Funny Games Review

Funny Games was ushered into theaters and I don't know anyone that saw it. One thing is for sure, I did.

The movie's plot is really simple. Much like The Strangers, which is in theaters now, a couple of guys show up on an isolated area and terrorize the residents. It begins simply enough by asking to borrow some eggs, and then it escalates into all out violence.

This movie has a couple of key things going for it that other movies don't have.


1) They kill a kid - killing children is the lowest form of entertainment and is sickening in real life. On screen, anything goes, but we rarely see children harmed. In this film, a child gets a gun shot to the chest and is thrown across the room, and blood is seen all over. This level of gore is not necessary, but the violence in this film is expected, since this film is a remake.

2) No One Has a Chance - There are 5 victims in this film, and while the characters do give the victims a chance to live, they make some petty decisions and no one makes it. Or rather, the film decides to throw a curve ball. The characters talk to the audience on several occasions, and sometimes they make you believe that there was never any intentions of letting all the people live.

Those two factors play heavily into this film, which is grotesque on many levels and leaves you haunted by the idea that someone could simply befall on your house and kill you.


Here is the trailer for Funny Games:

The film is shot in a great way, and while there is little to no soundtrack, the film has enough punishing sequences to justify the rating.

While you never really get a lot of background out of the victims, you begin to feel for them. The mother in this film even looks really good...sorry to say...Naomi Watts plays the role great, alongside the rest of the cast. Although, I couldn't help but think about Dawson's Creek while watching this film, considering that one of the main villains was a long time character on the hit teen drama that launched many a career or two.

I generally am not a big fan of remakes, but this one passes my litmus test. It just was too creepy not to care about, and although it's frame for frame just like the original, the fact that American actor's pulled off such a great emotional film is great to me.


The Original Poster for Funny Games


The U.S.A Release Poster For Funny Games

The film is definitely worth watching, and is interesting on many different levels. However, some more discerning audiences won't appreciate the carelessness of the lifes in peril, but then again...this is horror, and well...horror has a whole different set of rules. While the pacing is a little slow, there's enough horror elements to give it a break from the tension. The gore is spot on, even though there aren't a lot of places where this film gets bloody.

Funny Games is available on dvd in store now, well the original is anyways, the U.S version (which this review is based on) will hit stores sooner than later.

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