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I thoroughly enjoyed not enjoying “Funny Games,” Michael Haneke’s English-language remake of his 1997 movie of the same name and plot. The update stars Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, and Devon Gearhart as a family who unwittingly fall into the middle of a sociopath-psychopath sandwich while on vacation at their lake-front summer home. Will they win the bet their two young captors have proposed to them and survive beyond 9am the next morning? I can’t tell you that just yet. As the Jigsaw Killer was fond of saying, “it would spoil the game.” But I can feed you a few clues that might help you figure it out.

The beautiful thing about “Funny Games” is that it has all the earmarks of a film that might fit into the Horror genre, but there are some elements of “Funny Games” that would either place it in a Horror-Thriller or Horror-Drama hybrid genre, or elevate it beyond Horror entirely (Shakespeare, rejoice! Harbour no further qualms forthwith wiping thyself!). There are the usual elements of a Horror film, such as dimensionalizing the victims (usually only 1D or 2D in such a film), instilling the victims with poor decision-making skills, and placing plot loopholes, wherein the victims’ stupidity can be inserted like a spoke to stall or further the aforementioned piece of cinematic Swiss cheese.

However, what the majority of Horror writers and directors seem to treat as little more than a heartless scientific formula or a source of bloody shock value, Haneke has made into an art form, or if I dare say it, a game. From the opening transition between calm classical music and angry, canine-inspired death-metal, to the Saintly-named, polite, white-clad murderers, Haneke makes it clear that he is about to mess with us; he is politely forcing us to enjoy meanness in much the same way as Paul Thomas Anderson used “There Will Be Blood” (albeit in a more subtle, less drawn-out fashion). The victimized family are as close to three-dimensional as tools of sadistic fun can be, and the post-adolescent psycho-killers (”Murder By Numbers” star Michael Pitt and “Thirteen” star Brady Corbet as Beavis and Butt-head, as Tom and Jerry, as Peter and Paul without the Mary), are charismatic enough to steal the show, but are more than just charisma. They are, insofar as they do not seem entirely monstrous, human beings.

One final note on why I liked not liking “Funny Games”: At any given moment in the movie, I knew what was going to happen, but at the same time, I didn’t know what to expect or when to expect it. As a result, I expected myself to the edge of my seat, all without the aid of high-decibel scare-noises or high-velocity camera work, which is a reaction that the folks behind all scary movies should work harder (or perhaps, not work as hard) to instill in their audiences. Chances are, if you make a movie that you can feel, your audience will feel it as well. And Haneke delivers.

Rating: A-

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