal affairs because of a different case. This one mistake of covering up the shooting of his partner leads to even bigger dilemmas. Pacino soon finds

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