The Quad

Issue date: 3/17/08 Section: Entertainment

Horror films of today seem to believe that in order to be truly terrifying, they must be as gruesomely violent as possible. For example, moviegoers who wish to take in a good bit of chilling fantasy have had to endure such schlock as Rob Zombie's disastrous "Halloween" remake, the "Saw" sequels and Eli Roth's "Hostel" films.

These "torture porn" films have defined what the horror film is today, a blood-spattered mess of carnage devoid of any really scary moments. Does endless graphic violence make something scary? No, actually, it serves to make the film seem much more comical. In the end, the mainstream horror film has become laughable, lacking the intellectual brevity to truly manifest horror.

However, there is hope in the form of Michael Haneke and his film "Funny Games," a remake of his1997 Austrian film of the same name. "Funny Games" is a masterful piece of terror and unrelenting horror that does not rely on gallons of fake blood and intestine in order to be scary. Haneke succeeds in capturing realistic horror by having much of the violence occur just slightly off-screen, using the audience's imagination to decide the level of brutality. He also is able to capture the tension of the situation through the atmosphere instead of through the utilization of a score. Starring Tim Roth, Naomi Watts, Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet, "Funny Games" is an interesting twist on a tired genre and works in creating fear and tension without the use of unnecessary levels of violence. Through Haneke's direction and storytelling, "Funny Games" succeeds on a level that may never be achieved by today's mainstream horror films.

"Funny Games" tells the story of an upper-class family on vacation in an upscale boating community. The three members of the family, George (Roth), Anna (Watts), and Georgie (Devon Gearhart), arrive in the early afternoon and begin settling in. They then meet up with their neighbor and Paul (Pitt), a boy who claims to be staying with them. While the neighbor and Paul help George and Georgie launch a boat, Anna meets Peter (Corbet) another boy who claims to be staying with the neighbors.

After a brief altercation between Peter, Paul and the family, Peter smacks George in the leg with one of George's golf clubs, breaking his leg. Peter and Paul then take the family hostage, with Paul offering them a bet; the bet is that the family will not be alive by 9 the next morning. A series of torturous games begin as the family attempts to stay alive.

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